DICTIONARY 


OF 


MUSICAL  TERMS. 


EDITED  BY 

/ 

J.  'STAINER,  M.A.,  Mus.  Doc, 

MADG.    COLL.,  OXFORD, 


W.    A.    BARRETT,   Mus.  Bach.. 

S.    MARY    HALL,  OXFORD, 


BOSTON: 

OLIVER    DITSON    &  CO. 

New  York:  Chas.  H.  Ditson  &  Co.     Philadelphia:  J.  E,  Ditson  &  Co.    Chicago:  Ltow  &  Hbalt. 


PREFACE. 


In  a  work  of  reference  of  this  kind,  it  is  always  difficult  to  find  any  definite  principle  by 
which  to  include  or  exclude  the  words  to  be  explained.  On  the  one  hand,  if  all  words  — 
however  rare  their  use  in  music  —  were  to  be  given,  the  bulk  of  the  book  would  be  inconve- 
niently large ;  on  the  other  hand,  words  seldom  met  with  are  from  that  very  fact  often  more  in 
need  of  explanation. 

The  Editors  hope,  that  from  practical  experience  and  knowledge,  they  have  succeeded  in 
collecting  the  chief  musical  terms  met  with  in  scientific,  theoretical,  and  practical  treatises, 
and  in  the  more  common  annotated  programmes  and  newspaper  criticisms.  That  every  subject 
should  be  treated  in  an  exhaustive  manner,  would  be,  of  course,  impossible ;  but  the  Editors 
have  endeavored  to  give  sufficiently  true  outlines  of  matters  of  fact  to  inform  the  amateur 
correctly,  and  intimate  to  the  musical  student  the  results  to  which  his  own  reading  will 
probably  tend. 

The  Editors  are  largely  indebted  to  the  following  gentlemen,  who  have  contributed 
important  articles,  or  have  in  other  ways  rendered  them  valuable  assistance:  — 

R.  H.  M.  BosANQUET,  Esq.,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford,  author  of  the  article  "  Tem- 
pemimnt." 

BuLLEY,  Esq.,  M.A.,  of  the  Middle  Temple,  Barrister-at-Law,  author  of  the  articles  '■'■Licensing"  and 
"■Copyright." 

F.  Champneys,  Esq,,  M.A.,  M.R.C.S.,  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital,  late  Radclifie  Travelling  Fellow  of 
the  University  of  Oxford,  author  of  the  articles  "Ear"  '■'■Larynx"  and  '■'■Laryngoscope an<l 
for  his  explanation  of  the  formation  of  the  hand  given  in  the  article  "  Fingering." 

\V.  Chappell,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  author  of  the  articles  "-Ballads"  (Old  English),  "Greek  Music"  (Ancient 
Systems  of),  and  "■Notation"  (Early  Systems  of). 

A.  E.  DoNKiN,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.R.A.S.,  Fellow  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford,  author  of  the  article  "Acoustics." 

A.  J.  Ellis,  Esq.,  B.A.,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  F.C.P.S.,  F.C.P.,  formerly  Scholar  of  Trinity  CoUege,  Camhridge, 
author  of  the  article  "  Duodene." 

Henky  Gadsby,  Esq.,  for  his  account  of  Sonata  Form  in  the  article  "Form." 

Rev.  T.  Helmore,  M.A.,  Chaplain-in-Ordinary  to  the  Queen,  author  of  the  article  "Plain  Song." 

John  Hullah,  Esq.,  Government  Inspector  of  Training  Schools,  for  Extracts  from  a  paper  read  before 
the  Musical  Association  on  "Nomenclature." 

W.  G.  McNaught,  Esq.,  author  of  the  article  "  Tottic  Sol-fa." 

W.  H.  Monk,  Esq.,  Professor  of  Vocal  Music,  King's  College,  London,  author  of  the  article  "Hymn  Tunes." 
Also  to  — 

Messrs.  Broadwood,  for  permission  to  publish  diagrams  of  their  pianoforte  action. 

Messrs.  Cassell,  for  permission  to  quote  from  Musical  Articles  in  the  "Bible  Educator." 

Messrs.  Chappell,  for  permission  to  quote  from  "  Popular  Music  in  the  Olden  Time." 

Messrs.  Erard,  for  permission  to  reproduce  their  diagrams  of  pianoforte  action. 

A.  J.  HiPKiNS,  Esq.,  for  valuable  information  on  the  subject  of  Tuning  Forks  and  Pitch. 

W.  H.  Husk,  Esq.,  for  an  important  list  of  early  printed  music,  and  other  assistance. 

Messrs.  Murray,  for  permission  to  quote  music  from  Lane's  "Modern  Egyptians." 

Sacred  Harmonic  Society,  for  offering  special  facilities  for  the  use  of  their  valuable  library. 

Rev.  J.  Troutbeck,  M.A.,  Chaplain-in-Ordmary  to  the  Queen,  for  permission  to  reprint  diagrams  from 

Troutbeck  and  Dale's  "Music  Primer." 
Henry  Willis,  Esq.,  for  diagrams  and  explanations  of  his  Pneumatic'  Bellows. 


ERRATA. 


Page    I,  column  i,  eighth  line  from  bottom,  for  "  of  a  guitar,  its  sixth  string,"  read  "  of  a  guitar,  its fifth  string." 


„      2,      „      I, /or  "  Abbelire  "  y^arf '•  Abbellire,"  and /or  "  Abbelitura  "  r«a<i  "  Abbellitura." 

,,      4,      „      I, /or  "  Accellerato  "  read  "  Accelerate." 

„      4,      „      I,  eighth  line  from  bottom,  delete  "  [Greek  Church  Music]." 

„      6,      „      I, /or  "  Accollade  "  r^arf  "  Accolade." 

„    t3,      „      I,  first  foot-note, /or  "  See  foot-note  to  §  2  "  read  "  See  foot-note  to  §  3." 

„    23,     „      I,  line  14  from  bottom,  add,  after  "  or  viola,"  "  and  the  Alto-Trombone." 

„    24,     ,,      r,  «ni«r<  in  its  proper  place  "Alt-Posaune  (G<r.)    The  Alto-Trombone.  [Trombone.]" 

II    39.      II         read  "  Assai  (It.)    Enough,  quite,  very." 

„    52,      „      I,  read  "  Bass  Horn.    English  Bass  Horn,  Corno  Basso,  a  brass  instrument,  the  precursor 

of  the  Ophicleide,  but  smaller." 
„    53,      „      I,  last  line  but  one  of  article  "  Bass  Tuba, "/or  "  or  major  fourth  higher"  read  "  or  major 

fourth  lower." 

„    54,      „      I,  reference  at  end  of  article  "  Beat," /or  "  Acoustics,  §  14,  15,"  read  "  Acoustics,  §  17." 
„    59,      „      I,  tenth  line  from  bottom, /or  "  Bobisation  "  r«a^f  "  Bobibation,"  and  column  2,  line  6  from 

top, /or  "  bobisation  "  read  "  bobibation." 
„    62,      „      I,  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  lines  from  bottom, /or  "Two  notes  out  of  eight  are  often  made 

staccato  "  read  "  Two  notes  out  of  eight  are  often  made  legato." 
n  »»      ii  after  "Bravura  (It.)"  insert  "Dash,  biilliancy.     Con  bravura,  with  dash,  brilliancy." 

Then  read  on  "Aria  di  bravura,"  &c. 
,t    67,      „      I,  in  bass  stave  of  example  of  a  cadence  from  D  to  C, /or  notes  p  r^rtrf  Q 
„    68,      „      2,  after  "Caisses  Claires  (Fr.)"  for  "kettle-drums"  read  "snare-drums."    Also,  after 

"Caisse  roulante,"  read  "Tenor-drum,  larger  than  a  snare-drum." 
•»    75»      M      2,  r^arf  "  Capo  d'opera  (/<.)    (i)  The  principal  song  or  the  masterpiece  in  an  opera.    (2)  A 

chef-d'oeuvre." 

„    82,     "      1,  article  Chaconne,  sixth  cord  of  music  quoted, 

I   I  

for        ^      ":    read        J  — 


•,    95,      „      I,  ie^w^^M  "  Cinyra  "  and  "Circular  Canon  "  i/ii^f*  "  Cipher.    The  constant  sounding  of 

an  organ-pipe,  owing  to  some  derangement  of  the  mechanism." 
„    93,      I,      2,  read  "  Citara  (It.)    A  cittern,  guitar,  cither." 
I,    96,      „      I,  read  "  Claquebois  (Fr.)    A  gigelira.    [Ligneum  Psalterium.]  " 
•I    97»      II      ij  line  6  from  top, /or  "  might  be  fairly  be  "  read  "  might  fairly  be." 

„    98,      „      2,  line  16  from  bottom,  for  "  exceeded  in  compass  beyond  the  limit  "  read  "  exceeded  in 
compass  the  limit." 

„  101,      „      I, /or  article  "  College  Youths  "  r^rt^i  "  A  London  society  of  bellringers  founded  in  1637  by 

young  men  living  near  the  College  of  St.  Spirit  and  St.  Mary,  Upper  Thames  Street." 
„  103,      „      2,  insert  at  end  of  article  "  Concert,"  "  (2)  (Ger.)  A  concerto." 

„  114,      „      I,  line  9  from  top, /or  "  The  fourth  note  must  be,"  &c.,  r^ncf  "  The  first  note  must  be,"  &c. 

„  117,      „      2,  jnieri  signature  of  one  flat  in  top  line  of  music. 

„  119,      „      2,  in  music,  bar  6,  note  3  in  treble  stave  should  be  F,  not  G. 

„  127,      „      2,  read  "  Dampfer  {Ger.)    (i)  A  damper.    (2)  A  violin  mute." 

11  I57i      11      X,  line  5  from  top, /or  "  remedies  "  r^n<i  "  melodies." 

«  I57i     »      2,/or  "  Enbadinant,"  "  En  badinant." 

II  163,      „      2,  Ex.  2  of  music,  delete  double  bar  at  end  of  line  i,  and  for  line  2  read 


lau  -  da  -  te    no  -  men  Do  -  mi  -  ni. 
.1  165,      „      2,  line  2  from  top, /or  "  chiava  "  read  "  chiavc." 
„  167,      „      I,  first  line  of  music  from  bottom,  clef  should  be  on  the  first  line. 

,1  180,      „      2,  last  note  of  bottom  line  of  music  should  be  bound  to  corresponding  note  on  next  page. 
„  182,      „      I,  bar  I  of  music,  C  iAowW  i<  boundto  next  C. 

It  182,  „  I,  Ex.  14  of  music,  last  note  but  two  should  be  A  natural.  Also,  in  Ex.  16,  bar  2,  last  note 
but  two  should  be  G  natural.  Also,  in  column  2,  Ex.  27  should  not  have  a  flat  in  the 
signature. 

I,  184,      „      2,  Ex.  43  of  music,  the  D  in  bar  2  should  be  marked  natural. 
II  189,      ,,      I,  second  line  of  music  from  top,  bar  2,  the  seventh  note  should  be  D,  not  F. 
II  I97>      11      I.  after  "  Gigelira,"  reference  should  be  "  [Ligneum  Psalterium],"  not  "  (Xylophonej." 
11  I97>      "  article  "  Glass,"  line  8, /or  "  see  Harmonica  '  read  "  see  Armonica." 

II  1981      „      2,  n/<«r  article  "  Glockenspiel  "  jVtscri  "  (2)  An  organ  stop  of  two  ranks." 


„  203,  in  diagram  of  Lesser  Perfect  System, /or  "  Hyphate"  read  "  Hypate." 
„  244,  column  I,  article  "Jew's  Harp,"  to  names  of  the  instrument  add  "  Guimbarde  (Fr.)  " 
n  24G,  the  signature  of  Matheson's  Gigue  should  be  throughout  tliree  sharps,  :iu(  four. 


^^o 
274. 
275. 
276, 

282, 

287. 

293. 
294. 
294. 
294. 
298, 
2g3, 
301, 
305, 
318. 
318, 
338. 

343. 
346, 
354. 


column  I,  the  reference  after  "  Lateral  Vibrations  "  should  be  "  [Acoustics,  $  14.]  " 
„      I,  line  6  from  bottom,  delete  "  (i)." 

„      2,  article  "  Lute,"  line  5,  for  "  five  to  six  "  read  "  four  to  six." 
„      I,  line  2  from  bottom  should  be  altogether  omitted. 
„      2,  line  8  from  top,  for  "  Christi"  read  "  Christe." 

Trombone  in  E  flat.' 


To 


365, 
375. 
377. 
387. 
389. 
391. 

392, 
395. 

396, 
396, 

396, 

398. 
399. 

399. 
400, 
402, 
406, 
410, 
414. 
417. 


437. 
441. 
442, 
443. 

449. 
453. 
454. 

455. 


2,  last  two  paragraphs,  to  instruments  of  "  Bass  Compass ' 

instruments  "  Contra-basso  "  add  "  Ophicleide." 
2,  bar  22  from  top,  last  note  in  treble  stave  should  be  D,  not  C. 

1,  after  "  H.  PmceW," for  "  Chorus  Lessons"  read  "Choice  Lessons." 

2,  after  Misteriosamente,  transfer  the  reference  "[Mass.]  "  to  end  of"  Missa." 
2,  after  article  "  Mode  "  there  should  be  a  reference,  "  [Plain  Song.]  " 
2,  article  "  Musica,"/or  "  musica  chiesa  "  read  "  musica  di  chiesa." 
2,  last  word  but  one,  for  "  mezxo  "  read  "  mezza." 
I,  lines  3  and  2  from  bottom,  omit  the  words  "  and  major  third." 
I,  the  reference  to  article  "  Node  "  should  be  "  [Acoustics,  §  13.]  " 

1,  fourth  bar  of  music,  the  note  C  should  be  sharp. 

2,  read  "  Ohne  (Ger.)    Without ;  as,"  &c. 

2,  line  21  from  top, /or  "circular,  or  circular  with  a  bell  top,"  read  "  cylindrical,  with  or 

without  a  bell  top." 
2,  article  "  Passacaglio,"/o»'  "  Passecaille  (Fr.) "  read  "  Passacaille." 
I,  line  3  from  top, /or  "four  kinds  of  rests"  read  "five  kinds  of  rests." 
I,  the  last  sentence  of  the  article  "  Pince  "  belongs  to  article  "  Pince  bemolis6,"  which 
should  read  thus  :  "  Pince  bemolise  (Fr.)    A  pince  or  trill  with  a  flattened  note.  An 
ornament,"  &c. 

Diagram  II.,  insert  "  Arithmetical  Division  "  and  "  Harmonic  Division  "  under  last  two  divisions  of 

Dorian  mode,  as  in  the  modes  which  follow, 
column  2,  line  21,  for  "  sontane"  read  "  soutane." 

„      I,  line  5  from  bottom, /or  "  Montiverde  "  read  "  Monteverde." 

„      I,  at  end  of  article  "  Reprise"  arfrf  "  (3)  A  repeat." 

„      2,  at  end  of  article  "  Schleifer  "  add  "  (2)  A  grace.    [Harpsichord  Graces.]" 
„      I,  in  Exs.  I  and  4, /or  "  Tympani  "  read  "  Timpani." 

„      2,  after  word  "  Sensible," /or  "  (It.i"  read  "  (Fr.)"  ;  also,  after  "  Sensibile,"  for  "  {Fr.}" 

read  "  [It.]" 

„      2,  line  10  from  bottom, /or  "  therefore"  read  "  sometimes," 

„  2,  line  10  from  bottom, /or  "  Shifts  are  complete  changes,"  &c.,  rend  "  The  first  shift  on  the 
violin  is  when  the  first  finger  is  placed  on  A  of  the  first  string  ;  the  second  shift  when  it 
is  placed  on  C  of  the  first  string.    The  intermediate  points,"  &c. 

„      I,  line  I,  for  "  fifth  position  "  read  "  fourth  position." 

„      I,  article  "  Side-drum,"  the  last  sentence  but  one  should  be  "  Weber  was  the  first  to 

employ  the  side-drum  as  an  orchestral  instrument,  in  his  '  Kampf  und  Sieg,'  1815. 

Rossini  used  it  two  years  later." 
,,      2,  article,  "  Signature,"  omit        from  signature  of  G;j^  minor,        from  signature  of  Dj 

minor,  and  Gf  from  signature  of  minor. 
„      I,  article  "  Sinfonia  (It.),"  for  "  Sinfonie  {Fr.)  "  read  "  Symphonie  (Fr.)  " 
„      I,  line  10  from  top, /or  "with  its  minor  third  and  minor  sixth"  read  "with  its  third  and 

sixth." 

„      2,  article  "  Soggetto,"/or  "  proportion  of  a  fugue  "  read  "  proposition  of  a  fugue." 
„      2,  line  2  from  bottom,  read  "  sonare,  to  sound,  to  play,  but,"  &c. 
„      2,  line  2  from  top, /or  "  J  time  "  read  "  ^  time." 
„      2,  insert  at  end  of  line  5  from  top  "  (3)  Dampers  of  a  pianoforte." 
„      2,  the  reference  after  "  Strohfiedel  "  should  be  "  [Ligneum  Psalterium.] " 
„      2, /or  "  Synnemenon  "  read  "  Synemenon." 
„      2, /or  Diagram  headed  "  Tuning  of  the  Lute  "  read 
h  /d  ca 


By  unisons.  By  octavions. 

2,  line  12  from  bottom, /or  "  Toccato"  read  "  Toccata." 
2,  in  line  g  of  second  paragraph, /or  "  Catalania  "  read  "  Catalonia." 
2,  line  13  from  bottom, /or  "  of  the  former"  read  "  of  the  performer." 

2,  article  "  Tutte  corde  "  should  read  thus  :  "  A  direction  to  play  on  all  the  strings  instead  ol 

itna  cor.'a." 

2,  quotation  from  Handel,  bar  2,  note  5  of  upper  stave,  should  be  F  not  E. 

2,  after  "  Waldhorn  [Ger.)  A  hunting  horn,"  insert  "  A  French  horn." 

2,  musical  examples  of  the  "  Wolf"  in  chord  of  Gi?,/</r  G^  read  F^. 

1,  the  reference  aft.r  the  word  "Xylophone"  should  be  "  [Ligneum  Psalterium.]" 


DICTIONARY 

OF 

MUSICAL  TERMS. 


-A  BATTUTA. 


A.  (i)  The  note  called  Proslambanomenos 
in  the  greater  perfect  system  of  the  Greeks. 
The  letter-name  of  Mese,  the  highest  note 
of  the  middle  tetrachord;  and  of  Nete,  the 
highest  note  of  the  upper  tetrachord,  [Greek 
Music] 

—  (2)  The  first  note  of  (i)  the  Hypo-Dorian 
mode,  or  church-scale,  commencing  four 
notes  below  the  Dorian  ;  (2)  the  Hyper-Phry- 
gian mode,  or  church-scale,  commencing  four 
notes  above  the  Phrygian ;  (3)  the  Eolian  mode. 
[Greek  Music] 

—  (3)  The  next  note  above  Gamma  Ut, 
in  the  Grave  Hexachord  of  the  Guidonian 
system,  where  it  is  A  re.  Also,  the  first  note 
of  the  acute  and  super-acute  Hexachords,  in 
which  it  is  a  la  mi  re.  [Notation.] 

—  (4)  The  normal  minor  scale  of  modern 
music,  so-called  because  it  is  the  relative 
minor  of  C.  It  is  sometimes  also  named  the 
natural  minor  scale,  because  no  sharps  or 
flats  are  required  in  its  signature. 

—  (5)  The  normal  sound  (Ger.Normalton), 
because  the  instruments  of  an  orchestra 
tune  to  this  note,  as  given  by  the  Oboe  or 
Organ. 

—  (6)  The  key-note  of  the  major  scale, 
which  has  three  sharps  for  its  signature. 

—  (7)  The  name  given  to  a  string  tuned 
to  the  sound  A.  The  A-string  of  a  violin  is 
its  second  string  ;  of  a  viola,  its  first  string ; 
of  a  violoncello,  its  first  string  ;  but  on  this 
instrument  it  is  one  octave  lower  in  pitch 
than  the  A-string  of  a  violin  or  viola  ;  of  a 
Double-Bass,  its  third  string,  which  is  two 
octaves  lower  in  pitch  than  the  first  string  of 
a  violoncello  ;  of  a  guitar,  its  fifth  string. 
The  string  tuned  highest  in  pitch  is  called 
the  first  string  of  an  instrument ;  the  next 
below  it,  the  second  ;  and  so  on. 

—  [8)  The  actual  sound  ^=^=  is  in  some 
systems  represented  by  A  (capital  letter),  while 
AA  represents  the  note  one  octave  below  that 
•ound,  and  AAA  the  note  two  octaves  below 


it.  Proceeding  upwards,  the  note  one  octave 
above  A  is  represented  by  a  (italic);  that  two 
octaves  above  it  by  a  (once  underlined);  that 
three  octaves  above  it,  by  g  (twice  underlined), 
and  so  on.  [Pitch.] 

A.  (It.)  At,  by,  in,  for,  to,  with,  towards, 
&c. ;  a  prima  vista,  at  first  sight ;  a  battuta, 
lit.  by  the  beat,  in  strict  time ;  a  tempo,  in 
time,  &c.  &c;  q.v,  sub  vocibus. 

A.  (Fr.)  For,  by,  on;  a  deux  mains,  for 
two  hands,  &c.;  q.v.  sub  vocibus. 

Abacus  (Lat.)  a^ai,  (Gk.)  Any  square 
tablet ;  hence,  a  board  on  which  calculations 
were  made  ;  hence,  in  music,  a  diagram  of 
the  notes  with  their  names. 

A  ballata  (7^.)  (i)  In  the  ballad  style. 
Applied  to  any  song,  duet,  or  chorus,  con- 
structed in  the  ballad  or  narrative  form. 
Also  to  a  song  with  a  refrain  in  chorus,  as 
is  found  in  many  old  and  modern  English 
songs ;  for  example,  the  song  of  which  a 
portion  runs : 

"  Ich  have  house  and  land  in  Kent, 
And  if  you  love  me,  love  me  now; 
Two  pence  halfpenny  is  my  rent, 

Ich  cannot  come  everich  day  to  woo." 

Chorus. 

"  Two  pence  half  penny  is  his  rent, 
He  cannot  come  everich  day  to  woo  " 

— is  a  song,  a  ballata. 

(2)  The  term  is  also  used  to  describe  a 
vocal  piece,  that  may  be  danced  to.  [Ballad.] 

Abbandonamente  (7^,)  With  self-aban- 
donment, despondingly. 

Abbandonarsi  (7^.)  To  abandon  one- 
self (to  the  influence  of  the  music). 

Abbandono,  con  (7^)  With  self-aban- 
donment, passionately. 

Abbassamento  (7^.)  A  lowering.  Ab- 
bassamento  di  viano,  a  lowering  of  the  hand ; 
abbassamento  di  voce,  a  lowering  of  the 
voice. 

A  battuta  (7^.)  In  strict  time.  This  term  is 
usually  employed  when  a  break  in  the  time  of 


ABBELIRE  ABBREVIATION. 


tt  movement  has  occurred,  and  it  is  desirable 
to  resume  the  original  pace    by  the  beat." 

Weber. 

Recit-  iempo  a  battuta. 


Abbelire  (7^.)  To  overload  a  plain  melody 
with  ornaments. 

Abbelitura(/f.)  Ornament,  embellishment. 

Abblasen  (Ger.)  To  sound  a  trumpet  call. 

Abbreviare  (It.)    To  shorten. 

Abbreviation.  A  system  frequently  em- 
ployed in  music,  by  which  a  portion  of  a 
technical  term  is  made  to  stand  for  the  whole. 
The  following  is  a  list  of  the  abbreviations  in 
most  common  use;  the  explanation  of  each 
term  may  be  found  on  reference  to  the  words 
themselves  in  their  proper  places  : 

Accel. 
Accel" 
Acc. 
Accom .. 
Accomp 
Accres.... 
Adgoorad 

Ad  1  

Ad  lib  ... 
Affetto  . 
Affrett"  . 

Ag°   

Ag)to  .... 
All"  ...  . 
Allgtf  . 
AH'ott... 
All'8^»... 
Al  seg.... 
And""  .... 
And'«  .... 
Anim"  .... 


Arc   

Arp"  

Ard"  

At  

A  tern  .. 
A  temp . 

Aug  


Accelerando 

Accompani- 
ment 

.Accresciamento 
.Adagio 
Ad  libitum 

AfTettuoso 
.Affrettando 
Agitato 

.Allegro 
.Allegretto 

Air  ottava 
.Al  segno 
.Andantino 
.Andante 
.Animato 

Coll  Arco,  or 

Arcato 
.Arpeggio 
.Ardito 


-A  tempo 


By  Augmenta 
tion. 


(  Bass  (voice) 

B  J.  Bassoon 

(  Centre  Bass 

B.  C.  Basso  continuo 

Brill  Brillante 

C.  B  Col  Basso 

CD  Colla  destra 

C  S  Colla  sinistra 

Cad  Cadence 

Cal   Calando 

Can   Cantoris 

Cant   Canto 


Cantab  ...Cantabile 

Cello   Violoncello 

Cemb   Cembalo 

Ch  Choir  organ 

Chal   Chalameau 

Clar   Clarinet 

Clar«»  ...Clarinetto 

Clar   Clarino 

Co.  So.  ...Come  Sopra 
Col  C.     ...Col  Canto 
Col  ott»  ...Coir  ottava 
Col  Vo.  ...Colla  voce 

Con.esp.{C-„«P- 


•  Crescendo 


Cor  Cornet  or  horn 

Cres"  ... 
Cresc  ... 

C.S  Colla  Sinistra 

C.  8"   Coir  ottava 

C"  l"""  Canto  primo 

Co.  1"">   ...Come  primo 
C"   Concerto 

p.  f  Destra,  droite, 

"  I  right 

D.  C  Da  Capo 

Dec  Decani 

Decres  ...Decrescendo 

Delic   Delicamente 

Dest   Destra 

Diap   Diapasons 

Dim   By  Diminution 

Dim  Diminuendo. 

Div   Divisi 

Dol   Dolce 

Dolcis  Dolcissimo 

Dopp.  ped..Doppio  pedale 
D.S  Dal  segno 

Energ   Energicamente 

E:Er^es:::}E«p--- 

F.  or  for  ...Forte 


Fag   Fagotto 

Falset  Falsetto 

Ff.  or  Fff... Fortissimo 
Fl  Flauto 

F.  Org.".'.}^""  ^^g^" 
Fz. 


Forz. 


Forzando 


G   Gauche 

G.  O. 

G.  Org...  i^Great  Organ 
Gt  j 

Grand"  ...Grandioso 

Graz"   Grazioso 

Gr  Grand 

Hauptw.  1 

Hptw. ...  >  Hauptwerk 

H.  P  j 

Haut  Hautboy 

H.C  Haute  Contra 

Intro  Introduction 

Inv   Inversion 


L  .... 
Leg. 


L.H  

Lo  

Luo.  .. 
Lusing. 


M  

Main.  . 
Mano. . 
Maest" 
Magg  ., 

Man  

Mane  .. 
Man"'" 


.Left 

.Legato 

.Leggiero 

.Left  hand 

.Loco 

.Luogo 

.Lusingando 


Manual 

.Maestoso 
.Maggiore 
.Manuals 


Marc. 
M.D.. 


M.G.. 
M.M. 


M.M 
#'  -  92  , 


M.P  

MS.    ...  I 

Mus.Bac  I 

Men  

Mez  

M.V  

Mf.orMff 
Modto.  .. 
Mus.  Doc. 


M arcato 
Mano  Diritta 
Main  Droite 
Manu  Dextra 
.Main  Gauche 
Maelzel's  Me- 
tronome 
The  beat  of  a 
crotchet  is  e- 
qual    to  the 
pulse  of  the 
pendulum  of 
the  Metro- 
nome said  to 
be  Maelzel's, 
with  the 
weight  set  at 
^  92. 

.Mezzo  piano 
Manuscript  or 
Mano  Sinistra 
Bachelor  of 
Music 

.Meno 

.Mezzo 

.Mezzo  voce 

.Mezzo  forte 

.Moderate 

.Doctor  of  Music 

Oboe,  or  Haut- 
bois 


Obb  Obbligato 

I  Oberst.  ...Oberstimme 

loSr''.."}®'^^^"*' 

'  Oh.  ped.  ...Ohne  pedal 
Org  Organ 

g,  I  Ottava 

8"aita  ...Ottava  alta 
8"  bas.  ..  Ottava  bassa 

P  Piano 

Ped  Pedal 

Perd  Perdendosi 

P.F  Piu  forte 

Piang  Piangendo 

Pianiss.  ...Pianissimo 

Pizz  Pizzicato 

Pmo.  ...  ^ 

PP.     ...  >  Pianissimo 


>  Pianississimo 


PPP.  . 
PPPP.. 

 .'..Prima 

1""*    Primo 


4"e   Quartet 

6"e   Quintet 

Rail  Rallentando 

Raddol.  ...Raddolcendo 
Recit  Recitative 

^orrinf:}K'"f°"^"''° 

R.H  Right  hand 

Ritar  Ritardando 

Riten  Ritenuto 


.Senza 
.A  Sign 


Senza  Sordini 


Sostenuto 


K 

Scherz.  ...Scherzando 

2''»   Seconda 

2<'»   Second© 

Seg  Segue 

i:mp.:::}s-p- 

7"   Septet 

6"   Sestet 

Sfz  Sforzando 

Smorz.  ...Smorzando 

Sinf.   Sinfonia 

or.      (  Senza  interru- 
^•^"^••■•1  zione 
S.S.  ... 
S.  Sord  . 

Sos  

Sos'  

Spir  Spiritoso 

S.T  Senza  Tempo 

Stacc  Staccato 

St.  Diap.{S'°PP«d  Di^pa- 

String  Stringendo 

Sw  Swell  organ 

Sym  Symphony 

_  f  Tenor,  tutti, 

 \  tempo,  tendre 

T.C  Tre  corde 

Tern  Tempo 

Tern.  1"  ...Tempo  primo 

Ten  Tenuto 

Timb  Timballes 

Timp  Timpani 

'  Tr  Trillo 


(O 


ABBREVIATURE  A  CAPPELLA. 


Trem 

'Prctnolflndo 

V 

VoRi 

Trio 

Va. 

Viola 

...Trombi 

Var 

Variation 

Tromb. 

...Tromboni 

Velio 

....Violoncello 

T.S.  .. 

...Tasto  solo 

Viv. 

Vo.  . 

U  

Vno.  . 

.  1  Violino 

U.C.  ... 

...Una  corda 

Viol»  . 

Unis.  ... 

V.S.  . 

....Volti  Subito 

V.   

■  Voce 

V"i  ,,, 
V.V.  . 

1  Violini 

There  are  other  abbreviations  employed  in 
manuscript  or  printed  music,  the  chief  of  which 
are  as  follows  : 

In  time,  a  dash  with  a  figure  above  signifies 
the  length  of  the  pause  in  bars,  e.g.: 
24 


In  notes,  the  trouble  of  writing  a  passage  in 
full  is  saved  by  the  use  of  abbreviations,  e.g. : 


Abbreviations,  by  signs,  of  musical  graces 

The  Turn.  <~    

Written  Sung  ^"gfr^ 

The  back  Turn,  -f-  or  )  "^^^^^ 
Written    =^     Sung  " 
Passing  shake,  % 

Written    — Sung 
Beat,  ;:f- 
Written  E 


bung 


Written    '     m  Played   J  ' 


Played 


Abbreviature  {It.)  Abbreviations. 
Abbreviazione  (It.)    An  abbreviation. 


Abcidiren  {Ger.)  (i)  To  use  a  system  of 
solmisation.  A  series  of  exercises  in  which 
the  names  of  the  notes  are  used  instead  of 
words.  (2)  A  method  of  instruction  for  sight 
singing. 

Abellare  (7^.)  To  decorate,  ornament,  or 
embellish. 

Abellimento  {It.)  A  decoration,  ornament, 
or  embellishment. 

Abendglocke  {Ger.)  The  Curfew,  evening 
bell. 

A  bene  placito  {It.)  At  pleasure.  The 
singer  or  performer  may  alter  the  time,  intro- 
duce ornaments,  cadenzas,  &c.,  according  to 
fancy,  or  may  use  certain  instruments  speci- 
fied, or  not,  without  detriment  to  the  effect 
required.    [Chamber  Music] 

Abenteuerlich  {Ger.)  Strange  and  uncouth. 
The  music  of  the  new  German  school  is  so 
called  by  the  unthinking. 

Abgestossen  {Ger.)  Struck  off.  Staccato. 

Abgeleiteter.^kord  {Ger  )  An  inversion 
of  a  chord. 

Ab  initio  {Lat.)  From  the  beginning.  [Da 
capo.] 

Abkiirzungen  {Ger.)  Abbreviations. 
Abr^ger  {Fr.)  To  shorten,  curtail,  abridge. 
Abregd  {Fr.)  Shortened. 
Abreissung  {Ger.)    A  sudden  pause. 
Abrupt  cadence.  An  interrupted  cadence. 
[Cadence.] 

Abrupt  modulation.  A  sudden  change 
of  key  for  which  no  preparation  has  been 
made.  [Modulation.] 

Absatz  {Ger.)    Cadence.  [Cadence.] 
Abschnitt  {Ger.)    Section.  [Phrase.] 
Absetzen  (Ger.)  1  To  render  music  'stac- 
Abstossen(Ge>-.)  J  cato.' 
Abub.  [Ambubajae.j 

Abwechselnd  (Ger.)  Alternating,  mit  ab- 
wechselnden  Manualen,  alternately  from  the 
great  to  the  choir  organ. 

Academic  de  Musique  {Fr.)  An  aca- 
demy of  music. 

Academie  Royale  de  Musique  {Fr.)  '1  he 
opera  house  in  Paris. 

Academie  Spirituelle  {Fr.)  A  concert 
or  performance  of  sacred  music. 

Academy  of  Music.  A  name  given  to 
an  organised  society  of  performers  and 
teachers  of  music;  originally  applied  to  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Music,  founded  1824  in 
London. 

A  cappella,or,Allacappella(7/.)  (i)  In  the 
church  style,  vocal  pieces  unaccompanied, 
especially  those  of  the  Italian  school,  because 
the  music  sung  in  the  Sistine  Chapel  was  never 
accompanied  by  instruments.  [School.] 

(2)  Church  music  in  a  duple  time  (two  or 
four  minims  in  each  bar),  this  being  for  a 
long  period  considered  more  ecclesiastical 
than  triple  measure. 


(  3  ) 


A  CAPRICCIO  ACCENT. 


A  capriccio  (7^,)  At  will,  according  to 
individual  fancy. 

Acathistus.  A  hymn  of  praise,  sung  in 
the  Greek  Church  in  honour  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  upon  the  Saturday  in  the  fifth  week 
in  Lent,  by  the  whole  congregation  stand- 
ing. 

Accarezzevole  (It.)  (Lit.  flatteringly.) 
Agreeable,  pleasing ;  used  occasionally  to  de- 
scribe the  anticipation  of  notes. 

Accarezzevolmente  {It.)  In  a  caress- 
ing style. 

Accelerando  or  accellerato  (It.)  Gra- 
dually increasing  the  pace. 

Accent  (Fr.)  A  sign  used  in  old  French 
music  for  the  Harpsichord  : 

Written      ^=2z^=    Played  / 

The  custom  of  employing  a  variety  of  orna- 
ments in  harpsichord  music,  arose  from  the 
fact  that  the  instrument  was  not  capable  of 
sustaining  tone  without  the  use  of  repeated 
touches. 

Accent. — In  its  ancient  and  widest  sense, 
a  sign  placed  over  a  syllable  to  indicate  the 
elevation  of  the  voice  when  pronouncing  it. 
Hence,  the  term  came  to  imply  a  raising  up- 
wards of  the  voice  in  the  scale  series  from  the 
monotone  or  note  of  recitation,  to  a  sound  of 
higher  pitch.  By  using  various  forms  of 
accents,  different  elevations  of  the  voice  were 
obtained,  until  a  rude  sort  of  chant  resulted. 
The  most  ancient  known  accents,  those  of  the 
Hebrews  as  found  in  the  Pentateuch,  Psalms, 
and  Book  of  Job,  were  interpreted  only  by  tra- 
dition, not  according  to  definite  rule.  Unfor- 
tunately therefore  in  comparing  the  musical 
rendering  of  them  as  taken  down  in  modern 
notation  by  authors  in  various  parts  of  Europe, 
it  will  be  found  that  their  original  force  is 
now  quite  unknown,  and  that  the  various 
"  foliations "  which  are  supposed  to  repre- 
sent their  meaning,  are  the  growth  of  many 
surrounding  musical  or  other  indirect  in- 
fluences. 

2.  In  early  Greek  Church  music,  the  accents 
had  to  a  great  extent,  a  plain  and  definite 
intention,  and  as  they  were  fixed  and  adapted 
to  various  poems  by  John  of  Damascus  in 
the  8th  century,  and  their  use  has  been  kept 
up  in  its  purity  to  this  day  in  Byzantine 
music,  a  very  good  insight  into  early  forms 
and  principles  of  notation  can  be  obtained. 
[Greek  Church  music] 

3.  In  mediieval  music  the  term  accent  was 
also  applied  to  musical  notation,  the  first  two 
and  most  common  of  the  signs  being  the 
accentus  acutiis,  and  accentus  gravis.  After- 
wards the  term  came  to  signify  the  system 
'generally,  and  so  became  synonymous  with 
neuma,  under  which  head  information  as  to 


mediaeval  notation  will  be  found.  [Neuma.] 
[Old  systems  of  notation.~} 

4.  In  plain  song,  the  term  accent,  or  accen- 
tus ecclesiasticus,  was  used  to  designate  that 
system  of  movement  of  the  voice,  by  learning 
the  principles  of  which  (modus  legendi  chor- 
aliter),  a  chanter  could  read  collects,  epistles, 
gospels,  &c.,  from  an  un-noted  book.  Hence, 
it  resolved  itself  into  a  series  of  rules  relating 
to  the  inflexions  or  intonations  of  the  voice  on 
reaching  a  comma,  semicolon,  colon,  full  stop, 
and  also  a  note  of  interrogation.  But  perfect 
uniformity  is  not  to  be  found  in  these  regula- 
tions regarding  the  puncta.  According  to 
its  position  in  the  sentence,  or  the  interval 
covered  by  the  movement  of  the  voice,  accent 
was  said  to  be  (i)  immutabilis,  (2)  medius, 
(3)  gravis,  (4)  acutus,  (5)  moderatus,  (6)  in- 
terrogativus,  (7)  finalis.  The  following  are 
examples  of  these  diff"erent  species  : 

immutabilis. 


Lec-ti  -  o      E  -  pi-sto-lae  Sane  -  ti    Pau  -  li 
medius. 


et     o-  pe-ra-tur    vir-tu-tes    in  vo-bis: 
gravis. 


Be  -  ne  -  fi  cen-  tur    in    Te  om  -  nes  gen  -  tes. 

acutus. 


Cum    Spi  -  ri   -   tu      coe  -  pe  -  ri  -  tis  nunc, 

moderatus. 


cum  fi  -  de  -  li,       ex    o  -  pe  -  ri  -  bus    le  -  gis, 
interrogativus. 


an      ex      au  -  di  -  tu       fi   -  de  -    i  ? 

fnalis. 


A  -  ni  -  ma    me  -  a      ad    Te     De  -  us. 


But  according  to  some  authors,  the  epistle 
should  be  on  monotone,  except  at  a  point  of 
interrogation,  e.g. : 


Lec  -  ti  -  o      li  -  bri    Sa  -  pi  -  en  -  ti  -  ae 


Be  -  a-  tus  vir  qui  in-ventus  est  si  -  ne  ma-cu-la,  &c. 


Qiiis  est    hie    et    lau-^a  -  bi  -  mus     e  -  um  ? 


ACCENT. 


But  in  some  countries,  the  epistle  is  chanted 
with  the  greatest  elaboration,  the  note  above 
the  reciting  note  being  introduced  before  the 
full  stop,  and  the  whole  of  an  interrogative 
sentence  being  recited  on  a  note  below  the 
ut.  But  as  these  uses  differ  not  only  in 
various  places,  but  according  to  the  Church 
seasons,  an  exhaustive  account  is  impossible. 

In  chanting  the  gospel,  an  accentiis  medius 
takes  place  at  the  fourth  syllable  from  a  full 
stop,  or  thereabouts,  and  also  the  accentus 
inter ro gat  V us. 


Se-quen-ti  -  a    Sane  -  ti     Ev-an-ge  -  li  -  i 


se  -  cun- dum  Mat  -  tha  -  urn,  &c.     In     il  -  lo 


"tem-po-re  dix  -  it   Si-mon  Pe-trus  ad  Je-sum,  &c. 


quid    er  -  go     e  -  rit    no  -  bis  ?  &c.  Et    vi  -  tam 


e  -  ter  -   nam  pos  -  si  -  de  -  bit. 


In  the  chanting  of  collects,  a  fall  from  Ut 
to  La,  or  from  Fa  to  Re  takes  place  at  a 
piincttirn  principale,  and  from  Ut  to  Si,  or 
Fa  to  Mi  once  only  at  a  scinipnnctiim. 

The  accentus  ecclesiasticus  of  lections  and 
prayers  must  not  be  confused  with  those  in- 
flexions which  tradition  assigns  to  other  parts 
of  the  service,  such  as  confessions,  proper 
prefaces,  and  lections  of  the  Passion  ;  all 
of  which  are  to  be  found  noted  in  authorised 
books.  It  should  be  remarked  that  the  Belgian 
and  French  uses  often  differ  much  from  that 
of  the  Romans,  although  uniformity  in  such 
things  is  without  doubt  desirable. 

5.  In  modern  music,  accent  is  the  stress 
which  recurs  at  regular  intervals  of  time.  By 
the  proper  grouping  of  a  series  of  accents, 
rhythm  is  produced.  When  music  was  in- 
dissoluble from  poetry,  a  sign  for  marking 
accent  was  not  needed,  but  it  is  necessary  to 
point  out  in  order  to  avoid  confusion,  that 
our  word  accent  corresponds  more  to  the 
ancient  ictus  than  to  arsis.  For  although 
the  latter  represented  a  raising  of  the  voice, 
it  did  not  necessarily  occur  on  a  long  syllable, 
whereas  it  is  considered  a  fault  in  modern 
music,  if  a  short  syllable  occurs  on  an  accented 
note.  The  position  of  the  accent  is  plainly 
and  simply  indicated  by  upright  strokes  called 
bars  [BarJ,  it  being  understood  that  the  first 
note  inside  a  bar  is  without  exception  accented.. 
The  measurement  of  the  whole  duration  of 


the  notes  between  these  accents,  is  recorded 
at  the  commencement  of  a  movement,  and 
constitutes  what  is  called  the  time-signature. 
In  bars  containing  more  than  one  group  of 
notes,  as  is  the  case  in  compound  times,  other 
accents  occur  on  the  first  note  of  each  group, 
but  they  are  not  so  strong  as  that  falling  on 
the  first  note  of  the  first  group.  The  latter 
therefore  is  called  the  primary  or  principal 
accent  ;  the  former  secondary  or  subordinate. 
Besides  these  normal  positions  of  accents, 
there  are  others  which  can  be  produced  at 
any  point  by  the  use  of  a  sign  >  or  5/.  An 
accent  can  also  be  displaced  for  a  time  from 
its  usual  seat  by  binding  an  unaccented  chord 
to  a  like  chord  at  a  point  of  accent,  and  so 
preventing  its  repercussion  ;  or,  by  both  com- 
bined. 


Beethoven's  Sym.,    No.  3. 


The  throwing  of  the  accent  on  to  an  unac- 
cented part  of  the  bar  is  called  syncopation. 
A  similar  effect  can  be  produced  by  a  process 
the  converse  of  the  above,  that  is  by  making 
rests  fall  where  an  ictus  is  expected,  e.g.  : 


Beethoven's  Sym.   No.  3. 


This  intentional  upsetting  of  our  accepted 
notions  of  the  expected  position  of  accent  is 
capable  of  a  most  remarkable  and  powerful 
effect.  Heard  by  a  musician  just  two  centu- 
ries ago,  its  effect  would  proljably  not  have 
been  so  striking,  as  he  would  have  supposed 
the  writer  to  have  changed  from  triple  ta 
duple  time,  a  constant  habit  in  those  days. 
Such  accents  are  sometimes  called  cross,  oi 
false. 


(5  ) 


ACCENTUARE  ACCOMPANIMENT. 


Accentuare  [It.)    To  accent. 
Accentuation.    The  act  of  accenting,  or 
giving  to  certain  notes  their  due  emphasis. 
Accessory    stops    and  movements. 

Stops  and  movements  acting  only  on  the 
mechanism  of  an  organ,  not  having  pipes 
in  connection  with  them,  as.  Couplers,  Tre- 
molo, Signal  to  the  blowers  ;  Composition 
pedals,  &c. 

Acciaccatura(/<.)    A  short  appoggiatura, 


lightly  yet  clearly  to  be  sung,  or  played. 

Accidentals.  Sharps,  fiats,  or  naturals, 
introduced  into  a  piece  of  music,  beyond 
those  already  in  the  signature. 

A  cinque  {It).  In  five  parts. 

Accollade  [Fr.)  A  brace,  uniting  several 
staves,  as  in  pianoforte  or  organ  music,  or  in 
a  score. 

Accommodare  {It.)  To  tune  an  instru- 
ment in  agreement  with  another. 

Accompagnamento  [It.)  i  [Accompani- 
Accompagnement  {Fr.)  ]  ment.] 
Accompaniment  ad  libitum.  Accom- 
paniment at  will.  That  is,  one  which  can 
be  played  or  omitted  without  injury  to  the 
harmonic  construction  of  a  composition,  c.f. 
obbligato. 

Accompaniment  obbligato.  [Obbligato.] 
Accompaniment.  A  separate  part  or 
parts,  for  voices  or  instruments,  added  to 
a  solo  or  concerted  piece.  Accompaniment 
may  consist  of  a  single  simple  instrument, 
such  as  a  violin  or  flute,  or  a  single  com- 
pound instrument  as  an  organ  or  pianoforte,  a 
combination  of  selected  orchestral  instruments, 
or  a  whole  band,  or  of  voices  in  harmony. 
Accompaniments  are  those  portions  of  a 
composition  which  are  independent  of  the 
principal  parts,  and  which  are  added  to  sup- 
port, or  to  produce  such  effects  as  would 
be  otherwise  unattainable.  Accompaniment 
should  always  be  subservient  to  the  chief 
part,  so  as  not  to  overload  or  obscure  it, 
and  should  be  so  constructed,  that  the  voice 
or  voices  or  solo  instruments  should  be  made 
to  appear  to  the  most  favourable  advantage. 
In  the  earliest  records  we  possess  it  is  found 
that  some  sort  of  accompaniment  was  gener- 
ally employed  either  to  assist  the  voice,  or 
mark  the  time  or  rhythm  of  the  songs  sung: 
of  these  many  examples  could  be  quoted  if 
it  were  necessary.  In  the  Bible,  instances  are 
mentioned  in  which  singing  is  accompanied 
by  musical  instruments  ;  but  of  the  nature 
of  these  accompaniments  we  can  form  no 
definite  idea,  beyond  the  fact  that,  from  a 
comparative  knowledge  of  the  instruments 
spoken  of,  it  is  presumed  that  little,  if  any 


attempt  was  made  to  gain  independent  effect  . 
The  ancient  Greek  dance,  and  the  poetry  of 
the  tragedy,  was  always  accompanied,  at  first 
with  the  lyre,  afterwards  with  the  flute. 

Donaldson,  in  his  "Theatre  of  the  Greeks," 
says,  that  the  Ancient  Dorian  Choral  song, 
the  Pcean,  was  originally  accompanied  with 
the  Harp  {(pvpfnyl.) 

According  to  modern  views,  an  accorn- 
paniment  implies  some  construction  in  har- 
mony, but  the  ambiguity  with  which  the 
terms  melody  and  harmony  are  employed 
by  the  ancient  Greek  and  Latin,  as  well  as 
by  the  more  modern  writers,  has  given  rise 
to  a  doubt  as  to  whether  they  had  any  know- 
ledge of  the  art  of  combining  certain  concords 
according  to  such  rules  as  we  now  possess. 
The  science  of  harmony  is  of  relatively 
modern  growth,  and  the  art  of  employing 
instruments  in  combination,  as  accompani- 
ments to  vocal  music,  is  more  recent  than  the 
growth  of  harmony. 

It  has  been  stated  that  dancing  is  of  greater 
antiquity  than  singing,  and  that  singing  was 
generally  the  usual  accompanimentto  dancing. 
The  same  root  supplying  many  words  refer- 
ring alike  to  dancing,  singing,  and  playing, 
suggests  a  common  origin  for  dancing  and 
its  accompaniment.  Most  of  the  words  of 
ancient  ballads  are  set  to  tunes  that  were 
danced  to,  and  the  practice  is  still  observed 
of  arranging  words  to  melodies,  that  were 
originally  intended  to  accompany  the  dance. 
So  that  the  "  new  "  idea  of  singing  waltzes 
or  other  dance  measures,  is  but  a  revival  of 
the  ancient  practice.  Nothing  seems  more 
natural  than  that  those  not  actually  engaged 
in  dancing,  but  as  interested  spectators,  upon 
the  recurrence  of  a  musical  phrase  should 
accompany  it  with  the  voice.  This  would 
form  such  a  burden  or  chorus  as  that  alluded 
to  by  Shakespeare  : 

"  Foot  it  featly  here  and  there, 
And  let  the  rest  the  burden  bear." 

Some  simple  instrument  would  be  employed 
to  play  the  tune,  either  with  or  without  some 
means  of  marking  the  time  or  rhythm:  a 
combination  like  that  of  the  pipe  and  tabour, 
would  form  an  adequate  accompaniment  to 
the  dance,  as  the  burden  would  to  the  song. 
As  most  of  the  mediaeval  learning  and  accom- 
plishments came  through  the  Church,  it  is 
very  reasonable  to  assume  that  the  methods 
of  the  Church  would  be  reflected  in  the  prac- 
tices of  every-day  life.  And  as  it  is  known 
that  the  organs  employed  in  the  service  were 
so  constructed  as  to  be  adapted  only  for  the 
purposes  of  melody,  it  is  scarcely  probable 
that  harmony  should  have  been  in  use  as  an 
accompaniment  to  secular  songs  and  tunes. 
Although  instruments  were  employed  as  ac- 


(6) 


ACCOMPANIMENT. 


companiments  to  the  voice,  there  is  no  reason 
for  supposing  that  they  were  not  at  times 
engaged  in  the  performance  of  purely  in- 
strumental pieces,  but  on  the  contrary,  the 
numerous  instances  in  which  musical  in- 
struments are  mentioned  in  ancient  English 
poetry,  show  that  the  performers  were  not 
only  accustomed  to  accompany  singing  with 
their  several  instruments,  but  they  also  imply 
that  they  were  able  to  play  independent 
pieces.    [Mediaeval  musical  instruments.] 

In  some  instances  we  find  that  the  accom- 
panist was  distinct  from  the  singer,  for 
example  :  "  In  Alwyni  episcopi  .  .  .  et  durante 
pietancia  in  aula  conventus,  sex  ministralli, 
cum  quatuor  citharisatoribus,  faciebant  minis- 
tralcias  suas."  Regis.  Prior:  S.  Swithini 
VVinton  (c.  1374).  It  cannot  be  ascertained 
whether  the  harpers  did  any  more  than  play  the 
same  melody  to  which  the  poems  were  recited, 
or  by  the  constant  repetition  of  certain  notes 
serve  any  other  purpose  but  that  of  main- 
taining the  pitch  or  rhythm. 

The  following  quotation  from  David  Lynd- 
say's  poem,  "The  Dreme,"  1579,  implies 
the  performance  ofa  purely  instrumental  piece: 

"  Thay  beir  ane  aid  stok-image  throu  the  toun. 
With  taibrone,  trumpet,  shahne,  and  ciarione." 

Whether  this  combination  produced  con- 
cord, or  unison,  it  is  impossible  now  to  de- 
cide, for,  as  before  stated,  the  loose  manner 
with  which  the  terms  melody  and  harmony  are 
employed  helps  to  confuse,  rather  than  to 
make  clear  all  conjecture.    For  example : 

"  And  all  above  there  lay  a  gay  sautrie, 
On  which  he  made  on  nightis  melodye."  Chaucer. 

Again,  in  the  "  Lyfe  of  Saint  Werburge," 
printed  by  Pynson  in  1521,  we  read: 

"  Certayne  at  each  course  of  service  in  the  Hall 
Trumpettes  blewe  up,  shalmes,  and  claryouns 
Shewynge  theyr  melody,  with  toynes  musycall  " 

and  again  in  the  same  poem  : 

"  A  singuler  Mynstrell,  all  other  ferre  passynge 
Toyned  his  instrument  in  pleasaunt  armony." 

In  the  two  first  quoted  examples,  that  which 
is  called  melody  might  well  be  harmony,  and 
in  the  third,  that  which  is  called  harmony 
might  well  be  melody. 

In  nearly  every  list  of  instruments  of  min- 
strelsy, there  are  one  or  two  pulsatile  instru- 
ments spoken  of — "Tymphans,  tabours, 
nacaires,"  whose  use  was  to  mark  the  rhythm, 
sung,  played,  or  danced  to ;  but  where  these 
regular  instruments  were  wanting,  the  clap- 
ping of  hands,  the  beating  of  a  stick  upon  a 
shovel,  or  the  clashing  of  two  sticks  together, 
or  the  "  ancient  natural  instruments  of  our 
islands,"  as  Dr.  Burney  calls  the  tongs, 
marrow -bones  and  cleavers,  salt -box  and 
rolling-pin,  with  the  hurdy-gurdy,  were  em- 
ployed as  accompaniments  to  rustic  songs 


or  dances.  These  "  natural  instruments" 
required  little  skill  to  use,  beyond  a  correct 
sense  of  rhythm,  though  there  are  instances 
on  record  where  some  degree  of  science  was 
brought  to  bear  in  their  employment.  The 
butchers  of  Clare  Market,  in  the  parish  of 
St.  Clement  Danes  m  London,  were  at  one 
time  noted  for  their  aptitude  in  playing  tunes 
with  marrow-bones  upon  cleavers  of  various 
sizes  capable  of  sounding  a  scale  of  notes,  in 
a  manner  somewhat  similar  to  the  hand-bell 
ringing  in  the  North  of  England,  but  their 
performances  were  ultimately  made  independ- 
ent, and  therefore  could  scarcely  be  considered 
as  accompaniments.  Addison's  description 
of  a  Burlesque  musician,  and  his  cultivation 
of  strange  instruments  for  accompaniment, 
may  be  read  with  interest  in  reference  to  this 
subject  (Spectator,  No.  570.)  Skelton,  in  his 
description  of  Riot,  speaks  of  one,  who 

"  Counter  he  coulde,  O  Lux,  upon  a  potte, ' 
probably  meaning  that  while  he  sang  the 
melody  of  the  ancient  hymn,  "  O  Lux,  beata 
Trinitas,"  he  would  beat  upon  the  vessel  he 
had  been  drinking  out  of,  a  part,  in  derisive 
imitation  of  the  florid  counterpoint  sung 
by  the  monks  during  service.  The  poets  and 
authors  of  the  middle  ages  give  no  lucid  in- 
formation concerning  the  abilities  of  the 
musicians  of  their  times,  probably  on  the 
presumption,  that  because  the  method  of 
their  performances  was  well  known  and 
understood  by  every  one,  no  particular  de- 
scription was  needed.  All  our  knowledge  on 
the  subject  is  derived  from  inference,  and  so 
it  is  assumed  that  the  minstrels  and  later 
musicians,  previously  to  the  i6th  century, 
had  little,  if  any,  knowledge  of  harmony;  or 
if  they  had,  they  probably  left  the  practice  of 
it  to  the  Church. 

There  is  a  further  reason  for  supposing 
that  the  ancient  minstrels  accompanied  their 
songs  by  playing  the  same  melody  which  was 
sung,  in  the  character  of  the  majority  of  the 
instruments  alluded  to  in  old  writings  : — 

"  Harpys,  fythales,  and  eke  rotys 
Lutys,  ribibles,  and  geternes, 
Orguys,  cytolis,  monacordys 
....  trumpes,  and  trumpettes 
Lowde  shaluys,  and  don;ettes." 
The  drone  of  the  bagpipe  and  the  funda- 
mental sound  of  the  drum  might  suggest  the 
formation  of  harmony;  the  character  and  con- 
struction of  the  earliest  piece  of  harmony  wf 
possess,   "  Sumer   is  icumen   in"  offering 
curious  confirmation  of  this  notion. 

All  writers  are  agreed  as  to  this  being  the 
oldest  song  with  musical  notes  extant.  War- 
ton  believed  it  to  belong  to  the  15th  century, 
but  Sir  Frederick  Madden  showed  it  to  be  at 
least  two  hundred  years  older;  and  judging 
by  the  character  in  which  it  is  written,  and 


(7  ) 


ACCOMPANIMENT. 


other  evidence,  fixed  its  date  at  about  the  year 
1250.  It  is  among  the  Harleian  MSS.  in  the 
British  Museum.  The  piece  is  arranged  as  a 
continuous  melody  ;  but  by  commencing  that 
melody  at  certain  indicated  places,  it  forms  a 
canon  in  the  unison  in  four  parts,  with  a  "  pes," 
a  foot,  or  burden  for  two  other  parts. 

The  first  attempts  at  accompaniment  in  har- 
mony were  arranged  for  the  voice,  in  a  manner 
that  to  ourearswouldbe  simply  barbarous[Dia- 
phony],  [Descant],  [Fa  burden].  It  was  only 
by  slow  degrees  that  it  was  discovered  that 
certain  instruments  were  capable  of  producin 
complicated  sounds  forming  harmony,  and 
were  therefore  especially  valuable  for  accom- 
paniment. The  chief  among  these  instruments 
was  the  Lute,  which  appears  to  have  been  a 
favourite  instrument  in  Chaucer's  time,  and  to 
havecontinued  in  favourinone  former  another, 
until  the  virginals  and  spinetts,  being  of  more 
convenient  form  and  less  trouble  to  keep  in  or- 
der, completely  superseded  it.  [Tablature.] 

The  opportunity  the  virginals  and  spinetts 
gave  for  the  employment  of  both  hands, 
tended  considerably  towards  the  improvement 
of  accompaniments,  as  well  as  developing 
the  power  of  execution  for  solo  purposes. 
"  Consorts  of  viols  "  were  at  first  used  only 
"  for  Cantilenas  and  tunes  for  dancing," 
though  compositions  were  occasionally  so 
arranged  as  "  to  be  apt  for  viols  or  voyces," 
and  when  instruments  were  employed  with 
voices  they  generally  played  the  same  notes 
as  the  voices,  a  practice  observed  until  the 
time  of  Handel.  No  doubt  an  organist  ac- 
companying some  of  the  services  and  anthems 
in  Church,  occasionally  indulged  in  a  little 
license  in  the  matter  of  fingering,  and  intro- 
duced flourishes  and  cadences  according  to 
fancy,  while  the  choir  were  singing  the  plain 
vocal  harmonies.  A  copy  of  a  portion  of 
Gibbons's  service  in  F  [1583-1624]  found 
among  the  old  music  in  Magdalen  College, 
Oxford,  in  which  such  variations  are  written 
down,  is  still  preserved.  Although  the  MS. 
belongs  to  the  middle  of  the  17th  century, 
there  is  no  doubt  but  that  it  records  a  con- 
tinuation of  a  custom  of  long  standing.  The 
character  of  this  accompaniment  may  be  seen 
by  the  following  quotation  : 


A  comparison  of  the  vocal  with  the  organ 
score,  here  shows  that  the  ornaments  intro- 
duced are  such  as  involve  little,  if  any  depar- 
ture from,  the  rules  of  harmony,  while  they 
impart  a  distinct  character  to  the  accompani- 
ment, such  a  character  as  most  of  the  spinett 
or  harpsichord  music  of  the  period  possessed. 
The  peculiarity  of  all  old  key-board  stringed 
instruments,  their  feebleness  of  tone  and 
their  lack  of  sustaining  power,  probably  sug- 
gested to  the  skilful  player  the  necessity  of 
breaking  up  the  accompaniments  to  vocal 
music,  ornaments  and  graces  being  considered 
perfectly  legitimate  so  long  as  they  did  not 
interfere  with  the  essential  notes  of  the  har- 
mony as  represented  by  the  figured  bass. 
But  as  in  many  cases  it  was  doubtless  deemed 
unwise  to  attempt  display  in  the  accompani- 
ments during  the  singing,  therefore  all  exhi- 
bition of  skill  on  the  part  of  the  accompanist 
was  reserved  for  the  ritornelli,  with  which 
songs  of  the  17th  century  abound. 

It  was  Monteverde[  1568-1643]  who,  among 
other  of  his  art-benefiting  inventions,  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  constructing  independent 
accompaniments  for   instruments,  breaking 

) 


ACCOMPANIMENT  ACCORD. 


up  long  notes  into  effective  repetitions,  and 
so  imparting  novel  rhythms  and  striking  in- 
strumental figures.  From  his  conception 
arose  the  Italian  school  of  accompaniment — 
a  school  which  influenced  all  musical  teaching 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  and  only  de- 
cayed with  the  growth  of  a  distinct  style  of 
instrumentation,  the  result  of  Italian  ideas 
implanted  in  the  German  mind,  after  which 
the  Symphony  and  Sonata,  retaining  names 
derived  from  their  connection  with  vocal 
music,  became  independent  and  distinct,  and 
accompaniment  once  more  was  lifeless  and 
uninteresting,  a  mer^e  adventitious  aid.  In- 
difference with  regard  to  the  part  accompani- 
ment should  play,  marked  most  of  the 
music  produced  for  a  long  period,  but  the 
power  of  the  genius  of  Mendelssohn  aroused 
new  thoughts  and  new  deeds,  and  care  as 
great  as  that  involved  in  the  production  of  a 
vocal  piece  was  employed  in  accompaniments, 
with  true  artistic  effect.  The  followers  of 
Wagner,  in  imitation  of  him,  are  striving 
to  impart  a  new  form  to  accompaniment, 
by  giving  to  every  instrument  employed, 
a  certain  amount  of  independent  work  to 
do — a  practice  at  once  laudable  and  in- 
genious, but  neither  novel  nor  needful.  It 
is  laudable,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  as  well  to 
interest  the  performer;  it  is  ingenious,  as  no 
common  amount  of  thought  is  involved  in  its 
production;  it  is  not  novel,  for  it  was  the 
practice  of  the  Italian  writers,  and  it  is  not 
needful,  as  accompaniment  should  always  be 
subservient  to  the  thing  accompanied. 

Purcell  was  among  the  first  of  the  musicians 
in  England  who  attempted  to  give  colour  to  the 
accompaniments  in  the  scores  of  his  operas, 
but  only  occasionally  introduced  variety  in  the 
organ  parts  of  his  Anthems.  The  works  of 
the  musicians  of  the  latter  portion  of  the  17th 
and  the  commencement  of  the  i8th  centuries, 
show  a  desire  to  depart  from  the  habitual  rule, 
by  giving  independent  melodies  to  the  accom- 
panying parts,  specimens  of  which  may  be 
traced  in  Blow's  Amphion,  and  contemporary 
works.  The  scores  of  J.  S.  Bach's  "Passions" 
and  other  of  his  compositions,  contain  some 
excellent  specimens  of  free  instrumental  parts 
in  the  accompaniments,  and  many  of  Handel's 
obbligati  foreshadow  the  true  use  of  orchestral 
colouring,  a  shadow  to  which  substance  was 
given  by  Haydn,  Mozart,  and  Beethoven. 

The  influence  of  conventionality  may  be 
observed  in  accompaniments  from  the  earliest 
period  to  the  present  day.  Because  it  was 
the  practice  in  olden  time  to  accompany 
recitative  upon  the  "  cembalo,"  composers 
rarely  thought  of  setting  down  more  than  a 
figured  bass  to  these  parts  of  their  scores, 
excepting  when  the  recitative  took  something 
of  the  form  of  the  "  soliloquas ;"  and  because 


(9 


the  "  maestro  di  cembalo"  became  an  obso- 
lete office  in  the  orchestra,  as  soon  as 
conductors  considered  it  to  be  undignified 
to  do  other  than  direct  with  the  baton,  it 
was  necessary  that  some  mode  of  accom- 
panying recitative  should  be  devised,  and 
the  figured  bass  was  interpreted  by  a  violon- 
cello and  double  bass.  Trumpets  and  drums 
were  generally  employed  together,  as  nmch 
for  rhythmical,  as  for  any  other  purpose ; 
and  many  other  instances  of  the  thoughtless 
practice  of  taking  things  for  granted,  and 
doing  that  which  was  held  to  be  correct, 
because  it  was  the  custom,  are  to  be  found 
in  well-known  works  of  the  lesser  lights  in 
music,  the  great  thinkers  constantly  de- 
spising ordinary  forms,  and  inventing  new 
ones,  which  in  their  turn  became  models 
for  imitation,  and  therefore  standards  of  con- 
ventionality. 

The  bagpipe,  fiddle,  lute,  cittern,  virginals, 
spinett, harpsichord, pianoforte,  harp,  and  guitar 
have  each  had  their  turns  of  favour  and  appre- 
ciation at  several  times. 

The  use  of  the  guitar  for  an  accompani- 
ment became  exceedingly  popular  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  to  the  in- 
jury of  the  makers  of  pianofortes,  until  Kirk- 
man  gave  away  a  number  of  cheap  guitars  to 
milliners'  apprentice  girls,  and  so  made  the 
instrument  unfashionable.  The  portability  of 
both  harp  and  guitar  rendered  them  useful 
for  the  purposes  of  accompaniment,  more 
especially  at  a  time  when  the  pianoforte  was 
less  frequently  found  in  dwelling-houses 
than  it  is  now;  but  improved  mechanism  and 
tone,  together  with  smallness  of  cost,  have 
made  the  pianoforte  the  most  available  ac- 
companying instrument  in  private  as  well  as 
in  public;  and  the  fact  that  one  is  to  be  found 
in  nearly  every  house  has  contributed  gieatly 
towards  the  neglect  of  more  portable  means 
of  accompanying  songs  and  other  household 
music. 

Accompanist.  The  player  who  accom- 
panies. The  qualities  necessary  to  form  a 
good  accompanist  are,  (i)  that  he  possess  a 
knowledge  of  reading  music  at  sight,  and  of 
harmony  ;  (2)  that  he  should  be  acquainted 
with  the  style  of  the  music  performed;  (3) 
that  he  should  know  the  characteristics  of 
those  performers  whom  he  is  called  upon  to 
accompany;  (4)  that  while  playing  with  firm- 
ness and  decision, he  should  notattemptto lead. 

Accoppiato(/^)  Joined  or  connected. 

Accord  (Fr.)  (i)  The  series  of  notes  to 
which  an  instrument  is  tuned,  e.g.,  Accora 
du  Violon,  ~j>     »  — 


hence.  Accord  a  I'ouvert,  open  strings,  q.v. 

(2)  A  chord.   Concord,  hence,  D'accord,  in 
tune. 
) 


ACCORD  -  ACOUSTICS. 


Accord  de  sixte  Ajoutee  {Fr.)  The 
chord  of  the  Added  Sixth.    [Added  Sixth,] 

Accordamento  (It.)\  .  ^.  ^ 

Accordanza       (It.)  j  Agreement  in  tune. 

Accordando  (It.)  Tuning. 

Accordare  (//.)    To  tune. 

Accordato  {It.)  Tuned. 

Accordatura  (It.)  [Accord.] 

Accorder  (Fr.)    To  tune  an  instrument. 

Accordeur  (Fr.)    A  tuner. 

Accordion.  A  simple  musical  instru- 
ment, of  oblong  form,  invented  by  Damian, 
of  Vienna,  in  1829.  The  tone  is  produced 
by  the  inspiration  and  respiration  of  a  pair 
of  bellows  acting  upon  metallic  reeds  or 
tongues.    [Free  reed.] 

The  first  instruments  had  only  four  buttons, 
or  keys,  each  of  which  acted  on  two  reeds, 
making  the  compass  one  octave  of  diatonic 
scale,  but  with  a  separate  arrangement,  by 
which  these  notes  might  be  accompanied  with 
a  tonic  and  dominant  harmonj'.  At  first  it 
was  used  only  as  a  toy,  but  the  introduction 
of  a  chromatic  scale  made  the  Accordion  more 
capable  of  producing  a  varied  melody  and 
harmony,  although  the  awkwardness  of  the 
form  was  always  a  hindrance  to  its  use.  The 
German  Accordion  or  Concertina  (q.v.)  of 
hexagonal  form  made  the  principle  of  the 
accordion  more  acceptable.  The  English 
concertina  ((/.t;,) and  the  harmonium  (^.t;.)  are 
superior  instruments  constructed  upon  similar 
principles. 

Accordo  (It.)  Concord,  agreement,  har- 
mony. 

Accordoir  [Fr.)   A  tuning  key  or  hammer. 

Accresciuto  {It.)  Increased.  Augmented 
as  applied  to  intervals. 

Acetabulum.  An  ancient  instrument, 
originally  made  of  earthenware,  afterwards 
of  metal,  which,  when  struck  with  a  rod, 
produced  a  sweet  sound.  [See  an  allusion 
to  it  in  Boet.  de  Inst.  Mus.,  Lib.  i.  cap.  xi.] 

Achromatic.    Not  chromatic. 

Achtel  (Ger.)  A  quaver  ^\  The  eighth 
part  of  a  semibreve. 

Achtelpause.    A  quaver  rest 

A  chula  {Port.)  A  dance  similar  to  the 
Fandango,  q.v. 

Acoustics.  The  science  which  treats  of 
the  nature  and  laws  of  sound. 

2.  The  sensation  of  sound  consists  in  the 
communication  of  a  vibratory  motion  to  the 
tympanic  membrane  of  the  ear,  through  slight 
and  rapid  changes  in  the  pressure  of  the  air 
on  its  outer  surface. 

3.  The  mode  of  propagation  of  sound  in 
air  may  be  explained  in  the  following  manner. 
Suppose  a  small  particle  of  fulminating  silver 
to  be  exploded  in  free  air ;  the  air  particles 
immediately  contiguous  are  driven  outwards 
in  all  directions  by  the  explosion,  their  motion 


is  almost  instantaneously  communicated  to 
the  adjacent  ones,  those  first  agitated  coming 
at  the  same  time  to  rest;  the  adjacent  ones 
pass  on  the  impulse  in  the  same  way  to  those 
at  a  greater  distance,  and  so  on  ;  thus  the 
explosion  gives  rise  to  what  may  be  looked 
on  as  a  rapidly  expanding  shell  of  constant 
thickness,  containing  at  any  instant  between 
its  exterior  and  interior  surfaces  a  stratum  of 
agitated  air  particles  each  one  of  which  per- 
forms a  single  vibration  to  and  fro  during  the 
passage  of  the  shell  over  it ;  in  other  words 
the  exterior  and  interior  surfaces  of  the  shell 
are  at  any  time  the  loci  of  all  those  points  at 
which  the  particles  at  that  instant  come  under 
the  influence  of  the  impulse,  and  are  left  at 
rest  by  it  respectively,  so  that  its  thickness 
depends  both  on  the  rapidity  of  their  vibration 
and  the  rate  at  which  they  pass  on  the 
impulse,  one  to  another.*  Let  us  suppose 
now  that  immediately  after  the  first  explo- 
sion a  second  were  to  take  place  ;  then,  in 
exactly  the  same  way  there  would  be  a 
second  pulse  propagated  in  all  directions. 
If  a  series  of  explosions  at  regular  intervals 
were  to  take  place,  there  would  be  a  regular 
series  of  these  expanding  shells  ;  and  if  the 
intervals  were  sufficiently  small,  the  alternate 
changes  of  pressure,  due  to  the  successive 
collisions  of  the  air  particles  against  the  tym- 
panic membrane  of  an  ear  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  explosions  would  convey  to  the 
brain  a  sensation  of  a  continuous  note.  Ex- 
actly the  same  thing  occurs  if,  for  a  series  of 
explosions,  are  substituted  the  vibrations  of 
an  elastic  body  ;  and  it  is,  in  general,  by  the 
latter  means  that  all  sounds,  and  especially 
musical  ones,  are  produced.  The  motion  of 
a  sound  wave  must  not  be  confounded  with 
the  motion  of  the  particles  which  transmit 
the  wave.  In  the  passage  of  a  single  wave 
each  particle  over  which  it  passes  makes 
only  a  small  excursion  to  and  fro,  the  semi- 
length  of  which  is  called  the  amplitude  of 
the  vibration,  the  time  occupied  during  one 
vibration  being  called  its  period. 

4.  The  intensity  of  a  sound  is  proportional 
to  the  square  of  the  maximum  velocity  of  the 
vibrating  particles.  It  also  approximately 
varies  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  distance 
from  the  origin  of  the  sound  ;  for,  supposing 
the  latter  to  be  produced  at  a  uniform  loudness, 
the  same  amount  of  energy  has  to  be  com- 
municated to  the  particles  contained  within 
the  external  and  internal  surfaces  of  shells  of 
the  same  thickness  but  of  different  radii.  For 


*  The  word  vibration  must  be  taken  in  its  full  sense, 
viz.:  as  meaning  the  whole  motion  of  the  particle  dur- 
ing- the  time  that  elapses  from  the  instant  it  sets  ofl 
from  its  original  position  to  the  instant  when  it  next 
regains  that  position,  and  is  ready  to  start  again  over 
the  same  path. 


(  10  ) 


ACOUSTICS. 


example,  if  we  take  a  shell  of  air  whose  in- 
a  ternal  radius  is  one  foot,  one  of  the  same  thick- 
s  ness  whose  radius  is  two  feet  will  contain 
-e  four  times  the  quantity  of  matter  ;  one  whose 
e  radius  is  three  feet,  nine  times  the  quantity, 
d  and  so  on.  Thus  the  amount  of  matter 
It  over  which  a  given  quantity  of  energy  has 
n  to  be  distributed  augments  as  the  square 
il  of  the  distance  from  the  origin  of  sound,  and 
therefore  the  amount  of  energy,  or,  what 
e  comes  to  the  same  thing,  the  intensity  of 
8  the  sound,  diminishes  in  the  same  ratio. 
11  5.  At    a  temperature    of  zero  Centigrade 

It  sound  is  propagated  at  the  rate  of  about 
I  logo  feet  per  second,  and  this  speed  aug- 
it  ments  about  two  feet  per  second  for  every 
s  additional  degree  of  temperature  ;  thus  at 
J  15°  C.  the  rate  of  propagation  would  be 
t  about  1 120  feet  per  second.  The  velocity 
e  of  sound  in  air  depends  on  the  elasticity 
of  the  air  in  relation  to  its  density.  It  is 
]  also  directly  proportional  to  the  square  root 
I  of  the  elasticity,  and  inversely  proportional 
to  the  square  root  of  the  density.  Now 
I  for  a  constant  temperature  the  elasticity 
r  varies  as  the  density,  hence  in  this  case 
(  they  neutralise  one  another,  and  the  velocity 
j  of  the  sound  is  independent  of  the  density 
5        of  the  air. 

6.  One  sound  differs  from  another  not  only 
in  quantity,  but  also  in  quality  and  pitch.* 
.  The  pitch  of  a  sound  depends  on  the  num- 
ber of  vibrations  per  second  by  which  it 
f  is  caused :  the  greater  this  number  is  the 
f  higher  is  the  sound,  and  vice  versa;  thus 
.  pitch  is  a  more  or  less  relative  term,  and  it  is 
^  therefore  necessary  to  have  some  standard  to 
f  which  different  sounds  may  be  referred.  This 
,  standard  is  so  chosen  that  the  middle  C  of  the 
j  pianoforte  shall  be  produced  by  264  vibrations 
.       per  second  .+ 

i  7.  Knowing  the  velocity  of  sound  in  air 

we  can  estimate  the  different  wave  lengths 
f       corresponding  to  notes  of  different  pitch  in 
!       the  following:  manner.    The  wave  length  is 
the  distance  through  which  the  sound  tra- 
I       vels  while  any  particle  over  which  it  passes 
I       describes   a  complete   vibration;    hence,  if 
we  know  the  number  of  vibrations  the  par- 
;       tide  performs  per  second,  the  required  wave 
;       length  will  be  found  by  dividing  the  number 
of  feet  over   which  the  sound  travels  per 
second,  by  that  number.    Now,  by  means 
of  an  instrument  invented  by  Cagniard  de 
la  Tour,  and  by  him  named  the  syren,  the 
number  of  vibrations  corresponding  to  a  note 


*  For  the  cause  of  the  different  qualities  of  sound 
see  §  16. 

t  That  is,  according  to  German  pitch ;  at  present 
there  is  no  definitely  fixed  standard  in  general  use  in 
England. 


of  any  given  pitch  can  be  determined  very 
exactly.  For  a  detailed  account  of  this 
instrument  and  of  its  improvements  by  Helm- 
holtz,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Tyndall's 
Lectures  on  Sound,  p.  64  ;  but  to  describe 
it  shortly  it  may  be  said  in  its  original  form 
to  consist  of  two  equal  discs,  one  forming  the 
top  of  a  hollow  fixed  cylinder  into  which  air 
can  be  driven,  the  other  capable  of  revolving 
concentrically  upon  it  with  the  smallest  pos- 
sible amount  of  friction.  A  circle  of  small 
holes  equidistant  from  each  other  is  bored  upon 
each  disc  and  concentric  with  it ;  those  in 
the  upper  disc  being  inclined  slantwise  to  its 
plane,  those  in  the  lower  being  slantwise 
also  but  in  the  opposite  direction  ;  there  are 
also  arrangements  both  for  driving  a  constant 
supply  of  air  into  the  hollow  cylinder,  and  for 
registering  the  number  of  revolutions  the 
upper  disc  performs  in  a  minute  ;  thus,  when 
the  upper  disc  is  so  turned  that  its  holes  co- 
incide with  those  of  the  lower,  and  air  is  forced 
into  the  cylinder,  it  will  pass  out  through  the 
perforations,  and  by  reason  of  their  obliquity 
will  cause  the  moveable  disc  to  revolve  with 
a  rapidity  corresponding  to  the  pressure  ;  and 
each  time  that  the  holes  of  the  former  coincide 
with  those  of  the  latter  a  number  of  little  puffs 
of  air  get  through  simultaneously,  giving  rise 
to  an  agitation  in  the  surrounding  atmosphere 
which  spreads  round  in  all  directions  in  the 
way  before  described,  and  if  the  pressure  of 
the  air  m  the  cylinder  is  sufficient,  the  series 
of  impulses  thus  given  will  link  themselves 
together,  forming  a  continuous  note.J 

Hence,  to  determine  the  number  of  vibra- 
tions per  second,  corresponding  to  a  sound 
of  given  pitch,  we  have  only  to  maintain 
such  a  pressure  of  air  in  the  syren  as  will 
cause  it  to  produce  the  same  sound  for  the 
space  of  a  minute,  and  note  the  number 
of  revolutions  registered  in  that  time.  Now, 
for  every  revolution  of  the  upper  disc,  the 
same  number  of  sound  waves  are  propagated 
around  as  there  are  perforations,  hence  the 
whole  number  propagated  in  a  second  will 
be  the  product  of  the  number  of  holes  and 
number  of  revolutions  per  minute  divided  by 
60 ;  and  this  result  will  evidently  be  the 
required  number  of  vibrations  per  second 
caused  by  the  given  sound. 

To  apply  this  to  find  the  wave  length  cor- 
responding to  the  note  given  by  the  open  C 
string  of  the  violoncello,  we  should  adjust  the 


%  It  should  be  remarked  that  the  pitch  of  the  sound 
would  be  exactly  the  same  if  there  were  only  one  per- 
foration in  the  revolving  disc,  the  number  of  holes 
merely  serving  to  increase  its  intensity;  if  the  number 
of  holes  in  the  revolving  disc  is  less  than  the  number  in 
the  lower  one,  those  of  the  former  must  be  situated  sc 
as  all  to  coincide  simultaneously  with  an  equal  numbei 
of  the  latter. 


(  It  ) 


ACOUSTICS. 


suj)ply  of  air  to  the  syren  till  it  gives  a  note 
of  the  same  pitch.  Supposing  the  number 
of  holes  in  each  disc  to  be  i8,  the  number  of 
revolutions  per  minute  would  be  found  to  be 
220.  Hence  the  number  of  vibrations  per 
second  of  the  string,  and  therefore  of  the  sur- 
rounding particles  of  air,  would  be  — =66. 
Supposing  the  temperature  were  16*^  C  the 
velocity  of  sound  would  be  about  1122  feet 
per  second,  and  the  quotient  obtained  by 
dividing  this  number  by  66  gives  the  wave 
length  corresponding  to  that  number  of  vi- 
brations per  second;  that  is,  just- 17  feet ;  the 
sound  then  will  travel  through  this  distance 
during  the  time  the  string  takes  to  perform 
one  complete  vibration. 

8.  If  the  number  of  vibrations  per  second 
be  increased,  the  pitch  of  the  sound  caused 
by  them  is  raised,  and  vice  versa,  as  can  easily 
be  illustrated  by  driving  more  or  less  air  into 
the  syren,  and  observing  the  sound  it  pro- 
duces. Dr.  Wollaston  has  shown  (Phil.  Trans. 
1820,  p.  336)  that  if  the  number  be  increased, 
beyond  a  certain  limit  the  sound  becomes 
inaudible,  although  this  limit  is  not  the  same 
for  all  ears,  some  persons  being  perfectly 
sensible  of  sounds  inaudible  to  others.  In 
general  it  is  probable  that  no  sound  is  heard 
when  the  number  of  vibrations  per  second 
exceeds  40,000 ;  while  on  the  other  hand  the 
perception  of  pitch  appears  to  begin  when 
the  number  of  vibrations  is  somewhere  be- 
tween 8  and  32,  the  wave  length  being  in 
the  former  case  about  0*03  of  an  inch — in 
the  latter  ranging  from  140  feet  to  35  feet. 

9.  Sounds  are  primarily  divided  into  two  j 
classes,  musical  and  unmusical  ;  the  former 
being  defined  as  those  produced  by  regular 
or  periodic  vibrations,  the  latter  by  such  as 
are  irregular  or  non-periodic.  These  defini- 
tions require  some  explanation,  since,  by 
sounding  together  a  sufficient  number  of  notes 
sufficiently  near  in  pitch,  it  is  plain  that  we 
could  produce  as  unmusical  a  sound  as  we 
pleased,  although  the  components  would  be 
themselves  due  to  periodic  vibrations,  and 
would  be  therefore  musical.  The  answer  to 
this  is  found  in  the  fact  that  when  two  or 
more  sets  of  sound  waves  impinge  on  the 
ear  at  the  same  instant,  since  each  one  cannot 
impress  its  own  particular  vibration  on  the 
tympanum  contemporaneously  with  those  of 
the  others,  the  motion  of  the  latter  membrane 
must  be  in  some  way  the  sum  of  all  the 
different  motions  which  the  different  sets  of 
waves  would  have  separately  caused  it  to 
follow  ;  and  this  is  what  in  fact  does  happen, 
i.e.,  the  vibrations  due  to  each  set  combine  and 
throw  the  tympanum  into  a  complicated  state 
of  vibration,  causing  the  sensation  of  the  conso- 
nance or  combination  of  the  different  sounds 
from  which  the  sets  of  sound  waves  proceed. 


Now  the  unassisted  ear  is  only  able  to  dis- 
tinguish the  separate  notes  out  of  a  number 
sounded  at  once  up  to  a  certain  point;  beyond 
this  it  fails  to  distinguish  them  individually, 
and  is  conscious  only  of  a  confused  mixture 
of  sounds  which  approaches  the  more  nearly 
to  the  character  of  noise  the  more  components 
there  are,  or  the  nearer  they  lie  to  one  another. 
A  noise,  then,  may  be  defined  as  a  sound  so 
complicated  that  the  ear  is  unable  to  resolve 
or  analyse  it  into  its  original  constituents. 

10.  As  the  character  of  a  sound  depends 
upon  that  of  the  vibrations  by  which  it  is 
caused,  it  is  important  to  know  of  what  kind 
the  latter  must  be  in  order  that  they  may  give 
the  sensation  of  a  perfectly  simple  tone,  i.e., 
one  which  the  ear  cannot  resolve  into  any 
others.  Such  a  vibration  is  perhaps  best 
realised  by  comparison  with  that  of  the  pen- 
dulum of  a  clock  when  it  is  swinging  only  a 
little  to  and  fro.  Under  these  circumstances 
it  is  performing  what  are  called  harmonic  vi- 
brations, and  when  the  air  particles  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  ear  are  caused  by  any 
means  to  vibrate  accordmg  to  the  same  law 
as  that  which  the  pendulum  follows,  and  also 
with  sufficient  rapidity,  a  perfectly  simple 
tone  is  the  result.  Such  a  tone  is,  however, 
rarely  heard  except  when  produced  by  means 
specially  contrived  for  the  purpose.  If  a  note 
on  the  pianoforte  is  struck,  the  impact  of  the 
hammer  on  the  string  throws  it  into  a  state 
of  vibration  which,  though  periodic,  is  not 
really  harmonic;  consequently  we  do  not  hear 
a  perfectly  simple  tone,  but  one  which  is  in 
reality  a  mixture  of  several  higher  simple 
tones  with  that  one  which  corresponds  to  the 
actual  length  of  the  string.  The  former  are, 
however,  generally  faint,  and  become  associated 
by  habit  with  the  latter,  appearing  to  form 
with  it  a  single  note  of  determinate  pitch. 
These  higher  tones  are  the  harmonics  of  the 
string,  and  are  produced  by  vibrations  whose 
numbers  per  second  are  respectively  twice, 
three  times,  four  times,  &c.,  as  great  as  those 
of  the  fundamental  tone  of  the  string  (§  13). 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  notes  of  all 
instruments,  including  the  human  voice,  which 
are  usually  employed  for  the  production  of 
musical  sounds. 

11.  Since  the  consonance  of  two  or  more 
such  simple  tones  always  gives  a  more  or 
less  musical  sound,  and  since  also  the  ear 
is  always  more  or  less  capable  of  resolving 
the  latter  into  its  components,  the  question 
naturally  arises  whether  all  sounds  are  not, 
theoretically  at  least,  resolvable  into  simple 
tones.  The  answer  to  this  is  contained  in  a 
celebrated  theorem  due  to  the  French  mathe- 
matician Fourier.  He  has  shovvn  that  any 
periodic  vibration  is  the  result  of  combining 
together  a  certain  number  of  simple  harmonic 


(  12  ) 


ACOUSTICS. 


vibrations  whose  periods  are  aliquot  parts  of 
that  of  the  former;  and  we  have  conclusive 
i  LLisons  for  supposing  that,  in  the  same  way 
as  a  compound  periodic  vibration  gives  rise 
to  a  compound  sound  (§  g),  so  the  simple  tones 
into  which  the  ear  resolves  the  latter  are  re- 
spectively due  to  the  simple  harmonic  vibra- 
tions which,  as  the  above  mentioned  theorem 
proves,  make  up  the  former.* 

12.  The  theorem  of  Fourier  referred  to  in 
the  preceding  article  is  of  such  great  impor- 
tance in  all  questions  connected  with  acoustics 
that  a  few  words  illustrative  of  it  may  not  be 
out  of  place. f 

If  a  peg  is  fixed  into  the  rim  of  a  wheel 
capable  of  revolving  about  a  fixed  centre,  and 
at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  the  wheel,  and 
if  the  latter  is  caused  to  rotate  uniformly  and 
is  looked  at  edgeways  the  peg  will  appear  to 
move  up  and  down  in  a  straight  line,  its  velo- 
city being  the  greatest  at  the  middle  of  its 
course,  and  diminishing  as  it  approaches  each 
end.  Under  these  circumstances  the  peg 
appears  to  perform  harmonic  vibrations. 

Now  suppose  a  second  wheel,  also  fur- 
nished with  a  peg  in  its  rim,  is  made  to 
revolve  about  the  peg  of  the  first  as  an  axis. 
If  the  latter  is  at  rest  the  peg  of  the  second 
will  appear,  looked  at  as  above,  to  perform 
harmonic  vibrations  ;  but  if  the  former  is  also 
caused  to  revolve  these  vibrations  are  no 
longer  harmonic,  but  are  the  result  of  adding 
together  the  separate  harmonic  vibrations  of 
the  two  pegs,  in  other  words  of  superposing 
the  harmonic  vibrations  which  the  second  peg 
performs  if  the  first  wheel  is  at  rest,  upon 
those  which  the  first  peg  performs  when  it  is 
itself  in  motion.  Now  it  is  evident  that  by  con- 
tinuing this  process  indefinitely,  and  by  giving 
the  wheels  different  radii,  and  different  uniform 
velocities  of  rotation,  the  final  motion  of  the 
last  peg  looked  at  sideways  as  before,  would 
be  an  exceedingly  complicated  one,  and  that 
an  infinite  number  of  different  vibrations  could 
be  produced  by  varying  the  number,  position 
at  starting,  rad''i,  and  velocities  of  the  wheels, 
though  it  could  not  be  assumed  without  proof 
that  every  possible  variety  could  be  so  pro- 
duced. This  however  is  what  Fourier's 
theorem  asserts,  provided  that  the  velocities 
of  rotation  of  the  several  wheels  of  the  series 


*  A  perio3ic  vibration  is  any  movement  which  recurs 
after  equal  intervals  or  peiiods  of  time,  such  as  that  of 
a  uniformly  working  punching  machine,  or  of  the  ham- 
mer of  a  clock  bell  when  it  is  striking,  and  so  on.  It 
should  be  observed  that  though  all  harmonic  vibraf'ons 
are  periodic,  it  is  by  no  means  the  case  that  all  periodic 
vibrations  are  harmonic.    See  foot  note  to  §  2. 

t  For  a  complete  discussion  and  demonstration  of 
the  theorem,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  work  on 
Acoustics  by  the  late  Professor  Donkin,  published  in 
the  Clarendon  Press  series. 

( 


are  in  the  proportion  of  i,  2,  3,  4,  &c.  |  In 
other  words,  every  periodic  vibration  is  the  re- 
sultant of  a  certam  number  of  harmonic  vibra- 
tions whose  periods  are  one-half,  one-third, 
one-fourth,  &c.,  &c.,  that  of  the  former. 

13.  A  harmonic  scale  is  .ormed  by  taking  a 
series  of  notes  produced  by  vibrations  whose 
numbers  in  a  given  time  are  respectively  as 
I,  2,  3,  4,  &c. 

If  we  talce  as  fundamental  tone  the  open  C 
string  of  the  violoncello,  the  series  of  tones 
which  with  it  form  a  harmonic  scale  will  be 
as  follows : — 
^  ^^-p^-  -  

The  notes  marked  with  an  asterisk  do  not 
exactly  represent  the  corresponding  tones  ;  but 
are  the  nearest  representatives  which  the 
modern  notation  supplies.  All  the  notes  of  the 
harmonic  scale  can  theoretically  be  produced 
by  either  a  single  string,  or  by  a  simple  tube 
used  as  a  trumpet.  If  we  lightly  touch  th» 
string  of  a  violin,  without  causing  it  to  com<, 
in  contact  with  the  fingerboard,  at  any  one  ol 
a  series  of  points  dividing  it  into  a  number  of 
equal  parts,  and  excite  it  by  means  of  a  bow, 
it  no  longer  vibrates  as  a  w  hole,  but  separates 
into  the  number  of  equal  vibrating  segments 
which  is  the  least  possible  consistent  with 
that  point  forming  one  of  their  points  of  di- 
vision ;  the  latter  remain  stationary,  or  very 
nearly  so,  and  are  called  nodes,  their  number 
being  evidently  just  one  less  than  that  of  the 
segments.  It  is  plain  that  if  the  point  of  ap- 
plication of  the  bow  be  one  of  a  series  of 
nodes,  no  sound  will  be  produced,  provided, 
of  course,  the  finger  remains  on  any  other  of 
the  same  series,  and  this  may  serve  to  ex- 
plain why  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  biing 
out  the  higher  harmonics  of  a  violin,  as  the 
bow  may,  unconsciously  to  the  performer, 
be  passing  exactly  over  one  of  the  corres- 
ponding nodes.  The  first  harmonic,  as  it  is 
called,  of  the  open  string  is  produced  by 
touching  it  while  in  a  state  of  vibration  at  its 
middle  point,  and  thereby  dividing  it  into  two 
equal  portions,  both  of  which  vibrate  twice  as 
fast  as  the  whole,  and  accordingly  give  the 
octave.  The  second  harmonic,  or  the  twelfth 
of  the  fundamental,  corresponds  to  a  division 
of  the  string  into  three  equal  portions,  and  so 
on.  And  generally,  in  order  to  produce  the 
harmonic  the  finger  should  touch  the 
string  at  any  one  of  the  series  of  points 
which  divide  it  into  n  equal  portions.  §  In 


J  The  order  in  which  the  wheels  are  arranged  with 
respect  to  their  velocities  is  quite  arbitrary. 

§  That  is  supposing  n  to  be  a  prime  number  {t.e. 
having  no  divisors).  If  such  is  not  the  case,  it  is  plain 
that  some  points  of  the  series  when  touched  would  give 
harmonics  of  lower  pitch. 

13  ) 


ACOUSTICS. 


practice,  however,  the  finger  should  always 
touch  the  string  at  the  point  of  division  adja- 
cent to  either  end. 

14.  The  harmonics  of  a  simple  tube  used  as 
a  trumpet  are  the  same  as  those  of  a  vibrating 
string,  viz.,  the  octave,  twelfth,  fifteenth,  &c  , 
and  are  produced  by  modifications  of  the  breath 
and  lips ;  but  there  is  a  great  difference  be- 
tween the  nature  of  the  vibrations  which 
produce  sound,  in  the  case  of  strings  and 
pipes.  In  the  former  case  the  vibrations  are 
executed  at  right  angles  to  the  length  of  the 
string,  that  is,  are  lateral,  while  in  the  latter 
they  are  in  the  direction  of  the  pipe,  or  longi- 
tudinal, and  are  the  vibrations  of  the  air  itself 
within  it. 

15.  When  an  open  organ  pipe  is  sounding 
its  fundamental  tone,  the  particles  of  the 
column  of  air  within  it  are  all,  more  or  less, 
in  a  state  of  vibration  parallel  to  the  length 
of  the  pipe,  of  which  the  intensity  is  at  its 
maximum  at  the  two  ends,  growing  less  and 
less  towards  the  middle,  where  there  is  a 
node,  that  is,  a  point  of  no  disturbance.  The 
harmonics  of  an  open  pipe  follow  the  same 
law  as  those  of  a  simple  trumpet,  or  vibrating 
string. 

The  fundamental  note  of  a  stopped  organ 
pipe  is  an  octave  below  the  fundamental  note 
of  an  open  one  of  the  same  length.  When  it 
is  sounding  this  note  there  is  no  node,  and 
the  first  harmonic  is  a  fifth  above  the  octave, 
the  second  a  major  sixth  above  the  first,  the 
third  a  diminished  fifth  above  the  second,  and 
so  on.  Or,  more  simply,  the  successive  tones 
of  the  harmonic  scale  of  an  open  pipe  are 
produced  by  vibrations  which  are  as  i,  2,  3,  4, 
&c.,  those  of  a  stopped  pipe  by  vibrations 
which  are  as  i,  3,  5,  7,  &c. 

16.  It  wae  stated  (§  lo)  that  the  sound  of  a 
vibrating  string  was  in  general  compounded 
of  a  number  of  simple  tones,  and  a  well 
trained  ear  can  detect  a  considerable  number 
of  them.  If  it  were  not  for  these  harmonic 
components  the  tones  of  strings,  pipes,  of 
the  human  voice,  or  in  short,  of  every  instru- 
ment most  generally  used  for  the  production 
of  sound,  would  be  flat  and  uninteresting 
like  pure  water.  Each  harmonic  compo- 
nent is  by  itself  a  simple  tone,  and  is  due 
to  the  vibration  of  the  corresponding  seg- 
ment of  the  string  superposed  upon  that 
of  the  whole.  The  same  statement  applies, 
mutatis  mutandis  to  pipes,  whether  open 
or  stopped.  That  the  harmonics  of  different 
instruments  greatly  influence  their  several 
characters  is  observable  in  the  difference  of 
the  tones  of  a  flute,  and  clarinet.  A  flute 
is  an  open  pipe,  a  clarinet  a  stopped  one; 
in  the  former,  therefore,  the  harmonics  follow 
the  order  of  the  natural  numbers  i,  2,  3,  4, 
and  in  the  latter  the  order  i,  3,  5,  7;  —the 

(  I. 


intermediate  notes  being  supplied  by  opening 
the  lateral  orifices  of  the  instrument. 

17.  When  two  simple  tones,  that  is  (as  ex- 
plained above),  notes  deprived  of  all  the  har- 
monic components  which  under  ordinary 
circumstances  accompany  them,  are  sounded 
together  very  nearly  in  unison,  there  are  heard 
what  are  called  beats  succeeding  one  another 
at  regular  intervals,  their  rapidity  depend- 
ing inversely  on  the  smallness  of  the  interval 
between  the  two  tones.  Their  origin  may 
be  explained  thus  :  Suppose  the  tones  to  be 
produced  by  vibrations  numbering  500  and 
501  per  second  respectively,  then  every 
500th  sound  wave  of  the  former  will  strike  on 
the  tympanum  at  exactly  the  same  instant  as 
every  501st  of  the  latter  and  will  reinforce  it; 
while  at  the  250th  of  the  first  the  correspond- 
ing wave  of  the  other  will  be  just  half  a  period 
in  front  of  it.  Now  a  sound  wave  consists 
of  a  condensed  and  rarified  stratum  of  air  par- 
ticles, and  therefore  the  condensed  portion  of 
one  wave  here  coincides  with  the  rarified  por- 
tion of  the  other  and  neutralises  it.  Thus  there 
will  be  an  alternate  reinforcement  and  dimi- 
nution of  sound,  every  second,  from  the  maxi- 
mum intensity  when  both  waves  impinge  on 
the  tympanum  at  the  same  instant  to  the 
minimum  when  they  counteract  each  other 
as  much  as  possible  and  vice  versa. 

In  the  above  case  it  was  supposed  that  the 
number  of  vibrations  of  one  tone  were  only 
one  more  per  second  than  those  of  the  other; 
but  if  the  difference  of  the  numbers  had  been 
two,  for  instance,  then  in  one  second  the  first 
tone  would  have  gained  two  vibrations  on  the 
other,  and  there  would  have  been  two  beats ; 
and  in  general  the  number  of  beats  per  second 
is  always  equal  to  the  difference  between  the 
two  rates  of  vibrations  per  second. 

18.  In  the  preceding  section,  the  cause  of 
beats  due  to  two  simple  tones  of  nearly  the 
same  pitch  was  explained,  and  it  was  seen 
that  the  number  of  beats  per  second  was 
alwa3's  equal  to  the  difference  of  the  numbers 
of  vibrations  per  second  of  each  tone ;  so 
that  as  the  interval  between  them  increased  so 
would  the  number  of  beats  increase  in  a  given 
time.  Hence  it  is  obvious  that  if  the  interval 
became  sufficiently  large,  the  beats  would  suc- 
ceed each  other  so  rapidly  as  to  become  un- 
distinguished. For  instance,  in  the  case  of  the 
fifth  whose  lower  and  upper  tones  are  pro- 
duced by  vibrations  numbering  264  and  396 
per  second  respectively,  the  number  of  beats 
per  second  would  be  132  and  would  therefore 
be  undistinguishable — and  still  more  so  sup- 
posing the  upper  tone  to  have  397  or  more 
vibrations  per  second;  but,  on  the  other  hand 
it  is  a  well-known  fact,  that  if  an  imperfect 
fifth,  octave,  or  any  other  tolerably  simple 
interval  is  played  on  a  violin  or  violoncello, 

4  ) 


ACOUSTICS. 


the  beats  are  most  distinctly  heard  succeeding 
each  other  at  perceptible  intervals — whereas 
according  to  what  was  said  above  they  should 
occur  so  rapidly  as  not  to  be  heard  at  all. 
Two  explanations  of  this  phenomenon  have 
been  given,  of  which  by  far  the  most  simple 
is  due  to  Helmholtz — and  which  here  follows. 
It  appears  that  when  the  tones  are  simple 
and  at  a  sufficiently  large  interval  the  beats 
should  occur  too  rapidly  to  be  heard,  whereas 
when  the  interval  is  played  on  a  violin  they 
are  easily  distinguishable.  The  reason  of 
this  fact  is  that  in  the  latter  case  the  tones 
are  no  longer  simple  but  compound — and 
the  beats  which  are  heard  are  not  due  to 
the  fundamental  tones  themselves  but  arise 
from  two  of  their  harmonic  components 
which  are  nearly  in  unison.  Suppose  the 
ratio  of  the  interval  between  the  fundamental 

tones  to  be  ~,  that  is,  let  ~  be  the  fraction,  re- 
duced to  its  lowest  terms,  which  is  formed  by 
putting  in  the  numerator  the  number  of  vibra- 
tions per  second  of  the  upper  tone,  and  in  the 
denominator  those  of  the  lower.  Then  it  is 
plain  that  the  harmonic  component  of  the 
tone  w,  will  be  of  the  same  pitch  as  the  m^^ 
harmonic  component  of  the  tone  ii;  for  they 
will  each  have  exactly  tun  vibrations  per 
M 

second.   Now  let  ^  be  the  ratio,  expressed  in 

the  same  way,  of  another  interval,  nearly,  but 

not  quite,  equal  to  ^;  then  the  harmonic 

component  of  M  will  have  Mn  vibrations  per 
second,while  the  ?h">  component  of  N  will  have 

Nm.    Now  since  ^  is  nearly  equal  to  ^,  the 

difference  between  Mn  and  Nm  will  be  a 
small  number;  and  when  the  two  notes  are 
sounded  together  the  number  of  beats  per 
second  will  be  equal  to  that  difference. 

For  example,  let       be  the  ratio  of  a  fifth, 

that  is  the  fraction  |,  and  let  ^  represent  very 

nearly  the  same  interval,  say  f  then  the  dif- 
ference between  Mn  and  Nm,  or  794  and  792, 
is2;  hence  if  two  stringstuned  apart  at  aninter- 
val  represented  by||^  are  sounded  simultane- 
Dusly  there  will  be  two  beats  heard  per  second. 

19.  When  the  vibrations  of  the  air  due  to 
a  number  of  different  sounds  which  co-exist 
at  the  same  time  are  infinitely  small,  they  are 
merely  superposed  one  on  another,  so  that 
each  separate  sound  passes  through  the  air 
as  if  it  alone  were  present ;  and  this  law  of 
superposition  holds,  though  only  approxi- 
mately, until  the  vibrations  have  increased 
up  to  a  certain  limit,  beyond  which  it  is  no 
longer  true.  Vibrations  which  give  rise  to  a 
large  amount  of  disturbance  produce  secon- 


dary waves  ;  and  it  is  to  these  that  the  phe- 
nomena of  resultant  tones  are  due. 

Thus  if  two  notes  a  fifth  apart,  for  in- 
stance, are  forcibly  sounded  together,  a  third 
tone  is  heard  an  octave  below  the  lower  of 
the  two,  and  this  ceases  to  be  perceptible  when 
the  loudness  of  the  concord  diminishes.  In 
general  the  resultant  tone  of  any  combination 
of  two  notes  is  produced  by  a  number  of  vi- 
brations per  second  equal  to  the  difference  of 
the  numbers  per  second  of  the  notes.  This 
fact  formerly  led  to  the  supposition  that  the 
resultant  tone  was  produced  by  the  beats  due 
to  the  consonance,  which,  when  they  occurred 
with  sufficient  rapidity,  linked  themselves  to- 
gether so  as  to  form  a  continuous  musical 
note.  If  this  were  so  it  is  clear  that  the  re- 
sultant ought  to  be  heard  when  the  original 
notes  are  sounded  gently  as  well  as  forcibly  ; 
and  it  was  the  failure  of  this  condition  that 
led  Helmholtz  to  the  re-investigation  of 
their  origin.  These  resultant  tones  have  been 
named  by  him  difference  tones;  he  has  also 
discovered  the  existence  of  resultant  tones 
formed  by  the  sum  of  the  numbers  of  vibra- 
tions of  the  primaries.  These  summation 
tones  as  they  are  called  cannot  be  explained 
on  the  old  theor}', 

20.  The  theory  of  beats  explains  the  law  that 
the  smaller  the  two  numbers  are,  which  express 
the  ratio  of  their  vibrations,  the  smoother 
is  the  combination  of  any  two  tones.  When 
two  simple  tones  are  sounded  together  whose 
rates  of  vibration  per  second  differ  by  more 
than  132,  the  beats,  according  to  Helm- 
holtz, totally  disappear.  As  the  difference 
grows  less  the  beats  become  more  and  more 
audible,  the  interval  meanwhile  growing  pro- 
portionately dissonant,  till  they  number  33 
per  second,  at  which  point  the  dissonance 
of  the  interval  is  at  its  maximum. 

This,  however,  depends  upon  the  position  , 
of  the  interval  as  regards  its  pitch.  For  it 
should  be  remembered  that  though  the  ratio 
of  any  given  interval  remains  the  same  what- 
ever the  absolute  pitch  of  its  tones  may  be, 
yet  the  difference  of  the  actual  numbers  of 
their  vibrations,  and  therefore  the  number  of 
beats  due  to  their  consonance,  alters  with  it. 
And  vice  versa,  if  the  difference  of  the  number 
of  vibrations  remains  constant,  the  interval 
must  diminish  as  its  pitch  rises.  For  in- 
stance, either  of  the  following  combinations 


would  give  rise  to  33  beats  per  second,  smce 
the  numbers  of  vibrations  of  their  tones 
per  second,  are  99-66,  and  528-495,  respec- 
tively. Now  it  is  obvious  that  in  the  latter 
case  the  dissonance  would  be  far  greater  than 
in  the  former. 


(  ^5  ) 


ACOUSTICS  -ACT. 


The  above  explanation  of  the  cause  of  dis-  ! 
sonance  is  also  due  to  Helmholtz,  and  com- 
pletely solves  a  question  which  had  remained 
unanswered  since  the  time  of  Pythagoras,  al- 
though that  philosopher  made  the  important 
discovery  that  the  simpler  the  ratio  of  the  two 
parts  into  which  a  vibrating  string  was  divided, 
the  more  perfect  was  the  consonance  of  the 
two  sounds. 

21.  The  sound  of  the  piano,  violin,  &c., 
is  only  in  a  small  measure  due  to  the  actual 
vibration  of  the  strings  themselves.  The 
latter  communicate  their  own  motion  to  the 
sound  board  of  the  piano,  and  to  the  front, 
back,  and  enclosed  air  of  the  violin.  In  the 
latter  instrument  communication  is  made  to 
the  surrounding  air  from  that  within  it  by 
means  of  the  /  holes. 

If  a  string  were  merely  stretched  between 
two  pegs  firmly  fixed  in  a  stone  wall  and 
caused  to  vibrate,  scarcely  any  sound  would 
be  heard  at  all,  owing  to  the  mass  and  rigidity 
of  the  wall,  which  would  refuse  to  be  thrown 
into  vibration  by  so  small  an  amount  of  energy 
as  that  which  the  string  would  possess.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  sound  board  of  a  piano 
readily  answers  to  the  vibrations  imposed  on 
it  when  the  string  is  struck,  and  having  a 
large  surface  in  contact  with  the  air,  every 
point  of  which  originates  a  system  of  waves, 
it  causes  a  full  and  powerful  sound. 

22.  The  vibrations  of  straight  rods  may  be 
either  longitudinal  or  transversal.  The  former 
have  not  been  generally  employed  for  the 
production  of  musical  sounds ;  the  latter  are 
such  as  take  place  when  a  tuning  fork  is 
struck,  or  when  a  musical  box  or  triangle  is 
played.  In  the  case  of  a  curved  rod  the 
vibrations  are  more  complicated,  but  there  is 
one  interesting  case,  namely,  that  in  which 
the  curved  rod  takes  the  form  of  a  circular 
ring.  In  this  case  the  fundamental  tone  is 
obtained  by  suspending  it  horizontally  by 
four  strings  attached  at  equidistant  points  in 
the  circumference,  and  by  lightly  tapping  it 
mi  'way  between  any  two.  If  the  number  of 
vibiations  then  given  be  211  per  second,  those 
of  the  successive  harmonics  are  proportional 
to  S^V  6i  4WVI3,  5«V^,  &c. 

23.  The  nature  of  the  vibrations  of  a  bell 
may  be  partly  inferred  from  those  of  a  ring, 
as  the  bell  may  be  considered  as  consisting  of 
a  connected  series  of  rings  of  different  dia- 
meters all  vibrating  simultaneously  ;  thus  the 
fundamental  tone  of  a  bell  would  cause  it  to 
divide  itself  longitudinally  into  four  equal 
segments,  corresponding  to  the  four  quadrants 
into  which  the  suspended  ring  divides.  The 
period  of  its  vibrations  could  not,  however,  be 
similarly  inferred. 

24.  The  vibration  of  plates  is  not,  musically 
speaking,  a  subject  of  much  interest,  as  the 

(  I' 


!  only  instruments  which  depend  upon  it  directly 
for  the  production  of  their  sounds,  are  gongs 
and  cymbals,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of 
membranes.  Chladni  was  the  first  to  show 
the  positions  of  the  lines  of  nodes  on  a  plate, 
by  clamping  it  horizontally  in  a  vice,  and 
causing  it  to  vibrate  by  passing  a  violin  bow 
over  one  edge,  having  previously  sprinkled 
it  with  a  little  sand.  The  lines  ol  nodes  being 
those  parts  of  the  plate  which,  like  the  nodes  of 
a  string  (§  13),  are  not  thrown  info  vibration, 
remain  covered  with  the  sand  which  collects 
there  from  the  vibrating  portions,  and  in  this 
way  very  curious  and  interesting  figures  are 
produced. 

Act  (Acte,  Fr.;  Akt,  Ger.;  Atto,  It.)  A 
distinct  division  in  the  plot  or  design  of  a 
drama  or  opera,  forming  an  incident  complete 
in  itself,  but  bearing  reference  to  the  general 
idea  of  the  whole.  Every  dramatic  plot  natu- 
rally divides  itself  into  three  portions :  the 
exposition,  the  development,  and  the  conclu- 
sion ;  and  this  division  would  seem  to  point 
to  the  separation  of  a  dramatic  design  into 
three  acts,  but  where  the  piece  is  in  four, 
five,  or  more  acts,  it  will  be  found  on  exami- 
nation that  the  tripartite  division  is  essenti- 
ally the  same,  greater  prominence  or  care  in 
detail  being  given  to  one  or  more  of  the 
sections.  Thus  the  exposition  may  be  spread 
over  two  or  three  acts,  the  development  over 
one  or  two,  and  the  conclusion  or  unravelling, 
reserved  for  the  final  act. 

The  classical  trilogies — groups  of  three  tra- 
gedies—  were  most  frequently  united  by  a 
common  idea,  each  forming  a  complete  in- 
cident, connected  by  a  bond  of  sympathy, 
sentiment,  or  subject  with  the  grand  design. 

Bartholome  Torres  Naharro,  of  Torre  in 
Spain,  who  wrote  at  the  commencement  of 
the  i6th  century,  is  said  to  have  been  the 
first  who  suggested  the  division  of  plots  into 
acts,  or  jornados,  although  Cervantes  claims 
the  invention  for  himself.  It  is  certain  that 
Naharro's  printed  dramas  are  not  so  divided. 

Donaldson,  in  speaking  of  the  ^schylean 
Trilogy  (the  Agamemnon,  Choephoroe,  and  the 
Eumenides),  says,  that  the  three  plays  mutu- 
ally cohere,  is  plain  ;  and  as  they  were  actu- 
ally brought  on  the  stage  in  sequence,  they 
may  be  regarded  as  so  many  acts  of  one 
grand  heroic  drama.  This  is  mentioned,  in 
order  to  vindicate  the  practice  of  Shakspeare 
and  other  modern  dramatists,  in  compressing 
into  one  drama  an  extensive  cycle  of  human 
destinies  ;  because  the  very  objection  that 
has  been  made  to  the  practice  is  the  alleged 
example  of  the  ancients  to  the  contrary. 

Wagner's  Nibelungen  trilogy,  though  stated 
to  be  "  new  from  end  to  end"  in  idea  and 
design,  bears  a  close  affinity  to  the  ancient 
Greek  drama.     For  the  subject  is  mythical 

6  ) 


ACT  MUSIC  ADDED  SIXTH. 


and  "the  mythical   subject    has    a  plastic 

unity;  it  is  perfectly  simple  and  easily  com- 
prehensible, and  it  does  not  stand  in  need  of 
the  numberless  small  details,  which  a  modern 
playwright  is  obliged  to  introduce  to  make 
some  historical  occurrence  intelligible.  It 
is  divided  into  a  few  important  and  decisive 
scenes,  in  each  of  which  the  action  arises 
spontaneously  from  out  of  the  emotions  of 
the  actors ;  which  emotions,  by  reason  of 
the  small  number  of  such  scenes,  can  be 
presented  in  a  most  complete  and  exhaustive 
manner."  In  many  modern  operas,  the  di- 
vision of  the  work  into  acts  is  made,  less 
with  reference  to  dramatic  principles,  than  to 
the  requirements  of  the  stage-manager. 

Act  Music  in  Oxford.  Cantatas  com- 
posed by  the  Professor  of  music,  to  words 
written  by  the  Professor  of  poetry,  and  per- 
formed at  grand  commemorations  in  the 
University. 

Act  tunes.    [Playhouse  tunes.] 

Acte  de  Cadence  (Fr.)  Certain  chords  by 
means  of  which  the  final  cadence  is  introduced. 

Action.  The  mechanism  of  an  organ  or 
pianoforte,  or  other  compound  instruments. 

Acuta.  The  accent  attached  to  certain 
letters  in  the  Greek  system  of  musical  no- 
tation, thus,  M' 

Acuta.   An  organ  stop.   [Sharp  mixture.] 
Acutae  claves,  acuta  loca,  acutae  voces. 
Those  keys,  places,  and  sounds,  which  lie  be- 
tween '  alamire  acutum '  and '  alamire  superacu- 
tum'  of  the  Hexachords,that  is  between  little  a 


The  above  example  being  in  the  key  of  C, 
the  Subdominant  of  the  scale  is  F,  and  a 
common  chord  of  F  consists  of  F,  A,  and  C, 
to  which  is  found  added  at  *  the  sixth  of  the 
bass  note :  namely,  D.  Although  as  a  mere 
name,  the  expression  added  sixth  may  not  be 
without  value,  it  is  by  many  authors  con- 
sidered very  doubtful  whether  the  notes,  F, 
A,  C  are  really  the  constituents  of  a  Sub- 
dominant  common  chord  ;  and  the  fact  that 
the  apparent  fifth  of  this  chord  (C)  is  nearly 
always  treated  as  a  discord,  and  made  to 
descend,  is  rightly  cited  as  the  cause  of  their 
doubt. 

This  naturally  leads  to  the  second  explana- 
tion of  the  chord,  which  is,  that  it  is  an 
inversion  of  the  chord  of  the  seventh  on  the 
super-tonic,  e.g. : 


and  A  ^ 


Acute.  High  as  to  pitch ;  opposed  to  grave. 
Adagietto  {It.)   A  diminutive  of  Adagio. 
Adagio  ilt.)    Slowly  ;  also  a  name  given 
to  a  movement  written  in  that  time. 

  cantabile.  Very  slow,  and  sus- 
tained, as  if  being  sung. 

  patetico.    Slow  and  with  pathos. 

  pesante.    Slow  and  weighty. 

  sostenuto.    Slow  and  sustained. 

Adagiosissimo(/<.)  (superlative  of  Adagio). 
More  than  usually  slow,  very  slow  indeed. 

Added  Sixth,  Chord  of  the.  This 
dissonant  combination  of  sounds  is  so  called 
because  it  has  the  appearance  of  a  common 
chord  of  the  Subdominant  of  the  key  in  which 
it  occurs,  with  the  addition  of  a  sixth  from  the 
bass  note,  e.g. : 


Seventh  on 
Supertonic. 


But,  the  system  of  constructing  chords  on 
every  degree  of  the  scale,  though  once  much 
adopted,  is  daily  losing  ground  ;  and  justly, 
because  by  it,  the  particular  progression  of 
each  component  note  of  a  chord,  either  has 
to  be  ignored,  or  else  treated  of  with  an 
amount  of  detail  which  is  puzzling  to  the 
student,  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  laying 
down  several  laws  as  to  the  usual  progression 
of  stated  intervals. 

A  third  explanation  is,  that  it  is  a  dominant 
chord — consisting  of  the  fifth,  seventh,  ninth, 
and  eleventh  from  that  root,  e.g. : 


Ex.  3. 


The  objection  to  this  is,  that  the  bass  note 
of  the  chord  (F),  in  nine  cases  out  of  every 
ten,  ascends  in  the  resolution,  as  seen  in 
Ex.  I.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  will  be 
found  that  the  ninth  (A),  and  the  eleventh 
(C),  descend  properly,  and  it  is  a  fact  well 
known  to  careful  analysts  of  harmony,  that 
when  several  discords  are  heard  simultane- 
ously, the  regular  resolution  of  part  of  them 
often  completely  satisfies  the  ear ;  and  also, 
that  when  the  root  or  generator  of  a  chord 
is  omitted,  there  is  more  license  in  its  treat- 
ment. 

A  fourth  explanation  has  been  offered :  it 
is  to  the  effect  that  the  chord  contains  two 


(  17  ) 


ADDED  SIXTH  AD  LIBITUM. 


minor  sevenths,  namely,  F  and  C,  derived 
from  two  roots,  G  and  D  respectively: 


If  both  sevenths  were  properly  resolved, 
consecutive  fifths  would  ensue,  therefore  one 
(and  generally  the  lower  one)  is  made  to 
ascend,  on  the  principle  just  mentioned 
above.  It  is  also  urged  that  the  lower 
seventh,  F,  is  practically  resolved,  if  the  pro- 
gression be  followed  to  the  cadence  in  C.  In 
favour  of  this  view,  it  is  also  stated  that 
chords  built  upon  the  dominant  of  a  scale 
and  its  fifth  are  not  uncommon,  as  for  in- 
stance chords  of  the  augmented  sixth,  &c. 

Whatever  explanation  be  accepted,  it  is 

manifest  that  as  this  chord  is  made  up  of 

four  notes,  it  can  occur  in  as  many  positions, 

each  note  forming  it  being  in  turn  placed  in 

the  bass,  e.p;. :  „ 

'     s  Ex.  5. 


It  is  resolved  generally  as  in  the  above 
example,  but  many  other  resolutions  are 
occasionally  met  with,  e.g.: 


When  the  other  positions  of  the  chord  are 
used,  greater  scope  for  varied  resolution  will 
be  found. 

The  chord  of  the  Added  Sixth  is  also  to  be 
found  in  the  minor  series  of  chords  amongst 
those  authors  who  accept,  though  perhaps 
under  protest,  the  exigencies  of  the  tempered 
scale,  e.g. : 


From  this  source  a  vast  number  of  resolu- 
tions of  the  chord  of  the  Added  Sixth  will  be 
attainable,  the  tracing  of  which  in  the  works 
of  great  masters  will  be  found  as  instructive 
as  interesting. 

Additato(/f.)  Fingered, having  signs  point- 
ing out  what  fingers  are  to  be  used  for  certain 
passages.  [Fingering.] 

Addition.  The  old  name  for  a  dot  or 
point. 

Additional  accompaniments.  Parts  not 
in  an  original  score,  but  added  by  another 
hand.  Such  additions  may  be  made  for  the 
following  reasons:  i,  because  the  author  acci- 
dentally left  his  score  in  an  incomplete  state: 
2,  for  the  supposed  purpose  of  beautifying  the 
original,  by  supplying  parts  for  instruments 
either  unknown  or  imperfectly  known  in  the 
author's  time:  3,  to  enable  modern  performers 
to  play  such  parts  as  were  intended  for  in- 
struments now  obsolete,  or  those  of  a  similar 
tone  now  in  use  :  4,  in  order  to  compensate 
for  the  altered  constitution  of  the  orchestra, 
in  which  the  number  of  stringed  instruments 
is  now  larger  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
reed  wind-instruments,  than  formerly  :  5,  that, 
when  for  the  sake  of  adding  to  the  power  or 
volume  of  tone  other  instruments  must  be 
added,  they  should  be  of  varied  qualities  of 
tone  instead  of  a  mere  numerical  reinforce- 
ment of  those  already  used  in  the  original. 

Additional  keys.  Keys  added  to  enlarge 
the  compass  of  any  instrument. 

Addolorato  {It.)  In  an  afflicted  manner, 
sorrowfully. 

A  demi  jeu  (Fr.)  With  half  the  power  of 
the  instrument. 

A  demi  voix  {Fr.)  At  half  voice.  [Mezzo 
voce.] 

For  two  voices  or  instruments. 
When  the  parts  of  two  instru- 
ments are  written  on  one  line 
the  portion  to  which  this  term 
is  prefixed  is  intended  to  be 
performed  by  both  in  unison; 
the  opposite  term  is  divisi 
q.v. 

A  deux  temps  {Fr.)  In  common  time  of 
two  in  a  bar. 

A  deux  valse  {Fr.)  [Valse.] 

Adirato  (It.)   In  an  angry  manner. 

Adiaphonon.  An  instrument  of  the 
Pianoforte  class,  not  liable  to  get  out  of 
tune.  Invented  by  Schuster  of  Vienna  in 
1820. 

Adjunct  notes.  Short  notes,  not  essen- 
tial to  the  harmony,  occurring  on  unaccented 
parts  of  a  bar.  [c.f.  Auxiliary  notes.  Passing 
notes.] 

Ad  libitum  (Lat.)  At  will,  (i)  In  pas- 
sages so  marked,  the  time  may  be  altered  at 
the  will  of  the  performer. 

) 


Adeux(Fr.) 
A  due  {It.) ' 


ADORN  AMENTO  AIR. 


(2)  A  cadenza  ad  libitum  is  a  cadenza,  the 
construction  of  which  is  left  to  the  performer. 

(3)  Accompaniments  ad  libitum  are  addi- 
tions to  a  piece,  which  may  be  performed,  or 
not,  at  discretion. 

(4)  The  word  is  also  used  to  indicate  the 
point  at  which  a  cadenza  may  be  introduced 
in  a  concerto. 

Adornamento  [It.)  An  ornament,  or  grace. 

Ad  placitum  {Lat.)  At  pleasure.  A  free 
part.  A  part  added  to  a  strict  Canon,  which 
does  not  come  under  the  laws  which  govern 
that  class  of  composition. 

A  due  corde(/^.)  On  two  strings.  [Adeux.] 

 stromenti  {It.)  For  two  instruments. 

A  due  voci  [It.)    For  two  voices. 

A  dur  {Ger.)  The  key  requiring  three 
sharps  to  complete  the  major  scale.  The 
key  of  A  major. 

Ad  videndum  [Lat.)  A  species  of  coun- 
terpoint, which  was  written  down  or  noted, 
as  opposed  to  that  which  was  alia  mente  or 
improvised. 

.ffiolian  harp.  [Eolian.] 

.ffiolian  mode.  [Eolian.] 

Eolian  piano.  A  piano  having  wooden 
bars,  instead  of  strings,  which,  when  struck 
by  the  hammers,  produced  a  tone  of  peculiar 
quality. 

.ffiolodicon.  iEolodion.  Amusicalinstru- 
ment,  the  sounds  of  which  are  produced  by 
the  striking  of  tteel  springs  by  hammers  set 
in  motion  by  an  ordinary  key-board. 

^olomelodicon,  called  also  a  Choraleon  ; 
an  iEolodicon  having  brass  tubes  over  the 
metal  springs,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  more 
power  to  the  tone. 

.^olopantalon,  a  pianoforte  in  connection 
with  the  ^olodicon. 

.^quisonae  voces  {Lat.)  Equal  sounds, 
but  not  unison  ;  that  is,  such  a  consonant 
combination  as,  a  note  and  its  octave  ;  or  a 
note  and  its  super-octave. 

AEVIA.  The  vowels  in  the  word  Alle- 
luia, used  in  mediseval  "  prick  song"  as  an 
abbreviation  for  that  word,  especially  in  An- 
tiphons. 


Sa-lu-ta-re    Su-um.  AEVIA. 
c.f.  EWOWM. 

AfFabile  {It.)  In  a  pleasing  kindly  manner. 
AfFannato  (it.)    In  a  distressed  manner. 
Affannosamente  {It.)  Restlessly. 
Affannoso  {It.)  Mournfully. 
Affetto   con  {It.)    With  affection. 
Affettuosamente  {It.)  Affectionately. 
AfTettuoso  {It.)  Affectionately. 

( 


Affinity.  Connection  by  relation.  Keys  of 
affinity.    [Relative  Keys. J 

Afflitto,  or  con  afflizione  {It.)  Af- 
flictedly,  with  sadness. 

Affrettando  {It.)  -\ 

Affrettate     {It.)  \  Hastening  the  time. 
Affrettore  {It.)) 

A  fofa  {Port.)  A  dance,  like  the  Fandango, 
q.v. 

Agevole  {It.)      jWith  facility  and  light- 

Agevolezza  {It.) )  ness. 

Aggraver  la  fugue  {Fr.)  To  augment 
the  subject  in  a  fugue. 

Agilita,  con  (/;■.)    With  sprightliness. 

Agilite  {Fr.)  Lightness  and  freedom  in 
playing  or  singing. 

Agilmente   {It.)  |  Cheerfully,  in  a  lively 

Agilmento   {It.)  ]  manner. 

Agitamento  {It.)  Restlessness. 

Agitato  {It.)  An  agitated  or  restless  style 
of  playing  or  singing,  in  which  the  time  and 
expression  is  broken  and  hurried. 

Agitazione,  con.  [It.)    With  agitation. 

Agnus  Dei  {Lat.)  [Mass.] 

Agoge  (GA-.),  dywy//.  {Lat.  ductus;  It.  con- 
ducimento.)  The  name  of  one  of  the  sub- 
divisions of  Melopoeia  q.v.  among  the  Greeks. 
The  order  in  which  successive  notes  of  the 
scale  followed  each  other,  with  regard  to 
their  pitch,  in  a  melody.  It  is  thus  defined 
by  Aristoxenus  :  'dywyi)  jxiv  oli\  tariv  »;  Cid  riLv 
EtijQ  <p06yy(x))'  oSoQ  tou  fitXovg.  There  were  three 
kinds  of  Agoge:  ist,  tvdeia  (ductus  rectus), 
when  the  melody  proceeded  from  a  grave  to 
a  higher  sound  by  single  degrees,  ehOua  ^iv 
tcaXti-ai  11  cnro  (iapvrrjTOQ  elc  6t,vrrjTU  (Aristides, 
Quin) ;  2nd,  ayamnTrrovva  (ductus  revertens), 
when  a  higher  sound  was  followed  by  a 
lower  ;  3rd,  Trepttptpi'ic  (ductus  circumcurrens), 
when  a  modulation  was  introduced  in  an  as- 
cending, and  afterwards,  descending  succes- 
sion of  notes,  by  making  one  of  the  notes, 
which  was  flattened  in  ascending,  sharp  on 
descending  ;  or,  vice  versa,  e.g.  : 

I.  Direct.  2.  Reversed. 


Agoge  rhythmica.  The  succession  of  me- 
lodic sounds  viewed  with  regard  to  their 
accent,  and  rhythm. 

A  grand  chceur  (Fr.)  Full  chorus.  Ap- 
plied to  compositions  written  for  the  full  choir 
in  opposition  to  the  petit  chceur,  which  origin- 
ally consisted  of  three  parts  only. 

Agrdmens  {Fr.)  Turns,  graces,  and 
embellishments  in  Harpsichord  music. 

Aigu  {Fr.)    Acute,  high. 

Air.  In  its  modern  sense,  a  tune,  or  the 
tune.    The  word  air  was  formerly  used  to 

19  ) 


AIS  ALLA  STRETTA. 


describe  dance  tunes,  as  "  Court  Ayres,  Pavins, 
Corants  and  Sarabands,"  also  melodies  for 
instruments  ;  for  before  the  invention  of  the 
Sonata,  the  music  for  concerts  (concertos)  of 
violins,  consisted  altogether  of  airs  in  three 
and  sometimes  four  parts.  The  word  air 
{aria),  first  used  by  Italian  writers  in  the  i6th 
century,  was,  when  translated  into  English,  re- 
presented by  the  word  "  fancy."  Lord  Bacon 
in  his  essay  on  "  Beauty,"  uses  the  word  air, 
and  perhaps  unintentionally  describes  its  cha- 
racter thus — "the  sweetest  airs  in  music  are 
made  by  a  kind  of  felicity,  and  not  by  rule." 
The  air  was  formerly  assigned  to  the  middle 
voice  part  or  mcdius,  corresponding  to  our 
tenor.  The  practice  of  giving  the  air  to  the 
soprano,  or  upper  part,  arose  from  the  custom 
of  the  Italian  theatres,  where  the  "musico," 
while  being  supposed  to  sing  the  air  in  the 
tenor,  really  sang  it  in  the  soprano  range.  It 
was  afterwards  adopted  by  the  composers  of 
instrumental  music,  and  the  habit  of  giving 
the  principal  melody  to  the  highest  voice  or 
instrument  has  continued  until  now.  [Ballad,] 
[Sonata.]  [Song.] 
Ais  (Ger.)    A  sharp. 

Akkord  (Ger.)  A  chord,  as  Nonen-akkord, 
chord  of  the  ninth,  &c. 

A  la,  Al,  AH',  Alia  {It.  and  Fr.)  Like, 
in,  at,  &c. 

A  la  meme  {Fr.)    In  the  original  time. 

A  la  mi  re.  The  name  of  the  note  a  in 
the  acute  and  super-acute  hexachords  of  the 
Guidonian  system.  [Notation.] 

Alamoth  [Heb.)  This  word  occurs  in 
Ps.  Ixviii.  25.  "First  go  the  sharim  (singers), 
then  follow  the  negitiim  (kinnors),  in  the  midst 
are  alamotli  (damsels  playing  on  the  timbrels)." 
Gesenius  and  others  understand  the  word  to 
signify  treble  music,  "  vox  clara  et  acuta, 
quasi  virginum."  But,  on  the  other  hand,  in 
I  Chron.  xv.  20  the  names  of  men  are  given 
as  players  of  "  nebels  on  alamoth."  It  is  one 
of  the  many  obscure  musical  terms  which 
are  met  with  in  the  Bible.  It  however  seems 
to  have  been  associated  with  nebels,  much  as 
the  expression  sheininith  is  with  kinnors,  and 
may  therefore  be  supposed  to  refer  to  the  pitch 
or  method  of  playing  on  those  instruments. 

Alarum,  All'armi  (7^.)    A  call  to  arms. 

"Alarums  sounded,  and  ordnance  shot  off" 

(Shakspeare.) 

Originally  a  general  shout;  afterwards,  a 
recognised  signal  by  trumpets  and  drums. 

Albert!  Bass.  A  bass  consisting  of  ar/^g-- 
gios  or  broken  harmony,  e.g. : 


so-called  after  its  reputed  inventor,  Domenico 
Alberti,  who  died  in  1739. 


Alcuna  licenza,  con  {It.)  With  a  little 
license;  that  is,  the  power  of  altering  the  time 
at  will. 

Aliquot  tones.  Overtones  or  harmonics. 
[Acoustics,  §  9.] 

A  livre  ouvert  {Fr.)    At  sight. 

Alia  breve  (//.)  A  direction  that  the  notes 
are  to  be  made  shorter;  that  is,  the  pace  taken 
quicker  than  usual.  It  is  generally  found 
attached  to  movements  having  four  or  eight 
minims  in  a  bar,  and  is  expressed  in  the  sig- 
nature by  The  following  unusual  sigr 
for  alia  breve  is  found  in  the  signature  of  one 
of  the  exercises  "  pour  le  Clavecin,"  by  J.  S. 
Bach,  as  published  about  1760: 


[Time.] 

Alia  caccia  {It.)    In  the  hunting  style. 

  camera  [It.)    In  the  style  of  cham- 
ber music,  q.v. 

  cappella  (It.)    [A  Cappella.] 

  diritta.    By  direct  intervals. 

  hanacca.  In  the  style  of  the  hanaise, 

a  sort  of  polka,  or  polacca  polonaise. 

  marcia.    In  the  style  of  a  March. 

Alia  mente  (It.)  A  barbarous  species  of 
counterpoint  in  thirds  and  fifths,  improvised 
upon  the  plain  song,  called  in  France  "  Chant 
sur  le  livre,"  and  in  England  "  Fa  burden." 
This  peculiar  harmony  is  said  to  have  had  its 
rise  in  the  12th  century,  but  it  is  proDably 
older,  as  Hucbald,  who  was  living  about  the 
year  880,  describes  it,  as  also  did  Odo,  Abbot 
of  Cluny,  in  his  Enchiridion  [c.  920.]  While 
the  use  of  this  hideous  harmony  was  encour- 
aged by  the  churchy  musicians  of  feeling  never 
failed  to  protest  agamst  it,  therefore  we  find  after 
Hucbald,  Odo,  and  Franco  of  Cologne— J ohan- 
nis  de  Muris,  and  others  complaining  of  its 
use,  and  suggesting  various  measures  for  its 
reform,  and  by  degrees  paving  the  way  to  the 
modern  system  of  counterpoint.  The  decree 
of  the  Pope  John  XXII,  dated  at  Avignon 
1322,  had  some  effect  in  checking  its  use,  but 
did  not  entirely  suppress  it,  as  it  was  sung  as 
late  as  the  middle  of  the  15th  century. 

Alia  militare.  (It.)  In  a  military  manner. 

  moderno(/i.)  In  the  modern  method. 

All'  antico  (7i!.)    In  the  old  style. 

Alia  polacca  (It.)  Like  a  polonaise. 

  quinta  (It.)  At  the  fifth. 

  rovescio  (It.)    By  contrary  motion. 

[Rovescio.] 

  siciliana  (It.)   A  species  of  melody 

in  I,  or  f ,  having  the  longest  note  at  the 
accented  pulse.  Handel's  Pastoral  Symphony 
is  alia  siciliana. 

Alia  stretta(7f.)  Bringingcloserand  closer, 
alike  as  to  subject  and  movement. 


(  20  ) 


ALLA  ZOPPA  ALLEMANDE. 


Alia  zoppa  (It.)  Lamely,  halting,  against 
time,  syncopation. 


Allegramente  {It.)  Joyfully. 

Allegretto  {It.)  (Diminutive  of  allegro.) 
(i)  Slower  than  allegro.  (2)  A  movement  in 
this  time. 

Allegrettino  {It.)  (Diminutive  of  alle- 
gretto.) (i)  Not  so  fast  as  allegretto.  (2) 
A  short  allegretto  movement. 

Allegro  {It.)  {Lit.  joyful.)  Quick,  lively. 
The  word  is  occasionally  employed  to  describe 
a  whole  movement  of  a  quartett,  sonata,  or 
symphony.  In  music  it  is  sometimes  qualified 


Allegro  agitato  {It.) 
,,     assai  ,, 


commodo ' 
or 
coniodo 
con  brio 
con  fuoco 
con  moto 


Quick  and  in  an  excited  manner. 
{Lit.)  Fast  enough.    A  quicker 
motion  than  simple  allegro. 

An  easy,  graceful  allegro. 

„     Quickly  and  with  spirit. 
,      Rapidly  and  with  fire. 
,      With  sustained  joyfulness. 
„      Joyfully  and  with  spirit. 

A  movement  full  of  executive 
difficulties  intended  to  exhibit 
the  capacity  of  the  singer  or 
player. 
,,     Exceedingly  quick. 
,,      Rapidly  and  with  fury. 

In  quick  but  steady  time. 
,,     Lively  and  with  graceful 
motion. 

„      Rapidly,  but  not  too  fast. 
,,     Quickly,  but  not  too  much  so. 

„      Lively,  but  not  too  fast. 

,,  Moderately  quick. 

,,  Very  quick. 

,,  Lively  and  with  firmness  and 

decision. 

,,  Lively  and  with  speed. 

,,  Lively  and  brisk. 

,,  Quick  and  lively. 

Allein  {Ger.)  Alone,  as  San/te  Stimmen 
allein,  soft  stops  only. 

Alleluia.  Latin  for  Hallelujah.  {Heb.) 
Praise  ye  the  Lord.  An  invitation  to  praise, 
used  in  every  Christian  community  with  vary- 
ing regularity.  St.  Augustine  says  that  the 
African  Church  used  it  between  the  feasts  of 
Easter  and  Pentecost,  and  it  is  at  that  time 
that  its  use  is  more  prevalent  in  the  ritual  of 
the  Eastern  and  Western  churches  than  at 
other  seasons  of  the  Christian  year.  In  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  it  is  not  employed 
from  Septuagesima  to  Easter,  but  in  the 
Anglican  Church  it  is  said  twice  at  least  every 
day  throughout  the  whole  year,  the  English 
form,  "Praise  ve  the  Lord,"  being  substituted 


di  molto 

furioso 

giusto 


ma  non 
presto  , 

ma  non 
tanto 

ma  non  ] 
troppo  J 

moderate 

molto 

risoluto 

veloce 
vivace 
vivo 


in  the  present  Prayer-book  for  the  ancient 
Hebrew  word  which  was  inserted  in  the  first 
Prayer-book  of  Edward  VI.  The  word  Halle- 
lujah being  a  short,  musical,  and  rhythmical 
word,  is  frequently  used  by  many  anthem- 
writers — apparently  without  a  just  understand- 
ing of  its  meaning— to  eke  out  an  idea  in 
music ;  but  at  other  times  the  word  has  been 
set  to  music  with  sublime  effect,  as  by 
Beethoven  in  his  "  Mount  of  Olives,"  and  by 
Handel  in  his  "  Messiah."  Carl  Engel,  in 
"The  Music  of  the  Most  Ancient  Nations," 
gives  examples  of  melodies  sung  by  the  Copts, 
and  the  women  of  Syria,  Arabia,  and  Persia, 
to  the  word. 

Allemande  {Fr.)  Alemain,  Allemaigne, 
Almain,  a  dance  in  duple  time,  said  to  have 
been  invented  by  the  French  in  the  reign  oi 
Louis  XIV.  as  a  symbolical  allusion  to  the 
newly-acquired  German  provinces.  It  was  re- 
vived and  frequently  performed  at  the  theatres 
during  the  time  of  the  Eirst  Napoleon,  during 
whose  rule  it  became  exceedingly  popular. 
The  measure  was  slow,  and  the  steps  were 
made  in  a  rapid  sliding  manner  as  in  the 
modern  waltz,  but  there  was  no  turning,  only 
a  peculiar  entwining  and  unloosening  of  the 
arms  of  the  dancers  in  the  various  steps.  It 
is  said  by  some  that  the  Allemande  was 
invented  in  the  lesser  provinces  of  Germany 
or  Switzerland.  Scarlatti,  Corelli,  Bach, 
Handel,  and  other  composers  of  the  period 
they  represent,  incorporated  the  measure  of 
this  dance  in  their  Suites,  Sonatas,  and 
Lessons,  in  which  it  was  written  in  common 
time  of  four  crotchets  in  a  bar. 

The  tradition  concerning  the  origin  of  its 
invention,  mentioned  above,  is  very  pic- 
turesque, but  it  is  not  founded  in  fact.  Louis 
XIV.  took  Strasbourg  by  surprise  in  the  time 
of  peace,  in  the  year  1681,  and  the  treaty  of 
Ryswick  which  confirmed  his  possession  was 
not  made  until  1697.  It  is  quite  possible  to 
believe  that  the  fulsome  flattery  of  his  flippant 
court  would  magnify  an  act  of  rapine  into  a 
v/orthy  victory,  and  that  empty-headed  adu- 
lators would  find  heels  light  enough  to  dance 
the'ir  joy  at  the  same;  but  unfortunately  for 
the  story,  there  were  Allemandes  in  exist- 
ence before  the  time  of  the  illegal  seizure. 
In  England,  Almaines  as  musical  composi- 
tions were  published  in  1662,  in  a  book  called 
"  Courtly  Masquing  Ayres,"  and  there  were 
those  by  Lully,  issued  in  France,  bearing 
date  1670;  the  subjoined  one,  by  Dumont,  is 
even  earlier,  as  it  is  to  be  found  in  "  Meslanges 
a  2,  3,  4  et  5  parties,  avec  la  basse  continue, 
contenante  plusiers  chansons,  motets.  Mag- 
nificat, preludes  et  allemandes  pour  I'orgue 
I  et  pour  les  violes  ;  livre  i""  ;  Paris,  Robert 
'  Ballard,  1649."  It  is  not  even  possible  to  refer 
I  the  origin  of  the  dance  to  the  recovery  of  the 


(  2:  ) 


ALLEMANDE  ALTERATA. 


towns  in  the  Low  Countries,  as  Turenne  did 
not  win  them  until  six  years  after  Dumont's 
publication. 

The  mention  of  the  word  as  a  dance  is  to 
be  found  in  earlier  writings  than  either  of  the 
above-mentioned,  for  there  is  a  passage  in 
Ben  Jonson's  play,  "  The  Devil  is  an  Ass," 
first  acted  in  1610,  which  proves  the  dance  to 
have  been  known  in  his  time  : 

'•  He  may,  perchance,  in  tail  of  a  sheriflf's  dinner, 
Skip  with  a  rhyme  on  the  table,  from  New-nothing, 
And  take  his  Almaiii-lesLp  into  a  custard, 
Shall  make  my  lady  mayoress  and  her  sisters 
Laugh  all  their  hoods  over  their  shoulders." 
The  old  Almains   probably  had  leaping 
steps,  as  the  foregoing  passage,  and  another 
from  George  Chapman's  "  Alphonsus,  Em- 
peror of  Germany,"  would  imply: 

"  We  Germans  have  no  changes  in  our  dances, 
An  Almain  and  an  Up-Spring — that  is  all." 
This  play  was  printed  in  1599. 

ALLEMANDE. 


Henri  Dumont,  i6io  1684. 


Allentamento  {It.) 
Allentato  {It.) 


Yielding,  slackening 
the  time,  giving 
way. 

Air  improvista  {It.)  Without  prepara- 
tion, extemporaneously. 

Al  loco  (It.)  {Lit.  in  the  place.)  (i)  A  term 
which  is  used  to  counter-order  a  previous 
direction  to  play  an  octave  higher  or  lower. 

(2)  A  direction  to  a  violinist  to  return  from 
a  shift  to  his  previous  position.  [Shift.] 

AUonger  I'archet  {Fr.)  To  prolong  the 
stroke  of  the  bow. 

Air  ottava  {It.)  At  the  octave,  a  direc- 
tion to  play  an  octave  higher,  or  lower,  than 
is  written. 

Air  unisono  {It.)   In  unison  or  octaves. 

Alphorn.  Alpine  horn.  A  long  tube  of 
fir-wood  played  by  the  herdsmen  of  the  Alps. 
It  has  the  same  natural  series  of  sounds  as  a 
trumpet,  but  does  not  possess  any  means  of 
reducing  the  tenth  harmonic  to  the  ordinary 
pitch  of  our  scale.    [Ranz  des  Vaches.] 

Al  piacere  {It.)    At  pleasure. 

Al  rigore  di  tempo  (It  )  , 

Al  rigore  del  tempo  {It.)  ) 

/By  contrary  motion, that 
is,  answering  an  as- 
cending interval  by 
one  descending  a  like 
distance,  e.g. : 

Handel. 


Al  riverso  (/^.)J 
Al  rovescio  (7^)1 


Answers  al  rovescio  are  found  in  Imitation, 
Fugue,  and  Canon. 

Al  segno  {It.)  To  the  sign.  D'al  segno 
{It.)  from  the  sign  Directions  that  the 

performer  must  return  to  that  portion  of  the 
piece  marked  with  the  sign  s^,  and  conclude 
with  the  first  double  bar  which  follows,  or  go 
on  to  the  word  Fine,  or  to  the  pause 

Alt  {Ger.)  Alto  voice,  part,  or  instrument. 

Alta  (7^.)  High  or  higher.  As  S""  alia, 
an  octave  higher. 

Alterata  {Lat.)    A  name  given  to  those 
scales   into   which   notes  were  introduced 
foreign  to  the  old  church  modes. 
) 


ALTERATIO  ALTO  VOICE. 


Alteratio  {Lat.)  In  mediaeval  music,  the 
doubling  of  the  value  of  a  note.  "  Alteratio 
est  proprii  valoris  alicujus  notae  duplicatio" 
(Tinctor).  This  alteratio  only  took  place  when 
a  note  was  in  a  certain  relation  to  those  near 
it;  e.g.,  if  two  longs  preceded  a  maxim  "in 
modo  majori  perfecto  "  [Modus]  the  latter  of 
them  underwent  alteration  :  and  if  two  breves 
"  in  modo  minore  perfecto  "  preceded  a  long, 
the  latter  underwent  alteration  ;  and  so  on. 
A  perusal  of  the  eight  general,  and  four  par- 
ticular rules  which  governed  alteration,  will 
cause  the  reader  to  be  thankful  that  modern 
music  has  been  relieved  of  such  complica- 
tions. 

Alterato    (It.)  "I  Altered,  augmented  (with 
Altere      {Fr.)  j     reference  to  intervals). 
Alternamente  (It.)  ] 
Alternando      (It.)  ■  Changing  by  turns. 
Alternative     (It.)  J 

Altgeige  {Ger.)  The  tenor  violin,  the 
viola.  [Viola.] 

Altieramente  {It.)  Proudly,  grandly, 
haughtily. 

Altisono  {It.)    Sonorous,  ringing. 

Altissimo  {It.)    The  highest. 

Altista  {It.)  A  name  formerly  given  to  an 
alto  singer. 

Alto-basso  {It.)  An  ancient  Venetian 
stringed  instrument,  a  Hackbret,  q.v.  It 
was  formed  of  a  square  box  of  pine-wood, 
supported  on  legs  and  strung  with  cat- 
gut. The  player  struck  the  strings  with  a 
sort  of  bow,  which  was  held  in  the  left  hand, 
the  right  hand  being  engaged  in  holding  a 
sort  of  flute  or  flageolet  with  which  a  melody 
was  performed.  The  instrument  was  only 
used  by  the  lower  class  of  people,  and  is  now 
obsolete. 

Alto  clef.  The  C  clef,  placed  upon  the 
third  line  of  the  stave,  in  order  that  the  notes 
proper  to  the  Alto  voice  may  be  conveniently 
represented : 


The  Alto  clef  is  also  used  for  the  Tenor  violin 
or  viola.  [Clef.] 

Alto  viola  {It.)  The  tenor  instrument  of 
the  violin  family,  called  Alto,  Tenor,  or  Viola. 
(Ger.)  Bratsche  or  Altgeige.  [Viola.] 

Alto  voice.  Called  also  counter-tenor, 
when  used  by  men,  and  counter-alto  or  con- 
tralto, when  used  by  women.  It  is  the  deepest 
tone  of  voice  among  women  and  boys,  to 
whom  it  may  be  said  to  be  natural,  and  it  is 
called  the  highest  voice  among  men  for  lack 
of  a  better  term  to  describe  it.  Properly 
speaking,  the  tenor  voice  is  the  highest 
man's  voice,  the  alto  or  counter-tenor  voice 
being  entirely  an  artificial  production,  and 


simply  a  development  of  the  falsetto.  The 
register  usually  written  for  this  voice  lies 
between  tenor  G  and  treble  C, 


As  the  best  notes  of  the  alto  voice  are  within 
the  octave  from  B  flat,  those  notes  are  most 
generally  employed,  for  the  higher  notes  are 
harsh  and  discordant,  and  the  lower  of  small 
musical  quality,  and  therefore  ineffective. 
The  alto  voice  in  man  is  mostly  formed 
upon  an  indifferent  bass  voice,  and  there 
is  always  a  bre«k  between  the  chest  and 
the  head  voice ;  this  break  varies  between 

C  and  E^: 


z — I  and  the  careful  union 


of  the  chest  and  head  qualities  of  voice,  and 
the  judicious  employment  of  the  "  mezza 
voce "  are  characteristic  of  every  good  alto 
singer.  The  alto  voice  is  almost  peculiar  to 
English  singers,  not  one  of  the  continental 
nations  possessing  the  capability  of  producing 
the  quality  or  of  appreciating  it  when  pro- 
duced; the  consequence  is,  that  there  is  no 
music  written  for  this  voice  by  any  but 
English  composers,  and  the  majority  of 
writers  of  the  present  day  forming  their  style 
upon  the  foreign  model,  neglect  and  ignore 
the  voice,  disregarding  its  claim  to  useful- 
ness, in  places  and  at  times,  when  and  where 
female  voices  are  unavailable.  The  value  of 
the  voice,  its  flexibility,  sympathetic  quality, 
and  harmonious  power,  when  carefully  culti- 
vated, are  well  displayed  in  cathedral  music, 
and  glee  singing :  a  great  number  of  melodious 
compositions  by  the  most  noted  English 
writers,  depend  upon  the  alto  voice  for  their 
proper  effect.  Many  of  the  songs  in  Handel's 
oratorios  were  assigned  to  this  voice,  which 
are  now,  in  consequence  of  the  heightened 
pitch  at  present  employed,  sung  by  females : 
for  instance,  the  part  of  Solomon  in  the 
oratorio  of  that  name;  of  Barak  and  Sisera  in 
the  oratorio  of  "Deborah;"  and  of  Daniel  in 
"  Belshazzar;"  are  each  given  to  an  alto  voice. 
As  this  practice  is  of  quite  recent  growth,  it 
is  but  reasonable  to  conclude  that  Handel 
intended  the  music  of  the  wisest  king,  and 
that  of  the  two  brave  warriors  to  be  sung  by 
men  altos,  rather  than  by  women,  for  the 
sake  of  appearance,  if  for  no  more  powerful 
reason.  The  fact  before  alluded  to,  of  the  non- 
recognition  of  the  voice  by  foreigners,  has 
given  an  advantage  to  English  musical 
literature  not  enjoyed  by  any  other  people, 
in  the  cultivation  and  sole  possession  of  the 
Glee  and  the  Anthem. 

As  many  of  the  principal  effects  are  obtained 
in  these  two  species  of  composition  through 
the  medium  of  the  alto  voice,  if  only  for  the 
sake  of  the  performance  of  the  many  noble 


(  23  ) 


ALTRA  AMBROSIAN  TE  DEUM. 


specimens  of  art  in  these  two  styles,  the 
alto  voice  will  always  be  cultivated  in  Eng- 
land until  such  time  as  the  Glee  and  Anthem 
cease  to  exist.  The  cultivation  of  the  Part- 
song  has  almost  superseded  the  use  of  the 
alto  voice  in  modern  music,  for  the  upper 
part  in  this  class  of  composition  is  given 
to  tenor  voices,  and  the  difficulty  in  pro- 
ducing the  notes  of  the  higher  register  so 
far  influen  ces  the  character  of  the  music 
written,  that  many  of  the  part-songs  for  male 
voices  are  of  a  bold,  boisterous  style,  entirely 
different  to  that  of  the  glee,  which  by  reason 
of  the  peculiarity  of  the  alto  voice  is  of  a 
more  quiet  character,  depending  in  a  great 
measure  for  its  etfect  upon  delicate  and 
expressive  singing.  Many  composers  of 
eminence  have  completely  ignored  the  alto 
voice,  whether  male  or  female,  a  quantity  of 
music  for  Church  use  being  written  for  treble, 
tenor,  and  bass,  as  by  Cherubini  and  others. 

In  quality  and  power  of  expression  the 
female  alto  voice  is  peculiar,  and  unlike  any 
other  voice.  Its  character  is  grave,  tender,  spi- 
ritual, and  moving,  and  is  admirably  adapted 
to  express  emotions  of  dignity,  grandeur,  and 
piety.  The  male  alto  being  an  artificial  voice, 
its  usefulness  is  of  limited  duration,  for  when 
the  singer  is  past  fifty  years  of  age  the  voice 
becomes  harsh,  reedy,  nasal,  and  the  break  is 
painfully  apparent. 

Altra,  fern.  {It.)  1 

Altri,  pi.     (It.)  VOther,  another,  others. 
Altro,  mas.  (It.)  ) 
Altschliissel  (Ger.)    Alto  clef. 
Altviole  (Gcr.)    [Alto  Viola.] 
Alzamento  di  mano  {It.)    Raising  the 
hand  in  conducting. 

Alzando  [It.)  Lifting  up,  raising,  elevating. 

Altzeichen  {Ger.)  The  alto  clef, 

Amabile  (7^.)    Lovely,  gentle,  tender. 
Amabilita,  con  {It.)    With  gentleness, 
tenderness. 

Amarevole  {It.)    Sad,  bitter. 
Amarezza,  con  (7^.)    With  sadness. 
Amarissimamente    (7^.) )  , 
Amarissimo  (7^.)  T^ry  bitterly. 

In  a  mournful,  sorrowful  style. 

Amateur  {Fr.)  A  lover  of  music;  one 
who  pursues  the  practice  of  any  art  for  pure 
love,  in  distinction  to  one  who  is  engaged 
in  its  employment  for  pay. 

Ambira  {Afr.)  A  kind  of  drum  or  pulsatile 
instrument,  made  of  wood,  in  cylindrical 
form,  upon  which  a  series  of  tongues  of  iron, 
cane,  or  wood  are  so  arranged  that  they  may 
be  made  to  vibrate  upon  pressure.  The 
Ambira  is  used  by  the  negroes  of  Senegambia 
and  Guinea. 

Ambitus  {Lat.)  {lit.  circuit.)  The  com- 
pass of  an  ancient  church  tone.   The  word  is, 


however,  used  sometimes  in  a  more  extended 
sense  than  our  word  compass,  as  it  is  made 
to  signify  the  proper  steps  which  lie  between 
the  extreme  limits  of  the  tone — "Toni  debitus 
ascensus  et  descensus."  The  rules  (regulze) 
which  govern  the  ambitus  depend  upon  the 
position  of  the  final  of  the  tone,  and  although 
much  elaborated  in  mediaeval  treatises,  their 
force  seems  to  be  that  the  proper  ambitus 
should  (regulariter)  not  exceed  the  octave 
(diapason)  included  between  the  highest  note 
of  the  mode  above  the  final  and  the  lowest 
below  it,  except  "  by  licence"  (licentialiterj. 
These  dispensations  only  allow  the  intro- 
duction of  three  notes  outside  the  ambitus  in 
each  direction,  an  authentic  mode  being 
allowed  a  descent  to  the  lowest  note  of  i.s 
corresponding  plaga!  tone ;  a  plagal  tone 
being  allowed  to  ascend  to  the  highest  note 
of  its  corresponding  authentic.  This  fact, 
simple  enough  in  itself,  is  cleverly  put  into  a 
shape  as  unintelligible  as  possible  in  the 
following  lines,  framed  for  the  supposed 
assistance  of  the  student : 

"  Undenis  gradibus  vult  juste  vadere  prothus. 
Per  sex  et  quinas  claves  vult  deuterus  ire. 
Octo  tribus  gradibus  vult  juste  cepere  tritus. 
Per  sex  quinque  gradus  juste  capit  ire  tetrardus." 

Ambo  or  Ambon  {Gk.,  a^pwv  from 
di-a/iaiVw.)  A  desk  or  pulpit.  The  raised 
platform  in  Eastern  churches,  on  which  the 
singers  mounted  when  they  sang.  A  canon 
of  the  Council  of  Laodicea  (a.d.  360-370) 
decreed  that  no  one  should  sing  in  the  church 
besides  the  regular  singers  (ttX?)*'  Twr  Kavovii:wv 
yLa\Th)t'),  who  ascended  the  ambo  and  sang 
from  the  parchment  [uiro  licpdipac).  This  early 
attempt  to  bring  about  the  separate  perform- 
ance of  trained  choir-singers  did  not  obtain 
any  favour  in  the  Western  churches  of  that 
period,  and  with  the  introduction  of  congre- 
gational song,  the  ambo  became  disused. 

Ambrosian  Chant.  The  system  of  church- 
song  introduced  by  Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan, 
in  the  fourth  century.  It  formed  the  basis  of 
the  Gregorian  system.    [Plain  Song.] 

Ambrosian  Hymn.  The  "  Te  Deum" 
so-called,  because,  by  some,  its  authorship 
is  attributed  to  Bishop  Ambrose. 

Ambrosian  Te  Deum.  A  musical  set- 
ting of  the  Te  Deum  in  plain-song,  called  after 
Bishop  Ambrose  because  of  its  antiquity 
and  the  possibility  of  its  having  been  the  first 
setting  of  the  Hymn  after  the  introduction  of 
properly-regulated  song  into  Christian  wor- 
ship. Marbecke,  who  adapted  it  to  English 
vv'ords,  chose  a  simple  setting,  and  a  com- 
parison between  his  version  and  others  w;l! 
be  found  interesting.  Meibomius  (in  his  well- 
known  work,  Ant.  Mus.  Auct.  Septcm.  1652), 
published  it  with  Greek  notation,  as  an  ex- 


(  24  ^ 


AMBUBAJi^E— ANCIA. 


ponent  of  his  own  principles,  not  as  a  copy 
of  any  authorized  edition.    [Plain  Song. J 

Ambubajse  [Lai.)  Companies  of  immoral 
Syrian  women,  who  attended  festivals  and 
gatherings  among  the  Romans  as  minstrels. 
Their  instruments  were  called  abub,  or  ambub, 
whence  their  name. 

Ambulant  (Fr.)  Wandering.  Applied  to 
strolling  musicians. 

Ame  (Fr.)  The  sound-post  of  a  violin,  or 
other  stringed  instrument  of  its  kind. 

American  Organ.  An  instrument  having 
one  or  more  manuals,  and  registers  which 
control  series  of  free  reeds.  It  is,  in  its 
principles  of  construction,  diametrically 
opposed  to  the  Harmonium,  for  v/hereas 
in  this,  air  is  forced  through  the  reeds  from 
a  bellows,  —  in  the  American  Organ  the 
action  of  the  treadle  exerts  suction.  When 
it  is  required  to  shut  off  a  row  of  reeds, 
the  putting  in  of  the  stop-handle  places  a 
thick  air-tight  covering  of  fult  over  the  outside 
of  the  row  of  reeds,  so  that  the  air  cannot  be 
sucked  through  them, — the  drawing  of  the 
stop,  by  removing  this  obstruction,  allows  the 
free  passage  of  the  air  through  the  reeds.  In 
short,  in  the  Harmonium,  air  is  blown  from 
the  bellows  through  the  reeds ;  in  the 
American  Organ,  air  is  sucked  through  the 
reeds  into  the  bellows.  There  are,  however, 
other  differences.  The  reeds  of  the  American 
Organ  are  thinner  than  those  of  the  Har- 
monium, and  are  slightly  curved  in  shape,  by 
which  greater  quickness  of  speech  is  insured. 
A  very  beautiful  undulating  tone  is  obtained 
by  setting  in  motion  a  rotating  fan,  imme- 
diately above  one  of  the  rows  of  vibrators. 
This,  by  producing  a  variable  pressure  of  air 
just  outside  the  reeds,  affects  also  their  vibra- 
tion as  they  draw  it  in.  The  mechanism 
which  sets  the  fan  in  motion  is  called  the 
Vox  Humana  stop.  When  there  is  an 
Expression  stop  it  gives  the  player  some 
control  over  the  pressure  of  suction,  and  thus 
it  is  the  converse  of  the  stop  of  the  same 
name  in  the  Harmonium  ;  but  the  effects 
which  can  be  produced  by  its  use  are  more 
striking  in  the  latter  instrument.  The  tone 
of  American  Organs  is  extremely  melodious 
and  sweet,  but  it  does  not  travel  well.  For 
chamber  music  these  instruments  are  emi- 
nently qualified,  not  only  because  of  the 
character  of  their  tone,  but  because  they 
possess  the  enormous  advantage  of  remaining 
for  a  longer  period  and  under  varying  circum- 
stances— in  tune. 

A  mezza  aria  (7^.)  A  compromise  be- 
tween Air  and  recitative.    [Aria  parlante.] 

A  mezza  voce  {It.)  With  half  the  strength 
of  the  voice.  (2)  The  quality  between  the 
chest  and  head  voice.  (3)  The  subdued  tone 
of  instruments. 


A  moll  [Ger.)  A  minor,  the  tonality  of 
the  relative  minor  to  the  key  of  C. 

A  monocorde  {Fr.)   On  one  string. 

Amore,  con  {It.)  With  love,  affection, 
tenderness,  ardour. 

Amorevole  {It.)  Affectionately. 

Amorevolmente  (7^.)  Tenderly. 

A  Moresco  (7^.)    In  the  Moorish  style. 

Amorosamente  (7^.)  Lovingly. 

Amoroso  {It.)    In  a  loving  style. 

Amor-schall.  A  horn  of  peculiar  con- 
struction invented  in  the  year  1760,  by  Kolbel, 
one  of  the  musicians  of  the  Emperor  of  Rus- 
sia. It  was  intended  as  an  improvement  upon 
the  ordinary  French  horn,  but  the  introduction 
of  the  cylinder  and  valve  system  led  to  the 
disuse  of  the  Amor-schall.  A  duet  for  these 
instruments  was  composed  by  Cherubini,  and 
dedicated  to  Lord  Cowper. 

Amphibrachys.    A  foot  consisting  of  a 
long    between    two    short    syllables,  '  " 
[Metre.] 

Amphimacer.    A  foot  consisting  of  a 
short    between    two    long    syllables,  "  " 
[Metre.] 

Amplitude  of  vibrati  on.  The  distance 
from  the  point  of  rest  of  a  particle,  to  either 
end  of  its  journey,  when  a  sound-wave  passes 
over  it.    [Acoustics,  §  3.] 

Ampollosamente    (7i.)lln  a  bombastic, 

Ampolloso  {It.)  J    inflated  style. 

Ampoule  {Fr.)  Bombastic. 

Amusement  {Fr.)  A  short  and  lively 
piece  of  music.    {It.)  Divertimento. 

Anabasis  {Gk.),  avniiaaiQ,  a  succession  of 
ascending  sounds. 

Anabathmi  {Gk.),  cwaloaOfKu,  the  name 
given  to  certain  antiphons  in  the  Greek 
Church  ;  so  called  because  their  words  were 
selected  from  the  Psalms  called  in  the  Sep- 
tuagint  o)2ai  TtZy  uvapadnixiv  (Ps.  120-134  '"^ 
Eng.  version),  "  Songs  of  degrees,"  the  gra- 
dual Psalms  of  the  Roman  use. 

Anakampsis  {Gk.),  ai-aca/x-^ie,  a  succes- 
sion of  descending  sounds. 

Anakamptos.  [Anakampsis.] 

Anakara  {Gk.)  The  ancient  kettledrum. 
A  larger  sort  was  used  for  battle  purposes, 
and  there  was  a  smaller  drum  which  a  woman 
could  hold  with  one  hand  and  beat  with  the 
other.    [Drum.]  [Nacchera.] 

Anakarista  {Gk.)    A  drum  player. 

Anapaest.  A  foot  consisting  of  a  long  pre 
ceded  by  two  short  syllables,  "  "  [Metre.] 

Anaploke  {Gr.)  avaTrXou).  A  combination 
of  notes  ascending  the  scale ;  opposed  to 
KaTa-rrXoK}),  a  descending  series  of  combined 
sounds. 

Anche  {Fr.)  The  reed  in  the  mouth-piece 

of  a  hautboy,  bassoon,  &c.,  the  name  also 
applied  to  a  reed  in  an  organ.  [Reed.] 
Ancia  (7/.)  [Anche.] 


l  25  } 


ANCORA  ANTECEDENT. 


Ancora  (If.)    Again,  once  more,  encore. 

Ancor  piu  mosso  {It.)  Still  quicker, 
more  motion  yet. 

Andacht  (Ger.)  Devotion. 

Andachtig  (Ger.)    Devotionally,  devoutly. 

Andamento  {It.)  (i)  An  accessory  idea, 
or  episode  ;  an  accessory  part,  in  a  Fugue. 
(2)  In  the  style  of  an  Andante. 

Andante  (It.)  Walking.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  last  century,  music  so  marked 
was  understood  to  be  of  a  grand  yet  cheerful 
style,  but  in  the  present  day  it  implies  a  move- 
ment which  is  slow,  graceful,  distinct  and 
peaceful.  The  word  is  sometimes  used  as  a 
substantive,  in  speaking  of  that  portion  of  a 
symphony  or  sonata  so  marked.  The  many 
modifications  both  of  pace  and  style  are  ex- 
pressed as  below  : 

Andante  affettuoso,  in  an  easy,  pathetic 
style. 

Andante  cantabile,  in  a  singing  style. 
Andanta  con  moto,  an  uninterrupted 
andante. 

Andante  grazioso,  in  graceful  motion. 

Andante  maestoso,  with  majesty. 

Andante  non  troppo,  moderately,  but 
not  too  slow. 

Andante  pastorale,  graceful,  and  with 
pastoral  simplicity. 

Andantemente  {It.)  Easily,  fluently, 
without  interruption,  in  the  manner  of  an 
Andante. 

Andantino  (It.)  A  diminutive  of  Andante, 
unfortunately  interpreted  in  two  directly 
opposite  ways.  By  some  it  is  understood  to 
mean,  not  so  slow  as  andante;  by  others, 
rather  slower  than  andante.  This  difference 
of  opinion  results  from  the  ambiguity  of  an  ex- 
pression which  literally  means  "  rather  going." 

Andante  sostenuto, moderately,  and  very 
smoothly. 

Andar  diritto  {It.,    Go  straight  on. 

An  dare  in  tempo  {It.)  To  go  in  time. 
Keep  to  the  time. 

Anelantemente  {It.)  Ardently,  eagerly, 
pantingly. 

Anelanza 

Anelito 

Anemochord.  A  variety  of  the  Eolian 
harp,  made  by  Jacob  Schnell,  in  Paris,  1789, 
[Eolian  harp.] 

Anemometer,  [Wind-gauge.] 

Anesis  {Gk.)  fu  ttriQ,  from  avii)fii,  to  loosen, 
(i)  The  progression  from  a  high  sound  to 
one  lower  in  pitch.  (2)  The  tuning  of  strings 
to  a  lower  pitch  (ai'tmg  \op?ojr.) 

Anfangs-ritornel  {Ger.)  Introductory 
symphony.    [Symphony,  §  4  ] 

Anfangs-griinde  {Ger.)  Rudiments,  prin- 
ciples, beginnings, 


Angelica  {Ger.) 
Angelique  (/'>.) 


[Vox  angelica.] 


Angenehm  {Ger.)    Pleasing,  agreeable. 
Anglaise  {Fr.) ")  The  English  contra  danse. 
Anglico     (It.) )     [Country  dance.] 
Anglican  Chant.  [Chant.] 
Angore    {It.)     Anguish,   grief,  distress, 
passion. 

Angosciamente    (7^.) ")  Sorrowfully, 
Angosciamento     {It.) )  anxiously. 
Angosciosissamente  {It.)  With  extreme 
sorrow. 

Angoscioso  {It.)    Anxious,  painful. 

Anhaltende  Cadenz  {Ger.)  A  lengthened 
cadence,  an  organ  or  pedal  point. 

Anhang  {Ger.)  [Coda.] 

Anima,  con  {It.)    With  animation,  spirit. 

Animato  {It.)  Lively. 

Animazione  {It.)    Liveliness,  animation. 

Animo,  con  {It.)  With  courage,  spirit, 
dash,  and  fire. 

Animo  Corde  {It.)  [Anemochord.] 

Animosamente  (7^)  Spiritedly,  ener- 
getically. 

An,mos,ss,mo  3pi,i?,<i.  ' 

Animoso  (It )    Lively,  energetic. 
Anklang  {Ger.)    Tune,  harmony,  accord. 
Anklingeln  {Ger.)  To  sound  or  ring  a  bell. 
Anklingen  {Ger.)   To  accord  in  sound,  to 
be  in  tune. 

Anlage  (Ger.)  Indication  of  talent : 
the  sketch  of  a  musical  thought ;  also  the 
plan  or  design  of  a  composition. 

Anlaufen  {Ger.)  To  increase  or  swell  in 
sound. 

Anleitung  {Ger.)  Instruction,  guidance, 
direction,  preface. 

Anmuth  {Ger.)  Charm,  sweetness,  grace, 
agreeableness. 

Anonner  {Fr.)  To  stutter,  to  hesitate. 
To  stumble  in  performing,  to  play  in  an  un- 
skilful style. 

Anpfeifen  {Ger.)  To  whistle  at,  to  hiss 
at ;  in  music,  to  condemn.  [Fiasco.] 

Ansatz  {Ger.)  (i)  Attack,  q.v.  (2)  The 
adjustment  of  the  mouth  to  the  position 
required  for  the  production  of  the  voice  in 
singing.  (3)  The  adjustment  of  the  lips 
necessary  for  the  proper  production  of  the  tone 
of  wind  instruments,  as  in  French,  "embouch- 
ure," and  in  English,  "  lipping,"  q.v. 

Anschlag  {Ger.)  (1)  Touch,  or  the  pro- 
duction of  tone  upon  such  keyed  instruments 
as  the  organ,  pianoforte,  or  harmonium. 

(2)  The  clash  of  a  discord  before  resolution. 
[Percussion.] 

Ansingen  {Ger.)    To  welcome  with  song. 

Ansprechen  {Ger.)  1  To  sound,  to  sing,  to 

Anstimmen  {Ger.)  J     give  out  tone. 

Anstimmung  {Ger.)  Intonation,  sound- 
ing, smging. 

Antecedent,    (i)  A  phrase  or  point  pio- 


(  26  ) 


ANTHEM. 


posed  for  Imitation.  (2)  Any  passage  which 
is  answered.    (3)  The  subject  of  a  Fugue. 

Anthem. — A  composition  for  voices,  with 
or  without  organ  or  other  instrumental  ac- 
companiment, enjoined  by  the  Ritual  of  the 
Anglican  Church  to  be  sung  at  Morning  and 
Evening  service,  "  in  choirs  and  places  where 
.they  sing."  The  words  are  generally  selected 
from  the  Psalms,  or  other  portions  of  the 
Bible,  but  paraphrases  of  Scripture,  and 
words  in  prose  and  metre,  of  less  authority, 
are  sometimes  used.  It  is  the  one  ornament 
of  the  Service,  reserved  for  the  Choir,  in 
which  the  congregation  takes  no  part. 

2.  Anthems  may  be  divided  into  various 
kinds,  according  to  the  character  of  the  words; 
but  with  this  division  it  is  not  our  province  to 
deal.  The  form  of  the  music  suggests  four 
divisions,  namely:  the  Full,  the  Full  with 
verses,  the  Verse,  and  the  Solo.  When 
Anthems  were  accompanied  with  instruments 
other  than  the  organ,  they  were  formerly 
called  Instrumental  Anthems. 

3.  A  Full  Anthem,  which  is  the  earliest 
model,  consists  entirely  of  chorus,  with  or 
without  Organ  accompaniment.  A  Full  and 
Verse  Anthem  is  one  in  which  certain  parts 
are  assigned  to  voices  soli,  with  choruses  to 
commence  and  conclude.  A  Verse  Anthem 
is  one  that  begins  with  portions  intended  to 
be  sung  by  a  single  voice  to  a  part,  the  word 
verse  probably  meaning  a  turn  of  thought 
to  be  forcibly  or  clearly  expressed,  a  change 
of  treatment  or  sentiment  properly  echoed 
in  the  style  of  the  music.  The  words  of 
the  verse  are  often  chosen  from  portions  of 
Scripture  other  than  the  main  body  of  the 
Anthem,  by  way  of  gloss.  The  chief  voices 
on  one  side.  Decani  or  Cantoris,  usually 
sing  the  Verse,  and  the  whole  choir,  both 
sides,  the  chorus  or  Full  part.  The  character 
of  the  Solo  Anthem  is  sufficiently  obvious, 
through  its  title  ;  in  every  case  there  is,  how- 
ever, a  concluding  chorus,  even  if  it  be 
only  the  word  Amen  once  sung.  An  Instru- 
mental Anthem  may  partake  of  either  or  all 
the  characteristics  of  the  Anthems  above 
described.  At  the  end  of  the  17th  and  the 
beginning  of  the  i8th  centuries  the  Instru- 
mental Anthem  was  in  frequent  use  at  the 
Chapel  Royal,  St.  James's;  and,  until  thirty 
years  ago,  the  whole  of  the  music  sung  at  the 
Festival  of  the  Sons  of  the  Clergy,  at  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral,  was  regularly  given  with 
the  accompaniment  of  a  full  orchestra.  This 
custom  was  revived  on  the  like  occasion  in 
1873  with  fine  effect. 

The  Anthem  is  especially  an  English  pro- 
duction, a  development  of  the  Motett;  but  the 
Antifona  of  the  Italians,  the  Anticnne  of  the 
French,  and  the  W echselgesang  of  the  Ger- 
mans, preserve  to  this  day  the  character  of 


the  same  prototype.  The  Antiphon  was  a 
special  selection  of  words  intended  to  be 
suitable  to  the  service  for  the  day,  and  was 
invariable,  but  the  words  of  the  Anthem  in 
the  Anglican  Church  were  chosen  by  the 
composer,  v/ith  or  without  reference  to  any 
particular  Season,  the  early  composers  very 
rarely  mentioning  the  special  season  for  which 
they  intend  their  music.  The  ignorance  of 
Prjecentors  and  other  rulers  of  the  choir,  or 
their  partiality  for  some  one  class  of  compo- 
sition has  often  led  them  into  having  Anthems 
performed  that  are  ludicrously  inappropriate 
to  the  Season. 

4.  The  history  of  the  Anthem  may  be  com- 
prised within  a  period  of  little  more  than 
three  centuries,  and  falls  into  three  divisions, 
namely:  the  Motett  period,  the  Verse  period, 
and  the  Modern  period.  The  Motett  period 
lasted  from  the  time  of  the  Reformation  to  the 
death  of  Henry  Lawes,  say  from  1550  to  1650. 
During  the  troublous  times  of  the  Common- 
wealth, the  Anthem,  in  common  with  nearly 
all  other  Church  music,  excepting  hymn  tunes, 
had  little  or  no  life  or  character.  The  Verse 
period  existed  from  1670  to  about  1777,  the 
time  of  the  death  of  the  elder  Hayes.  To 
this  succeeded  another  lapse  of  more  than 
forty  years,  during  which  time  Church  needs 
in  this  matter  were  supplied  by  a  series  of 
adaptations  from  Oratorios  and  Masses,  which 
were  greatly  favoured, — even  Madrigals  were 
laid  under  forced  contribution.  The  absence 
of  proper  encouragement  to  original  com- 
posers prevented  many  able  writers,  the 
elder  Samuel  Wesley  among  others,  from, 
employing  their  talents  towards  relieving  the: 
want  of  the  Church.  That  Wesley  was  a 
writer  of  no  mean  order  of  genius  the 
existence  of  his  Latin  Motetts  "  Omnia 
Vanitas,"  "  In  Exitu  Israel,"  "  Exultate 
Deo,"  sufficiently  proves. 

The  modern  period  commenced,  with 
Thomas  Attwood,  and  was  continued  by 
the  younger  Samuel  Sebastian  Wesley,  and 
John  Goss.  The  earliest  composers  of 
music  for  the  Reformed  Church  have  left 
no  examples  of  either  solo  or  verse  Anthems, 
their  contributions  to  this  order  of  music 
being  similar  in  character  and  construction 
with  the  Motett  of  the  Italian  Church. 
The  greater  portion  of  the  Anthems,  by  the 
early  English  writers,  were  adaptations  of 
English  words  to  music  formerly  set  to  Latin 
words,  a  proceeding  both  useful  and  needful 
in  the  shifting  period  immediately  succeeding 
the  Reformation.  The  first  music  set  to  Eng- 
lish words  for  the  service  of  the  Church — 
exclusive  of  Marbecke's  plain-song— was  the 
work  of  Thomas  Tallis,  organist  to  the  Court, 
in  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI., 
Queens  Mary  and  Elizabeth  ;  and  much  of  his 


(  27  ) 


ANTHEM. 


music,  which  is  still  extant,  is  a  mere  collection 
of  dry  contrapuntal  exercises  without  much 
attempt  at  musical  or  religious  expression, 
although  some  of  it  exhibits  great  origin- 
ality and  an  agreement  with  the  character 
of  the  words.  The  next  writer  of  importance 
was  William  Byrde  (1543-1623.)  His  An- 
thems, set  to  Latin  words,  and  first  published 
in  1589  under  the  title  of  "  Cantiones  Sacrae," 
were  afterwards  adapted,  probably  by  himself, 
to  English  words  of  like  character.  One  of 
them,  still  frequently  in  use,  "  Bow  Thine 
ear,"  or  "  Be  not  wroth,  very  sore,"  for  there 
are  two  versions  of  the  same  composition, 
was  originally  sung  to  the  words,  "  Civitas 
sancti  Tui,"  the  second  part  of  the  Motett, 
"Ne  irascans;"  and  the  music  beautifully 
expresses  the  sentiment  of  the  text.  It  is 
only  occasionally  that  such  a  happy  com- 
bination is  found  in  the  works  of  Anthem 
writers  up  to  the  period  of  the  restoration  of 
Charles  II.;  for,  although  the  compositions  of 
Tye,  Tallis,  Farrant,  Allison,  Morley,  Hooper, 
Byrde,  Bull,  and  Gibbons,  are  models  of 
constructive  skill,  there  is  little  that  could  be 
fairly  called  musical  expression  to  be  found 
in  any  one  of  them.  Neither  was  there  any 
distinction  of  style  between  sacred  and  secu- 
lar music  at  this  period.  For  example,  the 
madrigal  by  Gibbons,  "The  Silver  Swan," 
and  his  Anthem,  "  Hosanna,"  might  change 
places,  so  that  the  madrigal  might  be  made  an 
anthem,  and  the  anthem  a  madrigal,  without 
any  violation  of  cliaracter,  and  yet  each  would 
be  counted  a  noble  specimen  of  its  class.  It 
was  not  until  men's  manners  and  modes  of 
thought  had  undergone  the  change  brought 
about  by  the  emancipation  necessarily  suc- 
ceeding a  reformation  in  religion,  that  a  special 
and  marked  difference  was  made  between  the 
style  of  music  used  for  the  Church  and  that 
for  secular  purposes.  For  nearly  twenty 
years,  that  is,  from  the  death  of  Lawes  in 
1645,  to  the  time  when  Pelham  Humphreys 
was  writing.  Church  music  was  represented 
by  such  writers  as  Child  and  Rogers,  the  best 
of  whose  compositions  are  but  pale  reflections 
of  old  styles.  The  pause  in  church  matters, 
during  the  Commonwealth,  had  its  bad  effect 
upon  Church  music,  until  the  new  interest 
aroused  by  the  works  of  foreign  writers 
produced  fresh  vitality.  When  Humphreys 
began  to  supply  the  want  in  Church  music 
caused  by  the  revival  of  the  service  ac- 
cording to  the  Ritual  of  the  Prayer-book, 
some  degree  of  difficulty  arose,  for  it  was 
impossible  to  pursue  the  practice  formerly 
in  vogue,  of  making  little,  if  any,  difference 
in  the  style  of  sacred  and  secular  music,  for 
secular  music  had  now  assumed  a  character 
unfitted  for  the  dignity  and  solemnity  of 
Divine  worship.    To  meet  this  difficulty  a 


sort  of  compromise  was  effected  ;  the  secular 

style  of  a  preceding  generation  was  adopted 
as  the  prevailing  standard  character  for 
Church  music,  a  practice  which  has  con- 
tinued in  use  to  this  day.  Now,  as  then, 
recently  acquired  ideas  were  used  in  com- 
bination with  old  fashioned  notions,  and  at 
the  period  of  the  history  of  the  Anthem,  now; 
being  treated  of,  the  novelty  introduced  was 
the  Verse,  the  effect  of  French  and  Italian 
influence  upon  English  music.  The  best 
Verse  and  Solo  Anthems  are  those  by 
Humphreys,  Purcell,  Wise,  Weldon,  Blow, 
Croft,  and  Greene  ;  and,  with  the  last  named 
writer,  the  verse  Anthem  proper  culminated, 
and  then  decayed,  for  the  poor  productions 
of  Nares,  Kent,  Pring,  and  others,  although 
popular  in  their  day,  simply  lumber  the  shelves 
upon  which  they  are  placed.  Boyce  and  the 
elder  Hayes  were  more  successful  in  their 
Full,  than  in  their  Verse  Anthems,  some  of 
which  are  models  of  beauty  and  effective 
writing.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  for  many 
years  there  was  a  hiatus  in  the  supply  of 
original  Anthems,  the  exigencies  of  the 
Church  service  being  supplied  by  a  series  of 
bad  arrangements,  for,  counting  the  single 
contributions  furnished  by  men  of  genius  like 
Battishill,  who  were  living  between  the  time  of 
Boyce  and  Wesley,  the  majority  of  these  con- 
tributions were  the  weak  repetition  of  themes 
that  had  been  better  treated  before.  Thomas 
Attwood,  a  pupil  of  Mozart,  and  organist  at 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  was  the  first  who  made 
the  laudable  endeavour  to  supersede  bad 
arrangements  by  attempting  to  give  some 
adequate  and  connected  expression  to  the 
words  set  as  Anthems;  and,  although  his 
works  are  to  a  great  extent  valueless  as 
Church  music,  his  intention  should  be  men- 
tioned with  respect,  especially  as  his  writings 
and  mode  of  thought  aroused  the  emulation 
of  a  worthy  series  of  followers. 

It  is  interesting  in  reviewing  the  history  of 
the  Anthem  to  notice  to  what  an  extent  organ 
accompaniment  has  developed  and  expanded. 
The  Anthems  of  the  first  period  are  as  effective 
without  organ  support  as  with  it,  and  in  those 
choirs  in  which  an  unaccompanied  service  is 
sometimes  performed,  they  form  the  repertory 
from  which  selections  are  made.    The  organ 
part  to  Anthems  of  the   second  period  is 
almost  indispensable,  by  reason  of  the  fre- 
quency with  which  ritonielli,  and  solos  and 
duets  are  introduced.    In  the  Anthems  of  the 
1  more  modern  period  the  organ   is  exalted 
\  almost  to  the  dignity  of  a  solo  instrument, 
many  Anthems  being  written  less  for  vocal 
than  for  instrumental  effect.     The  variety  of 
!  stops,  improved  mechanism  of  the  organ,  and 
j  the  advanced  skill  of  cathedral  organists  form 
;  a  combination  too  tempting  to  the  composer, 


(  28  ) 


ANTHE  VT. 


who  is,  in  most  cases,  himself  an  organist. 
The  tendency  of  most  of  the  music  written 
fur  the  organ  is  to  treat  it  as  an  imitation  of 
<in  orchestra  ;  this  improper  use  of  the  instru- 
ment is  influencing  the  character  of  the 
Anthems  of  the  present  day;  and,  unless 
composers  are  wise  in  time,  the  Church  music 
of  the  latter  part  of  the  igth,  will  be  as  feeble 
and  as  useless  to  future  generations  as  that 
of  the  latter  part  of  the  i8th  century. 

5.  The  first  published  collection  of  Anthems 
in  score  was  that  made  in  1724  by  Dr.  W. 
Croft,  of  his  own  compositions,  the  only  piece 
of  Church  music  which  had  been  previously 
issued  in  this  style,  being  a  service  by  Henry 
Purcell.  The  old  practice  of  printing  each  part 
separately  not  only  led  to  the  loss  of  the 
several  parts,  but  also  increased  the  difficulty 
of  a  correct  understanding  of  the  effect,  for 
want  of  a  score.  Of  Barnard's  Church  music, 
printed  in  this  manner,  no  perfect  copy  is 
known  to  exist,  as  even  the  parts  intended 
for  the  several  voices  on  the  Decani  and  Can- 
toris sides  of  the  choir  were  published  in 
separate  and  distinct  books. 

5.  Many  suggestions  have  been  made  as  to 
the  derivation  of  the  word  Anthem,  of  which 
the  following  are  the  chief : — 

(a)  .  From  the  word  Antiphon,  it  being 
understood  that  the  Anthem  was  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  more  ancient  Antiphon.  If  it 
was  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the  Prayer- 
book  to  continue  the  use  of  the  Antiphon  it 
would  probably  have  been  expressed,  and 
a  t  ible  of  the  Antiphons  proper  to  the  Church 
S;,i",  ins  would  have  been  compiled  and  in- 
scited  among  the  directions  for  order  of  the 
service,  in  like  manner  with  the  table  of 
lessons  and  the  division  of  the  Psalms.  If, 
however,  this  direction  was  omitted,  the 
tradition  of  their  retention  would  doubtless 
remain,  and  so  it  would  be  found  that  the 
early  Anthem  writers  would  have  been  saved 
the  trouble  of  making  their  own  selection 
of  words,  and  would  have  set  to  music  the 
words  of  the  Antiphons,  all  of  which  were 
taken  from  Scripture,  and  therefore  in  con- 
formity with  the  principle  of  the  Reformation; 
but  this  was  not  done,  as  a  reference  to  the 
Anthems  in  Barnard's  Collections,  and  to 
the  words  in  Clifford's  Anthem-book,  suffl- 
ently  shows. 

(b)  .  From  ni-tfioroc,  or  according  to  some, 
the  mediaeval  avBvfii'OQ,  on  the  supposition 
that  the  Anthems  or  Antiphons  were  sung 
from  side  to  side  of  the  church.  The  choir 
being  still  divided  according  to  ancient  custom, 
the  practice  of  antiphonal  singing  is  apparently 
maintained,  if  by  such  a  term  alternation  is 
implied.  But  Antiphony  means  classically, 
singing  at  the  octave,  and  anthem  singing  is 
the   reverse    of    such    antiphonal  singing. 


Durandus  gives  another  meaning  to  the  word, 
when  he  says,  that  the  sentences  which 
precede  the  Psalms  and  Canticles  are  called 
Antiphons  "  non  quia  alternatim  a  diversis 
clTofis"cantentur;  sed  quia  sicut  claves  et 
indices,  ad  quorum  modulationem  ac  sonum, 
sequens  canticum  psalmusque  alternatim 
cantatur.  Tonus  enim  totius  psalmi  ex  tono 
antiphonae  sumitur"  • —  "  not  because  they 
are  sung  by  two  choirs  alternately,  but  because 
they  are  as  keys  and  indices  to  the  tone  and 
mode,  to  which  the  Canticle  or  Psalm  fol- 
lowing ought  to  be  chanted  antiphonally. 
For  the  tone  of  the  whole  Psalm  is  taken 
from  that  of  the  Antiphon."  When  the 
Prsecentor  of  ancient  times  started  the  Tone 
for  the  psalms  some  sort  of  antiphonal 
singing  was  practised  between  him  and 
the  Choir,  in  singing  the  Antiphons  ;  and  the 
connection  of  the  word  Anthem  with  responds 
and  invitatories  in  the  preface  to  the  Prayer- 
book,  would  seem  to  imply  alternate  singing. 
The  word  Anthem  is  used  three  times  in 
the  Prayer-book,  to  the  Venite,  to  the  portions 
of  Scripture  appointed  to  be  sung  in  place  of 
the  Venite  on  Easter-day,  and  in  the  Rubric 
after  the  third  Collect.  In  two  out  of  these 
three  cases  the  word  is  used  in  the  same 
sense  as  the  old  Antiphon,  An  antiphonal 
character  (in  the  sense  of  alternating)  is 
implied  by  the  use  of  the  words  in  the 
Office  for  the  Communion  of  the  Sick  in 
the  Liturgy  of  King  Edward  VI.,  a.d.  1549, 
but  as  the  office  does  not  comprise  singing, 
it  may  be  inferred  that  the  words  Anthem 
and  Antiphon  in  this  case  refer  to  other  than 
a  musical  meaning.  It  may  be  here  mentionti! 
that  the  word  Anthem  was  at  one  time 
applied  to  texts  of  Scripture — Bishop  Scory's 
text  for  his  sermons  preached  at  St.  Paul's 
Cross,  being  called  his  Anthem— and  also 
to  secular  compositions  as  well  as  sacred. 
In  the  Prioress's  Tale,  of  Chaucer,  the 
words  — 

"          bad  me  for  to  synge 

This  antym  veraily  in  my  deying," 

refer  to  the  ancient  Hymn,  "  Alma  re- 
demptoris."  Shakspeare  makes  Falstaff  use 
the  word  with  a  very  different  application  ; 
and  the  "Boar's  Head  Carol"  annually  sung 
at  Queen's  College  in  Oxford,  was  until 
recently,  called  an  Anthem  in  the  printed 
copies. 

(c).  A  derivation  from  the  word  avaQtixa  has 
been  suggested,  under  the  impression  that  an 
Anthem  is  an  invocation;  and  it  is  curious  to 
note  in  confirmation  of  this  conjecture,  that 
in  the  original  edition  published  in  1663,  of 
Clifford's  words  of  Anthems,  the  first  book  of 
its  kind  ever  issued,  the  majority  of  the  se- 
lected verses  set  as  Anthems — 144  out  of  167 
— are  of  an  invocatory  character. 


(  29  ) 


ANTHEMA  ANTIPHON. 


(d).  Lastly,  the  word  has  been  derived  from 
aiHtifia  (a  flower),  from  whence  the  word  an- 
thology. The  ancient  and  still  existing  name 
for  the  book  containing  the  words  and  notes 
of  the  anthems  or  antiphons,  is  Anthologium 
or  Antiphonarium,  probably  from  the  idea  that 
a  collection  of  such  words  might  reasonably 
be  considered  as  a  series  of  choice  flowers 
from  Holy  writ,  as  the  Anthem  was  formerly 
held  to  be  the  flower  of  the  service,  by  those 
who  attended  church  for  the  sake  of  listening 
to  it  only,  and  who  left  in  an  unseemly  man- 
ner at  its  close, — a  vicious  habit  which  is 
scarcely  yet  extinct. 

Anthema  {Gk.)  avda^a,  short  poetic  form 
o{  avaOiifxa,  literally  anything  set  up  (ayaridri^i), 
hence  ornaments  or  apparatus  of  a  feast ; 
hence  music  and  dancing. 

Anthologium  {Gk.)  A  collection  of  anti- 
phons set  to  music.  A  term  used  in  imitation 
of  the  word  avftoXoyiai,  collections  of  small 
Greek  poems,  selected  and  made  up,  as  it 
were,  into  a  nosega}',  from  ixvQoQ,  a  flower,  \£yu>, 
to  pick.  [Antiphonarium.] 

Anthropoglossa  {Gk.)    [Vox  Humana.] 

Antibacchius.  A  foot  consisting  of  two 
long  syllables,  followed  by  one  short,  . 

Anticipation.  The  introduction  of  notes 
before  the  time  in  which  they  are  naturally 
expected  in  the  harmony,  e.g. : 


Antico  (It.)  Ancient. 
Antienne  (Fr.) ")  r  a  »u  ^ 
Antifona     (/i.)  1  [Anthem.] 

Antifonario       (It.)}   r  a  ^-  u 
Antiphonaire   (W. )  1  [Ant.phonary.] 

Antiphon.  (i)  In  ancient  Greek  music 
antiphony  (ut'Ttcjitdvi),  or  avri<l>u)t'oi)  meant 
"  sounds  in  octaves  "  as  being  responsive  to, 
or  over  against  each  other.  The  relation 
between  sounds  at  the  interval  of  an  oc- 
tave was  thus  implied  by  ain^wi';),  while 
the  actual  interval  of  an  octave  was  called 
diapason. 

(2)  From  the  above  meaning  of  the  word 
it  came  in  time  to  be  applied  to  the  alternate 
singing  of  choirs,  as  being  similar  in  some 
respects  to  the  i-n-lppr)fia  and  nvrirripprj^a  of  the 
old  Tragedy.  The  word  Antiphony  is  the 
more  appropriate  for  recitation  altcrnatiin  if 
it  be  rememhitred  that  in  the  earliest  public 
services  of  Christianity  a  choir  of  women  and 
children  was  often  responded  to  by  a  choir  of 


men  :  hito  yivovrai  to  wpurrov  xppoi,  6  fJtev  avipiHy, 
6  0£  yvvaiKiHy  (Philo  de  Vita,  cont.).  The 
custom  of  antiphonal  singing  seems  to  have 
been  first  introduced  at  Antioch  by  Diodorus 
and  Flavian  :  ovtoi  vpuroi  iixv  IuXovteq  tovc 
Tbtv  \l/a\\6vTti)v  -^opovc  f'/v  Trapaco)(fiQ  ^^eiv  Tijy 
AaijihiK))y  tStCalav  fjitXio^ictV  Kai  tovto  iv 
AvTW)(j.<f  TrpwTOv  ap^afiEyoy  itavToai  httopafxe  ku'i 
KariXafie  r^e  oiKOVntvr}^  TtpjxaTa  (Theod.  Hist. 
Eccl.).  Afterwards,  through  the  musical 
ability  of  Ambrose,  the  same  system  of  psalm- 
singing  became  general  in  theWestern  church. 
Although  Christian  authors  give  accounts  oi 
antiphonal  singing  as  something  new,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  of  its  great  antiquity.  There 
are  sufficient  allusions  to  it  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment to  show  that  it  was  well  known  to  the 
Jews  ;  and  the  very  structure  of  many  of  the 
Psalms  implies  its  existence.  In  our  own 
times,  the  choirs  of  cathedrals  and  churches 
are  usually  (when  seated  in  the  chancel, — not 
in  a  west  gallery)  divided  into  two  sides,  one 
called  Decani,  from  the  fact  that  it  is  on  the 
Dean's  side  of  the  choir  (south);  the  other, 
Cantoris,  because  it  is  placed  on  the  Pre- 
centor's or  Succentor's  side  (north).  The 
Psalms  are  sung  by  alternate  verses,  from 
side  to  side,  both  sides  joining  in  the  Gloria 
Patri.  In  some  foreign  churches,  the  Anti- 
phony consists  of  the  chanting  of  one  verse 
by  a  single  voice,  the  next  being  sung  by  the 
full  choir,  in  response.  This  is  not  a  correct 
system,  ritualistically  speaking,  although,  in 
the  Church  of  England,  in  those  rare  places 
where  they  do  not  sing,  the  minister  and 
congregation  go  through  an  exactly  similar 
process.  The  Antiphony,  which  was  once 
common  in  this  country,  between  the  minister 
and  parish-clerk,  who  rivalled  each  other  in 
the  uncommon  phases  of  meaning  which  their 
particular  method  of  "saying"  the  Psalms 
often  rendered  prominent,  is  now  happily 
almost  obsolete.  Miraculous  stories  of  the 
introduction  of  responsive  choir-singing  are 
not  wanting.  Socrates,  in  his  ecclesiastical 
history  (Book  vi.  chap,  viii),  says  :  "  Ignatius, 
third  Bishop  of  Antioch  in  Syria  from  the 
Apostle  Peter,  who  had  also  conversed  fami- 
liarly with  the  Apostles  themselves,  saw  a 
vision  of  angels  hymning  in  alternate  chants 
the  Holy  Trinity  ;  after  which  he  introduced 
the  mode  of  singing  he  had  observed  in  the 
vision  into  the  Antiochian  Churches,  whence 
it  was  transmitted  by  tradition  to  all  the  other 
churches." 

(3)  A  short  sentence,  generally  from  Holy 
Scripture,  sung  before  and  after  the  Psalms 
for  the  day,  or  the  Canticles,  selected  for  its 
appropriateness  to  the  Church  season  in 
which  it  is  sung.  As  an  example,  one  of  the 
Antiphons  used  on  the  fourth  Sunday  in 
Advent  is  here  given  : 


(  30 


ANTIPHONARIUM  ANTISPASTUS. 


Then  follows  Ps. 
ex.  to  Tone  I  ). 
Dixit  Dominus." 


The  use  of  the  Antiphon  in  this  manner, 
has  no  doubt  grown  out  of  the  frequent  re- 
currence of  Alleluia,  and  other  devout  excla- 
mations as  found  in  the  Psalms,  which  have 
ever  been  used  in  the  Church  as  "  Respon- 
soria."  The  Gallican  "  Liturgy,"  which  may 
with  probability  be  ascribed  to  the  second 
century,  commences  with  an  Antiphon. 
But  the  word  Antiphon  is  used  in  many 
other  senses,  sometimes  even  given  to  a 
complete  set  of  Versicles  and  Responses  ; 
thus  Augustine  and  his  followers  are  said 
to  have  entered  Canterbury  singing  as  an 
Anthem  (Antiphona)  one  of  the  Litanies. 
Certain  of  the  hymns  sung  at  the  end  of 
Compline  are  also  called  Antiphons. 

(4)  The  greater  Antiphons  (Antiphonae 
majores)  are  sung  on  the  eight  days  pre- 
ceding Christmas-day,  before  the  Magnificat. 
The  first  of  them  commences  with  the  words, 

O  Sapientia,"  which  is  still  found  in  the 
calendar  of  the  English  Prayer-book,  on 
December  i6th.  It  will  be  found  interesting 
to  compare  the  text  of  these  greater  Anti- 
phons as  found  in  the  Sarum  use,  and  in  the 
Vesperal  now  issued  from  Mechlin. 

(5)  In  the  early  Greek  Church,  in  the 
services  of  which,  hymns  and  canticles  of  all 
kinds  were  sung  by  two  alternating  choirs, 
the  word  Antiphon  was  specially  applied  to 
the  three  canticles  which  preceded  the  lesser 
Introit. 

(6)  Antiphona  [Lat.)  An  Anthem.  The 
English  word  is  supposed  to  have  been 
corrupted  from  the  Latin.  But  several  other 
explanations,  which  have  been  brought 
forward  from  time  to  time,  will  be  found 
sub  voce.  [Anthem.] 

Antiphonarium   (Lat.)  1 

Antiphonaire.  Anti-  >  [Antiphonary.] 
phonier  (Fr.)  ) 

Antiphonary.  }  A  service   book  of  the 

Antiphoner.  j  Roman  Church,  which 
contained  originally  the  antiphons  sung  in 
the  services  of  the  Hours,  properly  arranged 
and  noted,  to  which,  from  time  to  time,  other 
portions  of  music  and  words  were  added, 
such  as  Invitatories,  Hymns,  Responses,  &c. 
The  advantage,  perhaps  necessity,  of  refer- 
ring to  ancient  copies  of  service-books  for 
the  true  restoration  of  plain-song,  which  has 
ever  had  a  tendency  to  vary  in  its  character 


by  unauthorized  additions,  or  foliations,  was 
felt  as  much  one  thousand  years  ago  as  it 
is  now.  For  we  read  that  the  good  lessons 
in  plain-chant  given  to  the  French  clergy, 
when  Pope  Stephen  II.  was  the  guest  of 
Pepin,  King  of  France,  were  soon  forgotten  ; 
and  that  in  the  time  of  his  son,  Charlemagne, 
the  church-song  had  become  exceedingly 
corrupt.  Charlemagne,  for  the  purpose  of 
remedying  this,  obtained  the  services  and  help 
of  Theodore  and  Benoit,  who  carried  with 
them  from  Rome  a  copy  of  the  Antiphoner  of 
Gregory,  which  the  Pope  himself  (Adrian)  had 
noted.  Other  accounts  are  to  be  found  of  these 
reformations  of  plain-chant,  all  of  which  how- 
ever point  to  the  importance  of  the  preser- 
vation of,  and  reference  to,  old  antipnoners. 
And  later  on,  in  the  12th  century,  we  find 
St.  Bernard  the  Abbot  making  efforts  to  stem 
the  tide  of  innovations,  by  publishing  his 
tract—"  De  Cantu  seu  correctione  Antipho- 
narii" — in  which  he  says,  "  take  the  anti- 
phonary used  at  Rheims,  and  compare  it 
with  that  of  Beauvais,  or  Amiens,  or  Soissons, 
which  are  almost  at  your  doors,  and  see  if 
they  are  the  same,  or  even  like  each  other." 

The  number  of  service-books  seems  to  have 
rapidly  increased ;  for,  by  the  constitutions 
of  Archbishop  Winchelsey  (a.d  1305)  it  was 
required  that  every  church  in  the  province  of 
Canterbury  should  be  provided  with  a  Legend, 
an  Antiphonary,  a  Grail,  a  Psalter,  a  Troper, 
an  Ordinal,  a  Missal,  and  a  Manual.  In  1549, 
when  all  such  books  were  abolished  to  make 
way  for  the  "Booke  of  Common  Praier,"  they 
appear  to  have  been  still  more  numerous : 
being  described  as  "  Antiphoners,  Missals, 
Grayles,  Processionals,  Manuals,  Legends, 
Pies,  Portuasses,  Primers  in  Latin  or  English, 
Couchers,  Journals,  and  Ordinals."  The 
Grayle,  or  Gradual,  contained  tracts,  se- 
quences, hallelujahs,  creeds,  offertories,  the 
sanctus,  and  the  office  of  sprinkling  with  holy 
water.  Legends,  or  Lectionaries,  contained 
the  Lessons,  which  were  not  in  the  Anti- 
phonary. It  is  unnecessary  here  to  enter 
into  an  explanation  of  all  these  terms;  suffice 
it  to  say,  that  the  copying  of  choir-books  was 
a  matter  of  great  labour,  and  that  the  books 
themselves  were  in  consequence  very  costly. 
It  is  related  by  Spelman  that  two  anti- 
phonaries  cost  the  Monastery  of  Crabhuse, 
in  Norfolk,  twenty-six  marks  in  the  year 
1424;  and  it  is  also  related  that  a  common 
Missal  cost  five  marks — a  year's  income  of  a 
cleric  at  that  time.  Upon  the  dissolution  of 
monasteries,  valuable  books  of  this  sort  were 
dispersed  throughout  the  country,  and,  from 
carelessness  or  wanton  waste,  destroyed  in 
large  numbers. 

Antispastus.  A  foot,  consisting  of  two 
long  between  two  short  syllables, 


(  31  ) 


ANTISTROPHE  APPLAUSE. 


Antistrophe.  [Strophe.] 

Anwachsend  {Ger.)  Swelling,  crescendo. 

Aperto  (7^.)  Open.  The  use  of  the 
damper-pedal  in  pianoforte  music. 

Appelregal  (Ger.)  A  reed  stop  in  the 
organ  now  no  longer  made  ;  the  pipes,  which 
were  small,  had  a  round  hollow  nob  at  the 
top  like  an  apple,  whence  the  name. 

Antode(G^.)  di  rw^j).  Responsive  singing. 

Aoidoi  (Gk.),  plural  of  aoiiog.  Minstrels, 
bards.    (Lat.)     Vates.  [Bard.] 

A  piacere  (i)Atpleasure.  Not 

A  piacimento  (7^.)  J  strictly  in  tim.e,  ad 
libitum.    (2)  The  introduction  of  a  cadenza. 

Aplomb  {Fr.)  Steadiness,  self-possession. 

A  poco  a  poco  {It.)  More  and  more. 
By  degrees.  Applied  to  the  increase  of  time 
or  expression. 

A  poco  piu  lento  (It.)    A  little  slower. 

A  poco  piu  mosso  (it.)   Somewhat  faster. 

Apollo-lyra.  [Psalmmelodicon.] 

ApoUonicon.  An  organ,  invented  in  1800 
by  John  Henry  Voller,  of  Hesse  Darmstadt, 
and  manufactured  in  London  by  Messrs. 
Flight  and  Robson  in  1828;  it  consisted  of 
about  1900  pipes,  with  six  sets  of  keys,  so 
that  half  a  dozen  performers  might  play 
simultaneously.  The  action  was  so  ar- 
ranged, that  it  might  be  performed  upon  by 
six  players  in  the  ordinary  manner,  or  the 
various  effects  might  be  elicited  by  the  revo- 
lution of  certain  cylinders  which  set  the  wind 
in  motion,  and  regulated  the  stops  according 
to  the  character  of  the  music  played.  An 
imitation  of  an  orchestra,  with  the  usual 
instruments,  including  kettle-drums,  was  the 
object  sought  to  be  gained  by  the  invention. 

Apolutikion  (Gk.)  airo\vrli;ioy.  A  hymn 
sung  at  the  close  of  Vespers  in  certain  seasons 
of  the  Greek  Church.  The  word  is  probably 
derived  from  the  opening  sentence  of  the 
Nunc  Dimittis,  "  t-vr  aTroXveiQ  top  hovXoi'  aov," 
and  signifies  a  hymn  of  dismissal. 

Apopemptic  Song.  An  ancient  farewell 
or  parting  hymn  usually  sung  to  a  stranger 
about  to  return  to  his  own  land.  Apopemtic 
strains  were  sung  to  the  gods  on  certain  days 
on  which  it  was  believed  that  the  several 
deities  returned  to  their  original  countries. 

Apotome  (Gk.)  'ATroTo/xij.  A  major  semi- 
tone. "  Major  pars  toni  :  quae  semitonium 
majus  vulgariter  dicitur"  (Tinctor.)  "Id  quod 
vere  semitonium  nuncupatur,  pars  toni  minor 
est  quam  dimidia.  Reliqua  igitur  pars,  quas 
major  est,  apotome  nuncupatur  a  Grscis,  a 
nobis  vero  potest  vocari  decisio."  (Boethius 
De  Inst.  Mus.,  Lib.  ii.,  cap.  29  et  30.) 

Appassionato  (7^)  With  feeling,  passion, 
01  affection. 

Appassionamento  (7^.)  With  passion,  | 
love. 

Appassionatamente  (7^.)    Passic  nately.  1 


I      Appenato  (It.)    With  an  expression  of 

suffering,  with  bitterness  or  grief. 

Applause.  Praise  or  approbation  ex- 
pressed by  clapping  the  hands,  stamping 
the  feet  or  the  utterance  of  certain  cries,  as 
bravo,  encore.  In  the  ancient  Greek  theatre, 
Donaldson  says,  that  "  the  conduct  of  the 
audience  was  much  the  same  as  that  of  the 
spectators  in  our  own  theatres,  and  they  seem 
to  have  had  little  scruple  in  expressing  their 
approbation  or  disapprobation,  as  well  to  the 
poet  as  to  the  actors.  Their  mode  of  doing 
this  was  sometimes  very  violent,  and  even  in 
the  time  of  Machon  it  was  customary  to  pelt 
a  bad  performer  with  stones." 

Hissing,  as  an  expression  of  disapproval  or 
contempt,  is  of  very  ancient  use,  and  it  was 
the  custom  to  augment  the  power  of  the  hiss, 
by  blowing  through  reeds  and  whistles,  a 
custom  not  altogether  unrepresented  in  later 
times,  when  cat-calls,  introduced  into  an 
English  theatre,  gave  Addison  a  subject  for 
an  amusing  paper  (No.  361)  in  the  Spectator. 
The  hollow  pipe  of  a  key  serves  the  purpose 
of  the  ancient  calamus  or  fistula,  in  modern 
Italy,  and  the  frequency  with  which  indifferent 
operas  are  received  "  colla  chiave,"  proves 
that  the  spirit  of  old  times  still  lives  and  is 
active.  [Fiasco.] 

History  shows  us  that  applause  was  not 
confined  to  secular  performances,  but  was 
allowed  and  even  looked  for  in  churches  as 
well  as  theatres.  Hone,  in  his  "  Ancient 
Mysteries  described,"  quotes  the  following 
passage  relative  to  this  custom  :  Jerome  de- 
sired Gregory  Nazianzen  to  explain  to  him 
what  was  meant  by  the  second  Sabbath  after 
the  first,  in  St.  Luke  vi.  i.  Gregory  answered, 
"  I  will  teach  you  that  at  Church,  where, 
when  all  the  people  shall  applaud  Jtie,  you  will 
be  forced  to  know,  what  you  do  not  know;  for 
if  you  only  keep  silence,  you  will  be  looked 
upon  as  a  fool." 

At  one  time  encores  were  not  permitted  in 
France,  neither  were  calls  allowed  for  the 
author  of  a  piece  which  had  given  pleasure. 
When  reforms  were  takingplace,  opportunities 
were  found  to  break  through  this  rule,  Jean 
Baptiste  Lemoine  or  Moyne,  in  1789,  being 
the  first  composer  called  upon  the  stage  in 
France  after  the  performance  of  his  opera, 
"  Nephte."  A  few  years  later  in  Italy,  Paisiello 
was  the  means  of  removing  the  prohibition  on 
the  audience  from  applauding  at  all  in  San 
Carlo,  for  he  induced  the  King  to  set  the  ex- 
ample of  the  change,  by  applauding  an  aria 
sung  by  Carlo  Raino,  in  the  opera  "  Papiiius," 
produced  in  the  year  1805. 

It  has  been  happily  said  that  "  II  piu 
grand  'omaggia  alia  musica  sta  nel  silenzio," 
and,  influenced  by  some  such  principle,  the 
better  sort  among  a  mixed  audience  refrain 


C  32  ) 


APPLICATUR  ARETINIAN  SYLLABLES. 


from  indiscriminate  applause,  encores  in 
tended  as  compliments  often  becoming  an 
oppressive  tax,  levied  by  the  unthinking,  or 
those  who  care  little  for  true  art.  The  gene- 
ral opinion  of  the  reasonable  on  this  subject, 
is  expressed  in  the  following  epigram: — 

"  The  '  sovereign  people  '  rule  all  things. 
So  levellers  would  say; 
But  all  'encores'  in  concert-rooms. 
The  '  shilling  people  '  sway." 

[Claque.] 

Applicatur  (Ger.)  (i)  The  art  of  using 
the  fingers  freely  upon  a  musical  instru- 
ment of  any  kind,  (2)  shifting  q.v.  and  re- 
covering the  original  position. 

Appoggiando  {It.)  Drawing  out,  length- 
ening, leaning  upon. 

Appoggiato  (It.)  Supported.  Appoggiato 
notes  are  those  notes  which  suspend  the 
resolution,  or  that  supply  gaps  in  passages 
of  intervals.  See  also  passing  note,  sus- 
pension, and  SYNCOPATION. 

Appoggiatura  {It.)  A  note  leant  upon 
in  singing  or  playing,  applied  to  beats  and 
grace  notes,  q.v. 

Apprestare  (It.)  To  make  ready,  to  pre- 
pare for  playing,  to  set  in  tune. 

A  premiere  vue  (Fr.))  .    .       .  , 

A  prima  vista     {It.)\  ^'^^ 

A  punta  d'arco  (It.)  With  the  end  of 
the  bow  near  the  point. 

A  punto  {It.)  In  exact  time,  precise,  strict, 
accurate. 

Apycni  (Gk.)  {airvKyoi).  The  notes  Pros- 
lambanomenos  {TrpoaXa^fDavofitvoc),  nete  sy- 
nemmenon  ()•//-»;  rrvn^nixivtov),  and  nete  hyper- 
boleon  i  >  j}r,j  u-tp/poXa/wi')  of  the  Greek  system 
of  music.  The  notes  are  so  named  because 
of  their  reniLu  ness  from  each  other  (from 
nnvKviiL:.  not  cIosj.  not  dense). 

A  quattro  mani  [It.)  A  quatre  mains  {Fr.) 
For  four  hands  on  one  instrument,  that  is,  as- 
a  duet  for  two  performers  on  the  pianoforte 
or  organ. 

A  quattro  parti  {It.)  \A  quatre  seuls  {Fr.) 

A  quattro,  soii  (/<.)]   For  four  soloists. 

A  quattro  voci  {It.)  A  quatre  voix  {Fr.) 
For  four  voices  in  harmony. 

Arbitrio  {It.)  Will,  pleasure,  a  suo  ar- 
bitrio,  at  his  pleasure. 

Arcato  {It.)  With  the  bow,  as  opposed 
to  pizzicato,  plucked  with  the  finger.  Coll' 
area  is  a  direction  to  the  same  effect. 

Arched  viall.  An  instrument  somewhat 
in  fashion  like  a  hurdy-gurdy,  invented  about 
A.D.  1664,  and  thus  described  by  Pepys  in  his 
Diary,  under  the  date  October  5th,  in  that 
year :  "  To  the  Musique  meeting  at  the 
Post  Office,  where  I  was  once  before.  And 
thither  anon  came  all  the  Gresham  College, 
and  a  great  deal  of  noble  company ;  and  the 

(  33 


new  instrument  was  brought,  called  the 
Arched  Viall,  where  being  tuned  with  Lute- 
strings, and  played  on  with  kees  like  an 
organ,  a  piece  of  parchment  is  always  kept 
moving;  and  the  strings,  which  by  the  kees 
are  pressed  down  upon  it,  are  grated  in  imi- 
tation of  a  bow,  by  the  parchment  ;  and  so  it 
is  intended  to  resemble  several  vyalls  played 
on  with  one  bow,  but  so  basely  and  so  harshly, 
that  it  will  never  do.  But  after  three  hours' 
stay  it  could  not  be  fixed  in  tune;  and  so  they 
were  fain  to  go  to  some  other  music  of  instru- 
ments." Pepys  had  probably  no  design  in 
writing  the  word  viall  in  the  manner  in  which 
he  has  done ;  but,  in  doing  so,  he  has  intimated  ;i 
connection  with  ancient  vielle  or  hurdy-gurdy, 
which  the  Arched  viall  someA'hat  resembled  ; 
the  parchment  was  doubtless  "  always  kept 
moving"  by  means  of  a  wheel. 

Archeggiamento  {It.)  (i)  The  same  as 
arcato;  or  evil'  arco.    (2)  The  use  of  the  bow. 

Archet  {Fr.)  Arco  (//.)  The  bow  with 
which  stringed  instruments  are  played.  [Bow.] 

Archicembalo  {It.)  Archicembalo  [Lat.) 
A  cembalo  with  an  enharmonic  scale,  supposed 
to  have  been  invented  about  the  year  1537  in 
Italy,  described  by  Salinas  as  having  each 
tone  divided  into  parts,  of  which  three  were 
given  to  the  greater  semi-tone  and  two  to  the 
less,  the  whole  octave  being  divided  into  thirty- 
one  parts. 

Archlute,  arciliuto  {It.)  Archiluth  {Fr.) 
[Theorbo.] 

Arco  {It.)  The  bow.  Coll'  arco,  with  the 
bow,  as  opposed  to  Pizzicato,  pinched  by  the 
finger. 

Ardente  {It.)  {Fr.)    Ardently,  with  fire. 

Arditezza,con  {It.)  With  boldness, energy. 

Ardito  {It.)    Bold  and  energetic. 

Aretinian  syllables.  The  names  Ut, 
Re,  Mi,  Fa,  Sol,  La,  given  to  the  Hexachord  by 
Guido  d'Arezzo  (Guido  Aretinus).  These 
syllables  happen  to  occur  in  consecutive  notes 
of  the  scale,  in  an  ancient  hymn  to  S.  John 
Baptist. 


-  or  -  um, 


From  the  system  of  over-lapping  Hexa- 
chords,  arise  the  compound  names  of  notes 
such  as  E-la-mi,  A-la-mi-re,  &c.,  which  are 
explained  under  Notation. 

)  c 


ARGHOOL  ARIA  FUGATA. 


Arghool.  A  simply  constructed  wind  in- 
strument, now  used  in  Egypt.  It  is  made  of 
common  cane,  and  is  played  by  mouth-pieces 
containing  reeds.  There  are  two  species  of 
arghool  ;  the  first  (Fig.  i)  consists  of  two 
tubes  both  pierced  with  holes,  so  that  the 
performer  may  play  in  thirds  and  sixths  ;  the 
second  (Fig.  2)  consists  also  of  two  tubes,  but 
one  only  is  pierced  with  holes,  the  other  being 
longer  and  used  as  a  drone.  The  pitch  of  the 
drone  can  be  altered  by  the  addition  of  extra 
pieces,  which  are  attached  to  the  instrument, 
as  are  also  the  mouth-pieces,  by  waxed 
thread. 

Fig.  I. 


Fig.  2. 


Aria  [It.)  An  air,  tune,  song,  or  melody 
in  rhythmical  proportion,  now  understood  to 
mean  a  movement  for  a  single  voice  or  instru- 
ment, with  an  accompaniment.  [Air.] 

Aria  d'abilita  {It.)  A  song  of  difficult 
execution,  requiring  great  skill  in  its  proper 
and  satisfactory  performance. 

Aria  buffa  {It.)  A  song  with  some  degree 
of  humour  in  the  words,  or  in  the  treatment 
of  the  music. 

Aria  cantabile  (7^.)  An  air  in  a  graceful, 
flowing  style,  capable  of  much  musical  ex- 
pression. 

Aria  concertante  (7^.)  An  air  in  the  con- 
cert style,  that  is  a  melody  for  a  single  voice, 
accompanied  by  instruments  having  obbligato 
or  solo  passages  assigned  to  them. 

Aria  di  bravura  (7^.)  A  melody  with 
florid,  bold,  and  energetic  passages  and  phra- 
ses for  the  voice.  An  aria  di  bravura  is  more 
or  less  an  aria  d'abilita. 

Aria  fugata  (It.)  A  song  or  air,  in  which 
the  accompaniment  is  written  in  fugal  style, 
or  in  imitation.  The  difficulty  of  expressing 
dramatic  emotions  in  this  species  of  compo- 
sition led  to  its  ultimate  disuse,  though  at 
one  time  it  was  greatly  in  favour.  The  sub- 
joined specimen,  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
expressive  of  its  class,  is  said  to  be  the  work 


of  Bononcini,  usually  called  the  rival  of 
Handel,  but  it  may  be  the  production  of 
either  of  the  other  writers  concerned  in  the 
opera  of  Thomyris,  from  whence  it  was  taken. 
This  opera,  produced  under  the  direction  of 
Heidegger,  at  the  "  King's  Theater,  in  y^  Hay- 
market"  in  1709,  was  a  pasticcio  of  melodies 
and  compositions  selected  from  the  works  of 
Albinoni,  Gasparini,  Steffano,  Scarlatti,  and 
Bononcini.  The  opera  was  called  English, 
though  the  singers  delivered  some  portions  in 
Italian,  and  others  in  English.  The  libretto  of 
the  opera  was  by  no  means  of  a  high  poetical 
order. 

"  Aria  fugata"  out  of  the  Opera  of  Thomyris. 


blessing,  why  have 

(  34  J 


ARIA  PARLANTE  ARMONISTA. 


tf  

Thy 

-*  *  ^-  -!■- 1^ 

.    .  why  do  we  not  prize  our 

trea    -   sure  till  'tis  lost. 
"^^^^-^^^ 

B.C. 

Aria  parlante  (It.)  (i)  Vocal  music  suit- 
able to,  and  designed  for,  a  proper  declamation 
of  the  words. 

(2)  A  style  of  song-writing  invented  to- 
wards the  close  of  the  i6th  century  by  those 
Florentine  dilettanti  who,  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  Renaissance  which  had  already 
revolutionized  other  arts,  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  the  necessity  of  ridding  music  of 
cold  formalities  and  restoring  it  to  its  proper 
function,  which  indeed  it  held  among  the 
Greeks,  of  being  a  just  vehicle  of  the  ever- 
varying  emotions  which  poetry  calls  forth. 
Monteverde,  Peri,  Corsi,  and  Caccini,  were 
the  musicians  who  made  the  first  attempts  at 
aria  parlante,  several  operas  being  composed 
by  them  individually  or  in  combination,  to 
words  by  Rinuccini,  in  which  the  aria  par- 
lante occupied  an  important  position.  The 
aria  parlante  was  not  a  recitative,  but  was 
sung  in  strict  time.  The  latter,  however, 
very  soon  grew  out  of  the  former,  and  assumed 
a  separate  existence  in  the  works  of  Carissimi. 

In  the  preface  to  the  first  Opera  printed 
with  the  music,  "  Le  Musiche  de  Jacopo  Peri, 
Nobil  Fiorentino,  sopra  L'Euridice  de  Signor 


Ottavio  Rinuccini,  Rappresentate  nello  Spon- 
salizio  della  Christianissima  Maria  Medici, 
Regina  di  Francia  e  di  Navarra.  In  Venetia, 
MDcviii,"  the  author  states  that  the  ground- 
work of  the  imitation  proposed  "  usassero 
un  armonia,  che  avanzado  quella  del  parlare 
ordinario." 

The  character  of  this  harmony,  which  was 
intended  to  be  a  medium  between  common 
speech  and  singing,  will  be  seen  in  the  fol- 
lowing Aria  parlante  for  Pluto,  in  answer  to 
Orpheus  seeking  Euridice  : 

Plutone.  ,  , 


(  35 


[Opera.]  [Recitative.] 

Aria  Tedesca  (It.)  An  air  in  the  German 
style — that  is  to  say,  in  which  the  accompani- 
ment is  inseparable  from  the  melody. 

Aria  a,o-giunte  {It.)  Supplementary  songs 
introduced  into  a  work  after  the  first  perform- 
ance or  representation. 

Arietta  {It.)  The  diminutive  of  aria;  a 
short  air  or  melody. 

Ariette  {Fr.)  [Arietta.] 

Arioso  (It.)  In  the  style  of  an  air.  (i)  A 
direction  that  the  music  to  which  it  refers  is 
to  be  performed  tunefully,  sweetly. 

(2)  An  intimation  that  recitative  form  has 
more  or  less  been  incorporated  into,  or  perhaps 
superseded  by,  a  smooth  and  melodious  treat- 
ment of  the  words  The  Arioso  is  found  in  its 
perfection  in  the  works  of  Mendelssohn,  but 
examples  of  it  are  not  wanting  in  older  writers, 
although  they  are  simply  called  recitative,  e.g., 
"Behold  and  see"  ("Messiah")  and  in  Nos. 
17  and  74  of  Bach's  Passion  (St.  Matthew). 

Aristoxenians.  The  followers  of  the  musi- 
cal system  of  Aristoxenus.  cf.  Pythagoreans. 

Armer  la  clef  (Fr.)  To  indicate  the  key 
by  the  number  of  sharps  or  flats  in  the 
signature. 

Armoneggiare  (It.)  To  harmonise,  to 
sound  in  chords. 

Armonia  (It.)  [Harmony.] 
Armonista  (7^,)   A  harmonist. 

) 


ARMONICA  ARRANGEMENT. 


Armonica  {It.)  Harmonica,  Armonicon, 
Harmonicon.  (i)  The  musical  glasses,  a 
series  of  glass  cups  of  various  sizes  and  thick- 
nesses, capable  of  producing  the  different 
notes  of  the  diatonic  scale  by  friction  upon 
the  edges.  The  name  armonica  was  given 
to  this  instrument  by  Benjamin  Franklin,  to 
whom  also  the  credit  of  the  invention  is 
sometimes  given,  but  the  idea  was  suggested 
by  a  Mr.  Pickeridge,  an  Irish  gentleman,  and 
first  carried  out  by  M.  Delaval,  and  was  in 
use  long  before  the  name  armonica  was  given 
to  it  by  Franklin. 

(2)  An  instrument  now  used  by  children, 
consisting  of  a  flat  oblong  box,  containing 
free  reeds  so  arranged  that  when  applied 
to  the  mouth,  inspiration  and  respiration 
through  the  orifices  in  the  side,  produce 
different  sounds  of  the  scale,  in  a  series. 
[Cheng.]  [Harmonium.] 

Arpa  (It.)  [Harp.] 

Arpa  doppia  (/^.)  A  double  harp.  [Harp.] 
Arpanetta  or  arpanella  {It.)    A  small 
harp. 

Arpege  {Fr.)  [Arpeggio.] 
Arpeggiando  {It.)    Playing  arpeggio,  q.v. 

(To  strike  the  notes  of  a 
Arpeggiare  (7^.)     chord  in  succession  in 
Arpeggiato  (7^.)'    the  manner  of  harp 
playing. 

Arpeggiatura  {It.)  [Arpeggio.] 
Arpeggio  {It.)    In  the  style  of  a  harp.  A 
term  applied  to  the  notes  of  a  chord  when  they 
are  struck  consecutively,  instead  of  simul- 
taneously. 


In  pianoforte  music  a  waved  line  is  written 
beside  a  chord  intended  to  be  played  arpeggio  : 


Arrangement.  A  selection  or  adaptation 
of  the  parts  of  a  composition,  to  fit  them  for 
performance  by  other  voices  or  instruments 
than  those  originally  designed. 

There  are  very  few  examples  existing  of 
acknowledged  arrangements  in  the  earliest 
musical  publications;  for  few  ever  thought  of 
tampering  with  an  author's  compositions  so 
far  as  to  divert  them  from  their  original  in- 
tentions.    The   adaptation   of  new  words, 


although  it  occasionally  involved  a  slight 
alteration  in  the  ime-value  of  some  of  the 
notes,  was  a  matter  of  small  importance  ; 
and  the  musician  who  undertook  such  a 
matter  rarely  gave  himself  the  credit  of 
having  done  so  clever  a  thing  as  modern 
arrangers  would  have  us  believe  such  an 
alteration  to  be.  Thus  Nicolas  Yonge,  in  his 
collection  of  Madrigals,  "  Musica  Transal- 
pina,"  London  1588,  leaves  it  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  reader  to  infer  the  part  he  took 
in  giving  his  book  to  the  world,  calling  his 
work  "  Madrigales  translated  of  four,  fiue, 
and  sixe  parts,  chosen  out  of  diuers  excellent 
Authors,  with  the  first  and  second  part  of 
La  Verginella,  made  by  Maister  Byrd,  out  of 
two  Stanz's  of  Ariosto,  and  brought  to  Speak 
English  with  the  rest.  Published  by  N.  Yonge 
in  favour  of  such  as  take  pleasure  in  Musick 
of  voices."  For  a  somewhat  lengthened  period 
arrangements  were  described  as  "  brought  to 
light,"  "framed,"  "figured,"  "fitted,"  "made 
proper,"  and  "  newly  set  forth,"  for  example  : 
"  Lessons  for  Consort,  made  by  sundry  excellent 
authors,  and  set  to  sixe  severall  instruments, 
Namely,  the  Treble  Lute,  Treble  Violl,  Base 
Violl,  Bandora,  Citterne,  and  the  Flute.  Now 
newly  set  forth  by  Philip  Rossetor,  1609." 

Richard  Alison,  in  his  book  "  An  Howres 
Recreation  in  Musicke,  apt  for  Instruments 
and  Voyces"  (1606), describes  his  arrangement 
as  "Framed  for  the  delight  of  gentlemen  and 
others  which  are  well  affected  to  that  qualitie." 
A  Dutch  edition  of  Gastoldi's  ballets  for  "5  en 
6  stemmen,  te  singen  of  speelen,"  1648,  is 
"gestelt" — that  is,  arranged  or  accommo- 
dated—  "of  3  en  4  stimmen,"  and  this  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  earliest  instances  of  an 
alteration  of  an  original  design.  Arrangements 
such  as  these  could  only  be  called  into  exist- 
ence by  the  desire  to  possess  condensations 
of  larger  works. 

The  "  Modulorum  Hortus  ab  excellentis- 
simae  Musicae  auctoribus "  is  described  as 
being  merely  collected  by  R.  Floridus,  Rome, 
1647, — "  in  lucem  curavit  edendam."  A  few 
years  later  arrangements  are  described  as 
"  transpositions."  Thus,  in  the  Mercurius 
Musicus  for  1699,  the  "  New  teaching  songs, 
compos'd  ....  With  a  Thorow  Bass 
for  the  Harpsichord  or  Spinett,"  we  have  the 
further  intimation  of  "The  songs  being  Trans- 
posed for  the  Flute  at  the  end  of  the  Book." 
In  the  "  Orpheus  Britannicus,  a  collection  of 
all  the  choicest  songs  for  One,  Two,  and  Three 
Voices,  composed  by  Mr.  Henry  Purcell ; 
together  with  such  Symphonies  for  Violins  or 
Flutes  as  were  by  him  designed  for  any  of 
them,  and  a  Thorow-bass  to  each  song,  figur'd 
for  the  Organ,  Harpsichord,  or  Theorbo  Lute 
(1698-1702);  also,  in  "Suits  of  the  mostCele- 
brated  Lessons  for  Viols,  collected  and  fitt«a 


(  36  ) 


ARRANGEMENT  ARSIS. 


to  the  Harpsichord  or  Spinett,  by  William 
Babell  (1702)  ;"  and  in  "  A  choice  Collection 
of  Lessons,  being  excellently  Sett  to  the 
Harpsichord,  viz.  Old  Simon  the  King,  Mote- 
ley's  Maggot,  Mortlack's  Grounds,  and  several 
others  (by  Blow  and  Purcell)  1705."  In  "  A 
Collection  of  the  Newest  Minuets,  Rigadoons, 
and  French  dances  perform'd  att  Court  and 
Publick  entertainments,"  17 16.  The  tunes 
are  made  "proper  for  the  Violin,  Hoboy,  or 
Flute,"  and  in  "  Six  Setts  of  Choice  Opera 
Songs  or  Arietts,  with  their  Symphonys  fitted 
for  two  Flutes.  The  Second  Parts  being  com- 
pleat  and  airy  as  the  first,  not  thin  and  heavy 
as  Second  Trebles  usually  are ;"  in  both  parts 
their  proper  Variations  for  the  Humour  of  the 
Flute  (1712.) 

A  little  later  in  date,  we  find,  "Song  in  the 
Opera  of  Flora,  with  the  Humorous  Scenes 
of  Hob,  designed  by  y^  celebrated  Mr.  Grave- 
lot,  and  engrav'd  by  G.  Bickham,  Junr.  The 
Musick  proper  for  y'  Violin,  German  and  Com- 
mon Flute,  Harpsichord,  or  Spinet,  with  a  New 
Base,  and  thoro'  Base  to  each  Song"  (1737). 
The  business  of  arrangement,  that  is  to  say, 
of  altering  music  intended  for  one  purpose, 
so  that  it  might  serve  another — more  or  less 
hinted  at  in  the  preceding  collections — arose 
with  the  popularity  of  Handel's  works  ;  thus, 
copies  of  "  favourite  Choruses"  out  of  Mr. 
Handel's  celebrated  oratorios  "  adapted  for 
the  Harpsichord  or  organ  and  a  single  voice," 
began  to  appear  soon  after  his  death.  Such 
"arrangements"  being  part  and^  parcel  of  the 
system  of  piracy  which  was  most  ingeniously 
and  unblushingly  carried  on  during  the  last 
century.  A  chorus  arranged  for  a  single  voice 
ceasing  of  course  to  be  a  chorus  ;  but,  as  a 
double  security,  many  of  these  pieces  were 
made  cleverly  incorrect.  Thus  Pitt,  organist 
of  Worcester,  evaded  all  copyright  that  might 
have  existed  by  arranging  his  "  Church 
music"  from  the  sacred  works  of  Handel, 
by  a  system  of  dove-tailing  and  occasional 
alteration  of  key. 

"  The  beauties  of  Handel,  consisting  of  his 
most  favourite  Songs,  Duets,  and  Trios  ;  ar- 
ranged with  a  separate  accompaniment  for 
the  pianoforte,  and  figured  from  the  MS.  scores 
of  the  author,  by  Jos.Corfe"(c.  i782)is  perhaps 
one  of  the  earliest  collections  of  confessedly 
"arranged"  music.  In  1795,  J.  W.  Holder, 
Mus.  Doc,  Oxon,  one  of  the  most  talented 
pianoforte  players  of  his  time,  published  an 
arrangement  of  the  choruses  of  Handel  for 
lour  hands,  which  were  the  standard  pieces 
of  their  kind  for  many  years,  being  frequently 
played  by  two  performers  on  one  organ  also. 
Giambattista  Cimador  (1750-1810)  was  pro- 
bably the  first  who  was  employed  by  the 
publishers  of  London  on  purpose  to  make 
arrangements  of  large  works  for  the  piano- 


j  forte,  or  small  bands,  his  arrangement  of 

Twelve  Symphonies  by  Mo;?art,  as  sestetts 
I  with  a  seventh  part,  ad  libitum,  being  con- 
1  sidered  at  the  time  they  were  made  as  of 
I  more  than  ordinary  excellence.    These  were 
j  undertaken  by  Cimador  out  of  pure  love  for 
I  Mozart's  works,  and  a  desire  to  communicate 
that  love  to  the  musicians  of  his  time  who 
thought  "  Mozart's  symphonies  too  arduous 
and  difficult." 

About  the  same  time  J.  S.  C.  Possin  (1755- 
1822),  a  musician  of  such  singular  modesty 
that  he  never  would  have  his  name  printed 
with  his  works,  arranged  for  Salomon  the 
twelve  symphonies  of  Haydn,  known  as  the 
"  Salomon  set,"  for  the  pianoforte,  in  "  an 
admirable  manner;"  indeed,  says  his  bio- 
grapher, "  they  were  the  first  adaptations  of 
orchestra  music  worthy  of  notice."  From 
that  time  to  the  present  "  adaptations, 
arrangements,  and  transcriptions,"  have  been 
issued  in  unlimited  quantities,  of  more  or 
less  value. 

Arranger  [Fr.)  To  arrange  a  piece  of 
music.  [Arrangement.] 

Arrangiren  [Ger.)  To  arrange  a  piece  of 
music.  [Arrangement.] 

Arsis  {Gk.)  (ipcric  (from  a'ipw),  a  raising, 
an  elevation,  as  opposed  to  thesis  {dicng,  from 
TiOrffii),  a  depression  or  lowering. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  Arsis,  (i)  of 
accent ;  (2)  of  metre. 

The  former  of  these  does  not  perhaps  call 
for  special  attention  from  musicians,  unless 
it  be  looked  upon  as  a  subject  into  which 
their  educated  ear  qualifies  them  to  enter;  or 
unless  it  be  considered  (as  it  undoubtedly  was 
by  the  Greeks)  as  an  essential  part  of  the 
education  of  those  who  attempt  to  set  words 
to  music.  The  latter  has  been  explained 
from  two  opposite  points  of  view,  both  of 
which,  however,  are  closely  connected  with 
the  former, — a  slight  sketch  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject is  therefore  subjoined : 

(i)  Though  not  accepted  without  dispute, 
the  following  facts  seem  generally  to  be 
admitted  ;  first,  that  in  speaking,  the  voice  is 
constantly  varying  slightly  in  pitch,  that  is, 
is  not  absolutely  on  monotone ;  next,  that  the 
component  syllables  of  polysyllabic  words 
are  not  exactly  of  the  same  duration ;  lastly, 
that  there  is  an  emphasis  on  particular 
syllables,  which  is  independent  alike  of  the 
raising  or  depression  of  voice,  and  of  the 
length  of  time  during  which  any  syllable  is 
held. 

The  elevation,  or  pitch  of  the  voice  is 
classically  termed  Accent  (from  ad  and  cantus, 
just  as  -rrpoatoZia  is  from  TTpoc  and  win)  >  the 
duration  of  syllables  is  called  Quantity ;  and 
the  metrical  emphasis  is  called  Ictus. 

Accent  is  of  two  kinds,  vocabular  and 


f  37  ) 


ARSIS  AS  DUR. 


oratorical.  The  former  is  that  method  of 
pronunciation  which  a  word  receives  if  it 
stands  alone  in  a  vocabulary  or  dictionary ; 
the  latter  that  which  it  receives  in  con- 
sideration of  its  position  in  a  sentence,  words 
being  of  course  influenced  by  the  meaning  to 
be  expressed  in  a  sentence  of  prose,  or  by 
their  metrical  position  in  verse. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  nice  ear  and 
appreciation  of  pitch  is  required  before  accent 
and  quantity  can  be  distinguished  from  each 
other  in  modern  languages.  With  regard  to 
ancient  languages  the  same  difficulty  does 
not  exist,  because,  putting  aside  the  question 
of  the  correctness  of  our  pronunciation  of 
them,  quantity  is  governed  by  either  known 
laws  of  syllabic  structure  and  position,  or  by 
the  actual  shape  of  the  letters.  Hence,  many 
have  thought  that  quantity  does  not  exist  in 
modem  languages,  and  all  that  we  possess  is 
accent  (elevation  of  the  voice)  and  emphasis, 
and  that  these  two  always  coincide,  and  are 
commonly  included  in  the  one  term  accent. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  pitch  of  voice  is 
in  modern  languages  quite  independent  of 
quantity,  e.g.,  precarious,  request,  &c.,  in 
which  the  voice  is  high  for  the  short  syllable, 
drops  in  pitch  for  the  long,  yet  no  one  can 
doubt  that  there  are  long  syllables  in  these 
words,  just  as  much  as  in  such  others, 
as  probable,  symmetry,  pendant,  &c.  The 
pronunciation  of  English  in  the  common 
conversation  will  give  but  a  very  slight  clue 
to  the  intricacies  of  our  language  in  this 
respect.  For,  in  addition  to  the  acute  accent 
already  spoken  of,  we  certainly  have  a  Jiat 
accent  corresponding  to  the  Greek  e.g., 
cumbersome,  where  the  voice  drops  a  little 
below  what  might  be  termed  its  key-note. 
We  have  also  the  up-and-down  slide  indi- 
cated by  the  Greek  circumflex,  e.g.,  fearful, 
loathsome.  But  with  us  these  are  always 
oratorical,  never  vocabular. 

Having  said  thus  much  as  to  elevation  and 
depression  of  the  voice,  it  is  now  time  to  show 
how  arsis  is  used  as  a  musical  term.  Ac- 
cording to  Scaliger,  when  the  voice  is  raised 
on  a  syllable  it  is  called  arsis,  when  it  returns 
to  its  original  position  it  is  called  thesis. 
Priscian  (see  Foster  on  Accent,  p.  8i,  note) 
not  only  says  the  same  thing,  but  gives  as 
an  example  the  word  natura,  pointing  out 
that  there  is  an  arsis  at  the  syllable  tu,  and 
thesis  on  ra.  In  this  sense  arsis  is  evidently 
the  accent,  or  elevation  of  the  voice,  which 
has  been  already  spoken  of. 

(2)  But  arsis  and  thesis  are  not  only  applied 
to  the  elevation  and  depression  of  voice,  but 
also  to  the  strong  and  weak  parts  of  metrical 
scansion.  But  unfortunately,  scholars  have 
used  these  terms  in  two  ways.  For  instance, 
Tate  says  (see  Donaldson,    Theatre  of  the 


Greeks,  p.  371),  "those  syllables  which  have 
the  metrical  ictus  are  said  to  be  in  arsi ;  those 

which  have  it  not,  m  tliesi  the  latter 

is  sometimes  called  the  debilis  positio.''  In 
this  he  follows  Bentley,  who  makes  ictus  (or 
percussio),  elevatio,  and  arsis  synonymous. 

To  this  other  scholars  object,  and  say  truly 
that  a  syllable  often  is  in  arsi  as  regards 
metre,  when  it  is  in  thesi  as  regards  accent 
(elevation  of  voice).  Also,  Victorinus  says 
distinctly  that  "  arsis  and  thesis,  as  used  by 
the  Greeks,  refer  to  the  movement  of  the  foot 
(significant  pedis  motum),  and  that  the  former 
is  'the  elevation  of  the  ioot'  without  sound, 
the  latter  the  'lowering  of  the  foot'  to  the 
ground,  with  a  sound,  the  sounds  marking  the 
metrical  ictus.  To  this  Foster  (on  Accent, 
p.  166)  agrees.  With  these  authors,  there- 
fore, ictus  and  thesis  axe  synonymous. 

Hence,  musicians  who  agree  with  the 
former  of  these  opinions  and  make  arsis  and 
ictus  synonymous  are  justified  in  saying  that 
there  is  an  arsis  on  the  down-beat  of  every 
bar,  and  its  up-beats  are  in  tliesi,  for  if  thesis 
is  debilis  positio,  it  would  be  absurd  to  say 
that  this  occurs  on  the  down-beat,  except  in 
some  rare  cases  of  syncopation. 

Those  musicians,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
believe  that  ictus  and  tliesis  coincide,  because 
the  thesis  of  the  foot  marked  the  ictus  of  the 
metre,  have  a  perfect  right  to  say  that  the 
down-beat  of  a  bar  is  in  thesi,  and  an  up-beat 
in  arsi. 

Inasmuch  as  the  confusion  among  mu- 
sicians in  using  these  terms  has  resulted 
from  the  disagreement  of  scholars  as  to  their 
proper  application,  it  is  much  to  be  hoped 
that  they  will  be  allowed  to  sink  into  disuse. 
The  expressions,  strong  position  and  weak 
position  of  the  bar,  imply  all  that  is  under- 
stood by  arsis  and  i/jt'sii, without  the  risk,  by 
their  use,  of  calling  forth  absolutely  con- 
tradictory opinions  as  to  their  meaning. 

Art  {Ger.)  Species,  kind,  sort,  as  auf 
polnischeArt,  a  sort  of  polonaise,  &c. 

Articulation,  (i)  In  singing,  the  art  ot 
distinct  pronunciation.  (2)  In  instrumental 
music,  the  art  of  producing  proper  tone  by  a 
right  adjustment  of  the  fingers,  or  the  lips. 
The  latter  application  of  the  term  is  less 
commonly  met  with  than  the  former. 

Artist.  One  who  possesses  in  a  high 
degree  that  appreciation  of  the  beautiful  and 
that  refined  temperament,  which,  when  duly 
trained  and  educated,  become  active  faculties, 
and  render  their  owner  an  able  and  influential 
exponent  of  Art. 

As  [Ger.)    A  9. 

Asamentata,  Assamenta,  or  Axamenta 
(Lat.)  The  songs  or  hymns  sung  by  the  Salii, 
q.v. 

As  dur  (Ger.)    The  key  of  A  flat  major. 


(  38  ) 


ASHANTEE  TRUMPET  AUBADE. 


Ashantee  Trumpet.  An  instrument 
formed  of  the  tusk  of  an  elephant  carefully 
hollowed.  Its  peculiarity  consists  in  the 
fact  that  the  embouchure  is  not  at  the  end, 
but  in  the  side,  a  short  distance  from  it. 

As  moll  (Ger.)    The  key  of  A  flat  minor. 

Asor.  [Azor.] 

Asosra  (Heb.)  [Chatzozerah.] 
Ascaules  {Gk.)    aaKavXri^,  a  player  on  the 
ascaulos. 

Ascaulos  (Gk.)  aoKavXoe,  a  bagpipe,  from 
offfcoc,  a  leathern  bag,  and  avXog,  a  pipe. 
[Bagpipe.] 

Aspiration  (Fr.)  (i)  The  sign  »  for  short- 
ening the  duration  of  a  note.  [Spiccato.] 


(2)  A  former  name  for  an  appoggiatura. 

Aspirare  [It.)  To  take  breath  audibly, 
bad  management  of  the  breath  in  singing. 

Asprezza  [It.)    Harshness,  severity. 

Assai  {It.)  Enough,  sufficient. 

Assemblage  {Fr.)  (i)  A  series  of  rapid 
passages  executed  on  wind  instruments.  (2) 
double  tongueing  on  the  flute  or  cornet. 

Assez  {Fr.)  Enough,  very,  as,  assez  lent, 
rather  slow. 

Assonance.  Agreement  of  tone,  con- 
sonance. 

A  string.    [A  §7.] 

A  suo  arbitrio  {It.)  At  his  judgment,  or 
pleasure. 

A  suo  commodo  {It.)    At  his  leisure. 

A  suo  bene  placito  (7^.)  At  his  pleasure. 

A  suo  luogo  (/i.)  At  his  position  or  place. 

Atabal.    A  Moorish  tambour. 

A  table  sec  {Fr.)  The  performance  of 
vocal  exercises  without  the  accompaniment  of 
an  instrument.  Sec.  lit.  dry,  c.f.  Lat.  assa 
vox,  an  unaccompanied  voice,  and  assce  tibia, 
flutes  used  without  a  voice  accompaniment. 

A  tempo  {It.)    In  time.    [A  battuta.] 

A  tempo  commodo  {It.)  In  a  convenient, 
easy,  moderate  time. 

A  tempo  di  Gavotta  (7^.)  In  the  time  of 
the  Gavotte,  q.v. 

A  tempo  di  Minuetto  {It.)  In  the  time 
of  the  Minuet,  q.v. 

A  tempo  giusto  (It.)     At  a  just  pace. 

(1)  In  general,  an  indication  that  the  move- 
ment should  be  taken  at  a  moderate  tempo. 

(2)  A  direction  (in  older  writers)  to  return  to 
strict  time  after  irregular  declamation. 

A  tempo  ordinario  (7^.)  At  an  ordinary 
pace. 


A  tempo  prime  (It.)  In  the  time  first 
given. 

A  tempo  rubato  (7/.)  Robbed  time ;  time 
made  slightly  irregular  for  the  sake  of  ex- 
pression. 

A  tre  {It.)  For  three  voices,  instruments, 
or  parts. 

A  tre  mani  {It.)  For  three  hands  upon 
an  organ  or  pianoforte. 

A  tre  parti  {It.)    For  three  parts. 

A  tre  soli  (7^)  For  three  principals, 
either  vocal  or  instrumental  performers. 

A  tre  stromente  {It.)  For  three  instru- 
ments. 

A  tre  voci  {It.)  For  three  voices,  or  parts. 
Attacca  {It.)    Commence  at  once,  without 
a  pause. 

Attacca  subito  {It.)  [Attacca.] 
Attaccato  subito  (7^.)    To  be  begun  at 
once. 

Attack,  (i)  A  vigorous  entry  of  voices  or 
instruments  at  a  leading  point.  (2)  A  coura- 
geous rendering. 

Attacco  {It.)  (Lit.  sticking,  cleaving  to.) 
A  term  given  to  a  short  and  well-defined 
theme,  or  passage,  in  fugal  imitation. 


Attendant  Keys.  Relative  keys,  keys  of 
affinity.  Attendant  keys  in  a  scale  are  the 
relative  minor  or  major,  the  dominant  and 
subdominant,  and  their  relative  minors  or 
majors.    [Relative  Keys.] 

Atto  [It.]    An  act  in  an  opera.  [Act.] 

Attore  or  Attrice  (7^).  An  actor  or 
actress,  the  chief  singers  in  an  opera. 

Aubade  {Fr.)  ( i )  An  open  air  morning  con- 
cert, the  antithesis  of  a  serenade.  (2)  The  word 
is  derived  from  fl2(6e,  day-break,  and  was  similar 
in  character  to  the  English  "  Hunts  up"  (q.v.) 
Sometimes  unmusical  noises  were  made  for 
an  aubade,  and  so  the  word  came  to  be  em- 
ployed as  a  term  for  an  insult.  The  Anbades 
de  Calene  occupied  in  France  the  position  of 
the  Waits  [q.v.)  in  England,  as  they  were 
performed  in  the  evening  for  a  month  or  so 
before  Christmas.  Although  doubtless  of 
religious  origin,  the  performers  gradually 
introduced  secular  melodies.  The  players, 
like  the  Waits,  were  officially  licensed.  The 
word  CaUne  is  a  French  provincial  form  of 
the  word  Calendes,  Christmas  Day  being  for- 
merly called  "  le  jour  des  Calendes." 


(  39  ) 


AUDACE,  CON  AUSSERE  STIMMEN. 


Audace,  con  (It).  With  vigour,  boldness. 
Auditory  nerve.  [Ear.] 
Auferions  (Old  Eng.)    Wire  strings. 
Aufgev7eckt(Ger.)  Brisk,  lively,  sprightly, 
cheerful. 

Aufgewecktheit  (Ger.)  Sprightliness, 
liveliness. 

Aufhalten  (Ger.)  To  stop,  to  keep  back, 
retard. 

Aufhaltung(Ger.)  Suspension.  [Harmony.] 
Auflosung  [Ger.)   Resolution  of  a  discord. 
Aufschlag  (Ger.)    Unaccented  beat. 
Aufstrich  (Ger).     An  up  bow  in  violin 
playing. 

Auftakt  (Ger.)  The  unaccented  part  of 
a  bar. 

Augmentatio  (Med.  Lat.)  The  lengthen- 
ing of  a  note  by  the  addition  of  half  its  length, 
thus  corresponding  to  the  use  of  the  modern 
dot. 

Augmentation.  The  introduction  of  the 
subject  of  a  fugue  or  canon,  in  the  course 
of  its  progress,  in  notes  of  longer  duration 
than  those  in  which  it  was  first  propi  sed. 
[Fugue.] 


Augmented  interval.  [Interval.] 
Augmented  subject.  [Augmentation.] 
Auletes  (Gk.)    AuXj/djc.    A  player  on  the 
Aulos  or  Flute.  [Aulos.] 

Auletrides  (Gk.)    Plural  of  avXrirpig.  Fe- 
male players  on  the  Aulos  or  Flute,  q.v. 

Aulaeum  (Lat.),  avXaia  (Gk.)   The  curtain 
of  a  theatre. 

Aulos  (Gk.)  avXoc,  derived  from  arjfii,  to 
blow,  as  flute  is  from  the  Lat.  flo.  The 
most  important  wind  instrument  of  the 
Greeks.  The  aulos  was  sometimes  double, 
the  two  tubes  being  called  dextra  and  sinistra, 
and  sometimes  viale  and  female.  Though 
generally  rendered  flute,  there  is  much  reason 
for  supposing  that  it  was  a  reed-instrument, 
or,  at  the  least,  that  the  term,  used  generally, 
included  instruments  of  the  oboe  family.  The 
fact  that  the  two  tubes  were  often  of  different 
lengths  \  !inpares)ha.s  been  explained  by  saying 
that  they  were  tuned  in  different  modes.  But 
it  is  far  more  probable  that  they  were  con- 
structed like  the  arghool,  and  that  the  longer 
tube  gave  out  a  drone.  The  double  flute 
was  not  unknown  to  the  ancient  Egyptians 
and  Assyrians,  as  shown  in  figs,  i  and  2, 
but  they  were  divergent,  or  perhaps  actually 
separate  from  each  other.    Fig.  3  represents 

(  +0 


two  ancient  Greek  flutes,  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum. 

Fig.  I. 


Fig.  2. 


Fig-  3- 


A  una  corda  (It.)  With,  or  on,  one  string. 

A  direction  (i)  in  pianoforte  music,  to  use  the 
soft  pedal.  (2)  In  music  for  stringed  instru- 
ments to  play  the  passage  so  marked  on  one 
string  only,  by  the  shift.    (  Shift.] 

Ausarbeitung  (Ger.)  The  working  out  of 
a  theme,  the  climax  of  a  composition. 

Ausdruck  (Ger.)    Expression,  q.v. 

Ausfiihrung  (Ger.)  (i)  Performance  or 
execution.  (2)  The  working  out  of  a  subject 
in  composition. 

Aushaltung  (Ger.)  The  time  a  note  oc- 
cupies in  sounding,  the  duration  of  sound, 
sustaining  a  sound. 

Aushaltungs-zeichen  {Ger.)  A  pause  v^ 

Aussere  Stimmen  (Ger.)  [Extreme  parts.] 

) 


AUSWEICHUNG  AZOR. 


Ausweichung fG-V)^.l  Char.<;e,  modulation. 

Authentic  cadence.  A  final  close,  in 
which  the  common  chord  of  the  Tonic  is  im- 
mediately preceded  by  the  common  chord  of 
the  dominant.  [Cadence.] 

Authentic  mode.  The  name  given  to 
those  modes  on  which  were  afterwards  con- 
structed other  modes  called  Plagal,  by  an 
alteration  of  the  pitch  to  a  fourth  below. 
[Plain  Song.] 

Authentic  part  of  the  Scale,  in  Counter- 
point and  Fugue,  is  that  which  lies  between  a 
note  and  its  Dominant,  whilst  that  which  lies 
between  the  Dominant  and  its  supei^r  Tonic 
is  termed  Plagal.  The  terms  are  used  chiefly 
in  connection  with  Subject  and  Answer. 
[Fugue.] 

Autos  Sacramentales  (Sp.)  One  of  the 
early  forms  of  Spanish  drama,  similar  in  some 
respects  to  the  mysteries  and  moralities  in 
England,  but  in  which  music  and  dancing 
formed  an  important  part.  The  Autos  had 
reference  to  the  adminstration  of  the  Sacra- 
ments according  to  the  ideas  received  by  the 
people. 

Auxiliary  Notes.  Notes  not  essential 
to  the  harmony,  introduced  for  the  sake  of 
breaking  monotony,  or  of  giving  freedom  of 
motion  to  one  or  more  of  the  parts.  They 
may  occur  on  either  the  accented  or  the  unac- 
cented part  of  'the  bar,  and  if  introduced 
below  the  melody  should  be  only  a  semitone 
from  the  proper  note  of  that  melody,  but  if 
above  they  may  be  either  a  tone  or  a  semitone 
as  the  position  in  the  scale  would  warrant,  or 
taste  suggest. 


Beethoven.    No.  4  Symphony. 


Examples  of  extended  auxiliary  notes,  and 
of  auxiliary  notes,  on  the  accented  part  of 
the  bar. 


Verdi.   Coro  "  Vedi  le  fosche"  (Trovatore). 


Rossini.   "  Guillaume  Tell  "  Orertire. 


AUBER.    Coro  "  En  bons  militaires  buvons" 
([■.a  Diavolo). 


&c. 

Auxiliary  Scales.  The  scales  of  relative 
or  attendant  keys,  q.v. 

Ave  Maria  (Laf.)  (Hail  !  Mary.)  The 
angel's  salutation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
used  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  as  an 
Antiphon. 

Avena  (Lat.),  lit.  oats.  An  oaten  pipe, 
hence  (i)  any  simple  reed  used  as  a  shep- 
herd's pipe — "est  modulatus  avena  Carmen," 
Tibull,  2,  I,  53.  (2)  The  syrinx  or  pan-pipes, 
reedsjoined  together  with  wax — "pastor  junctis 
pice  cantat  avenis,"  Ovid,  Tristia  5,  10,  25. 
[Pan-pipes.] 

A  vista  (It.)  For  a  prima  vista,  at  first 
sight. 

Away.  A  direction  in  Mace's  Musicks 
Monument,  published  in  1676,  signifying  a 
return  to  the  original  time. 

Azione  Sacra (/^.)  Sacred  dramas.  [Autos 
Sacramentales.    Oratorio.  Passion  Music] 

Azor  [Heb.)  This  word  which  occurs  in 
the  Book  of  Psalms  and  elsewhere,  is  vari- 
ously rendered  according  to  the  view  which 
is  taken  of  its  association  with  nchel.  In 
Psalm  xxxiii.,  2,  "Sing  unto  him  with  a  nebel 
and  azor  "  some  drop  the  "  and  "  and  under- 
stand azor  as  qualifying  ncbcl,xn:x\i\ng  the  com- 
pound word  to  signify  a  "  ten-stringed  nebel" 
(psalterium  decem  chordarum).  Whether  the 
azor  was  a  distinct  instrument,  or  not,  it  is 
impossible  to  say,  although  Engel,  Fetis,  and 
some  other  authors  have  so  considered  it,and 
have  ventured  to  assign  to  it  a  definite  number 
of  strings. 


(  41  ) 


B  BAGPIPE. 


B. 


B.  (i)  The  name  of  the  note  above  Pros- 
lambanos,  in  the  greater  perfect  system  of  the 
Greeks.  The  first  note  of  the  lowest  Tetra- 
chord  (Hypaton).    [Greek  Music] 

(2)  The  third  note  of  the  grave  hexachord 
of  the  Guidonian  system,  in  w^hich  it  is  B  mi. 
[Notation.] 

(3)  The  seventh  note  of  the  normal  scale  C, 
the  note  Si  [Si],  in  Tonic  Sol-fa  system  Te. 

(4)  The  major  scale  having  five  sharps  in 
its  signature. 

(5)  The  note  B7  in  Germany,  where  is 
known  as  H,  whence  the  possibility  of  makmg 
the  letters  B,  A,  C,  H,  into  a  fugue  subject, 


as  has  been  done  by  Bach,  Schumann,  Liszt, 
and  others. 

(6)  In  old  solmizations  this  note  was  called 
&Mi.  [Solfeggio.] 

There  is  no  authentic  church-mode  com- 
mencing on  this  note,  owing  to  the  imper- 
fection of  its  fifth  when  unraised  by  the 
signature. 

B.  Abbreviation  of  Bass  voice.  Bassoon, 
and  Donble-bass. 

Baar-pyp.  The  name  of  a  stop  in  some 
of  the  Dutch  organs  ;  (lit.)  the  Bear-pipe, 
written  also  Bar-pfeife  and  Baren-pfeife,  so 
called  from  the  instrument  played  as  an  ac- 
companiment to  dancing  bears. 

Baas  or  Base  Dance.  A  dance  or  slow 
movement,  similar  to  the  Measure,  q.v.,  or  the 
minuet,  so  called  probably  in  contradistinction 
to  the  vaulting  dances  in  which  greater  agility 
was  displayed. 

"And  then  came  dovvne  the  1.  prince  and  the  lady 
Cecill,  and  daunced  two  baas  daunces,  and  departed  up 
againe ;  the  1.  prince  to  the  King,  and  the  lady  Cecill 
to  the  Queene." — Wright's  Provincial  Dictionary . 

Baccalaureus  Musicse  (Lat.)  Bachelor 
in  Music. 

Bacchanalian  Song,  (i)  Songs  sung  in 
procession  during  the  worship  of  Bacchus. 
(2)  Any  song  in  praise  or  defence  of  wine 
drinking,  of  which  there  are  numbers  belonging 
to  the  i8th  centur}'. 

Bacchia.    Kamschatdale  dance,  in  |  time. 

Bacchius.  A  foot  consisting  of  one  short 
and  two  long  syllables.  [Metre.] 


Bacciocolo  (It.)  Tuscan  musical  instru- 
ment of  the  guitar  kind. 

Bachelor  of,  or  in.  Music.  The  first  of 
the  degrees  in  music  at  the  Universities  of 
Oxford,'  Cambridge,  and  Dublin.  At  Cam- 
bridge the  degree  is  conferred  next  in  seniority 
to  that  of  Master  of  Arts.  In  Oxford  and 
Dublin  it  is  the  lowest  step  in  the  Scale  of 
Graduates.  The  hood  worn  by  the  Oxford 
and  Dublin  Bachelors  is  of  blue  silk,  trimmed 
with  white  fur ;  at  Cambridge  the  hood  is  the 
same  as  that  worn  by  Masters  of  Arts.  The 
degree  is  not  conferred  by  any  foreign  Uni- 
versity. 

Backfall.  A  Turn  in  Lute  or  Harpsichord 


music,  written  thus 


played 


Back  fall.    [Organ,  §  10.] 

Badinage  (Fr.)  Playfulness. 

Bagana.  The  ten  -  stringed  lyre  of  the 
Abyssinians.  It  has  only  five  different  notes, 
but  each  note  has  its  octave-string. 

Bagatelles  (Fr.)  Sketches,  short  pieces, 
trifles. 

Bagpipe.  The  ascaulus  (aanravW)  of  the 
Greeks  (from  aiTk-6c,  a  leathern  bag,  and  duXof, 
a  pipe) ;  the  tibia  utricularia  or  iitricidariiim 
of  the  Romans  ;  sampogna  or  zainpogna  of 
Italy;  the  cornemuse  of  France  ;  the  chifonie 
or  symphony  of  the  middle  ages  ;  the  sougga- 
rail  or  zouggarah  of  the  Arabians.  An  ancient 
wind  instrument  of  almost  universal  adoption, 
formerly  in  common  use  in  every  part  of 
Europe,  but  now  only  found  in  parts  of  Italy, 
Sicily,  Calabria,  Brittany,  Poland,  and  Scot- 
land, in  form  more  or  less  varied  ;  in  Ireland 
the  bagpipes  under  the  name  of  the  Union 
pipes,  are  yet  to  be  met  with,  but  as  a 
musical  instrument  among  the  English  it  has 
completely  disappeared,  in  consequence  of  the 
advance  in  musical  taste.  A  form  of  bagpipe 
is  probably  meant  by  the  word  syiiiphon'.n 
(Dan.  iii.  15)  translated  in  the  Italian  version  of 
the  Bible  zainpogna.  In  its  general  construc- 
tion the  bagpipe  consists  of  a  leathern  bag  fre- 
quently formed  of  the  whole  skin  of  a  kid  or 
other  small  animal,  which  contains  the  wind 
conveyed  from  the  mouth  of  the  player 
through  a  tube,  a  small  valve  preventing  its 
rapid  escape.    The  sound  comes  from  three 


(  42  j 


BAGPIPE  BALCKEN. 


pipes,  two  of  which  united  are  called  the 
drone,  ami  are  capable  of  producing  only  cnu 
note  each,  the  key-note  and  its  fifth.  These 
two  notes  are  heard  throughout  the  per- 
formance. The  third  pipe,  thec/mn^er,  furnished 
with  a  reed,  is  bored  with  six  or  eight  holes 
which  are  stopped  by  the  ends  of  the  fingers 
of  the  performer.  The  scale  of  some  of  the 
Scotch  bagpipes,  with  eight  ventages,  is  in 
the  minor  mode  with  the  seventh  flat : 


in  others  with  six  holes,  the  fourth  and 
seventh  are  omitted  : 


that  of  the  Calabrian  bagpipe  is  the  diatonic 
scale : 


The  bagpipe  was  known  to  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
and  that  it  was  at  one  time  in  England  a 
popular  instrument,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
frequent  mention  made  of  it  in  mediaeval 
times.  Strutt  quotes  a  MS.  recording  many 
payments  made  to  bagpipers  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  III.,  about  1335,  both  for  their  per- 
sonal performance  and  as  an  allowance  to 
enable  them  to  visit  the  foreign  minstrel 
schools.  The  same  authority  also  records  a 
payment  to  another  bagpiper  in  1494.  The 
manner  in  which  the  instrument  is  mentioned 
by  Chaucer,  and  other  poets,  shows  it  to  have 
been  exceedingly  popular  and  of  frequent  use 
in  England  in  their  days;  and  a  large  number 
of  tunes  quoted  or  alluded  to  in  William  Chap- 
pell's"  PopularMusic"  bear  evidence  of  having 
been  of  bagpipe  character.  There  is  no  proof 
that  the  bagpipe  is  a  national  Scottish  instru- 
ment, for  its  introduction  into  Scotland  only 
dates  from  the  time  it  began  to  be  disused  in 
England. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  bagpipes  were  used 
at  the  Battle  of  Bannockburn,  and  there  is  a 
tune,  "  Hey  taitti,  taittie,"  said  to  be  the 
identical  march  played  by  them.  Ritson,  in 
his  preface  to  a  collection  of  Scottish  songs, 
doubts  whether  the  Scots  had  any  martial 
music,  and  quotes  Froissart's  account  of  each 
soldier  in  the  army  wearing  a  little  horn,  on 
which,  at  the  onset  they  would  make  such  a 
horrible  noise  "  as  if  all  the  devils  in  hell  had 
been  let  loose."  He  further  notes  that  as  these 
horns  are  the  only  instruments  mentioned  by 
Barbour  the  Scottish  chronicler,  it  must  re- 
main a  moot  point  whether  Bruce's  army  was 
ever  cheered  by  the  sound  of  a  bagpipe. 

The  earliest  mention  of  the  bagpipe  as 
forming  part  of  the  military  music  of  the 


Scotch  was  at  the  Battle  of  Balrinnes  (1594), 
though  the  oldest  known  pibroch  is  called 
the  "  Battle  of  Harlaw,"  but  it  could  not  be 
contemporary  with  the  event  (141 1).  There 
is  mention  of  trumpets  and  drums  in  the  old 
ballad  relating  to  the  battle,  but  none  of  the 
bagpipe  : 

"  The  armies  met,  the  trumpet  sounds, 
The  dandring  drums  alloud  did  touk." 

The  Irish  or  Union  pipes  are  furnished  with 
a  pair  of  bellows  (worked  with  the  elbow) 
with  which  to  inflate  the  bag.  There  are 
three  drones,  two  tuned  in  unison,  and  one 
an  octave  below  ;  most  pipes  have  a  valve 
by  means  of  which  the  drone  can  be  silenced, 
and  there  is  also  a  contrivance  for  sounding 
at  will  the  common  chord  of  the  key  note 
in  which  the  pipes  are  set.  The  quality  of 
the  chanter  is  more  like  that  of  the  clarinet 
than  the  oboe,  and  the  general  tone  of  the 
Irish  pipes  is  softer  and  less  piercing  than 
the  Scottish  bagpipe.  The  native  Irish  pipers 
call  the  instrument  "  ullan  piobe,"  the  pipes 
of  the  elbow.  Shakespeare's  mention  of 
"  woollen  pipes  "  in  the  "  Merchant  of  Venice," 
Act,  iv.  sc.  I  : 

"  Why  he,  a  harmless  necessary  cat 
Why  he,  a  woollen  bagpipe," 

refers  probably  to  the  "ullan  pipes  ;"  and  the 
word  "  union,"  as  applied  at  the  present  day, 
may  be  only  a  modern  substitute  for  the  right 
word,  for  it  is  difficult  to  see  the  force  of  the 
application  of  the  term  "  union  "  to  bagpipes, 
unless  the  word  be  a  corruption  of  a  proper 
term. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  bagpipe  came 
originally  from  the  East ;  it  is  still  to  be  met 
with  in  use  among  many  Eastern  nations. 
In  India,  China,  Persia,  and  Egypt,  it  is 
the  subject  of  frequent  mention  by  many 
travellers. 


Baguettes  (Fr.)  Drumsticks, 
r.)    To  lower. 


Baisser  {Fr 
Balafo.  A  musical  instrument  populai 
among  the  negroes  of  Senegambia.  It  is 
made  of  a  series  of  graduated  pieces  of  wood, 
placed  over  gourds,  which  act  as  resonance- 
boxes,  is  struck  with  hammers,  and  has  a 
scale  of  two  octaves,  sometimes  tuned  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  white  notes  of  a  pianoforte 


Balalaika  {Russ.)  A  Russian  instrument, 
in  form  like  a  guitar,  but  narrower  and  of  less 
depth  ;  it  has  two  strings.  With  it  the  Rus- 
sian Moujiks  accompany  their  popular  songs. 

Balancement  {Fr.)  Tremolo. 

Balcken  or  Balken  {Ger.)  The  bar  under 
the  belly  of  a  violin. 


(  4.3  ) 


BALG  BALLAD. 


Balg  (Ger.)    Bellows,  wind-chesl. 

Balgentreter  (Ger.)  The  bellows-treader. 
In  old  organs  the  blower  worked  the  bellows 
by  standing  on  them  in  turns. 

Ballad.  A  song  designed  to  suit  a  popu- 
lar audience.  A  varied  derivation  has  been 
claimed  for  the  term,  which  doubtless  meant 
originally  a  dance  song.  Hence  its  connec- 
tion with  the  Mediasval  Latin  word  ballare, 
(/3d\X(t»,  /3a\/\('^w).  As  a  poem,  the  ballad  has 
undergone  so  many  transmutations  that  it  is 
difficult  to  describe  it  properly,  many  pieces-to 
which  the  term  is  applied  having  little  or 
nothing  in  common  with  the  primitive  form, 
and  poems  of  exactly  similar  character  being 
described  at  one  time  as  romances,  at  another 
ballads,  at  another  lyric-epics.  The  Italians — 
among  other  writers,  Dante — gave  the  title  bal- 
lata  to  short  lyrical  pieces  of  inartistic  con- 
struction allied  to  the  sonnet  or  madrigal.  It 
was  against  the  French  equivalent  for  these 
ballate  that  Moliere  wrote.  The  Spanish  ro- 
mances, erroneously  called  ballads,  belong  to 
epic  poetry.  The  ballad,  as  we  now  understand 
its  meaning  and  application,  is  confined  to 
t  le  people  of  Northern  Europe,  the  Germans, 
following  Burger,  the  creator  of  the  modern 
ballad,  have  given  it  an  artificial  character  by 
the  introduction  of  reflections  arising  out  of 
the  incidents.  A  ballad,  properly  speaking, 
is  a  simple  narrative  of  one  or  more  events, 
told  without  gloss,  commentary,  or  deduction, 
set  to  a  tune  sufficiently  rhythmical  to  act 
as  one  of  the  original  purposes  of  a  ballad, 
namely,  a  dance  tune.  The  old  ballad  tunes  still 
existing  are  nearly  all  of  this  character.  In 
fact,  the  majority  of  the  melodies  have  been 
recovered  from  having  been  preserved  in  col- 
lections of  them  made  by  dancing  masters 
at  various  periods.  The  title  of  Ballet  or 
Ballad — says  Warton — was  often  applied  to 
poems  of  considerable  length,  of  various 
subjects,  sometimes  to  prose  compositions, 
sometimes  to  plays  or  interludes,  sometimes 
to  religious  verses  or  discourses. 

Ballad  (Old  English).  The  English  have 
ever  been  a  ballad-loving  people,  and  although 
the  taste  was  more  widely  diffused  among  all 
classes  in  former  days  than  now,  yet  there  is  no 
present  sign  that  it  will  soon  die  away.  Ballads 
were  embodied  into  our  earliest  histories,  be- 
cause the  bards  or  minstrels — called  Scopes 
in  the  language  of  the  country* — were  the 
earliest  of  our  historians.  The  Scope  was 
both  poet  and  musician.  He  recorded  deeds  of 
ancient  valour,  and  enlarged  upon  them  in 
order  to  stimulate  the  warlike  spirit  of  his 
hearers.  He  adopted  ancient  stories  of  adven- 
tures, and  re-applied  them  to  some  more 
recent  hero,  in  order  to  give  greater  intersst 


*  Anglo-Saxon  "  Scop  ''  or  "  Sceop." 


in  thtni  to  those  who  were  assembled  around 
him.  In  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  we 
have  about  a  dozen  fragments  of  historical 
ballads,  but  these  commence  only  from  Athel- 
Stan's  victory  over  the  Danes.  When  William 
of  Malmesbury  was  writing  the  history  of 
King  Edward,  son  of  Alfred  the  Great,  he 
said  :  "  Thus  far  I  have  written  from  trust- 
worthy testimony — that  which  follows  I  have 
learnt  more  from  old  ballads,  popular  through 
succeeding  times,  than  from  books  written 
expressly  for  the  information  of  posterity.  1 
have  subjoined  them,  not  to  defend  their 
veracity,  but  to  put  the  reader  in  possession 
of  all  I  know."t 

Again,  after  recounting  the  pride  of  King 
Edgar  in  having  compelled  subject  kings  to 
be  his  oarsmen,  while  he  sat  at  the  prow, 
William  says  :  "  For  this  he  is  justly  blamed 
by  history,  but  the  other  imputations  which 
I  shall  mention  hereafter,  have  rather  been 
cast  upon  him  by  ballads."  % 

It  may  be  asked,  "what  kind  of  music 
had  these  ballads?"  The  answer  will  be 
that,  although  we  have  no  existing  specimen 
of  ballad  music  of  such  early  dates,  yet  we 
have  hymns  to  Latin  words,  some  of  which 
have  more  tune  in  them  than  would  be  ex- 
pected, and  that  they  are  our  only  existing 
means  of  forming  a  judgment.  It  was  not 
mere  natural  song  with  indefinable  sounds, 
but  with  regulated  notes  upon  the  diatonic 
scale.  In  the  year  951  the  double  organ  at 
Winchester  Cathedral  had  400  pipes  and  re- 
quired two  organists.  It  was  intended  to  be 
heard  all  over  Winchester,  in  honour  of  Saint 
Peter,  to  whom  the  Cathedral  was  dedicated. 
Wolstan,  or  rather  Wulfstan,  of  Winchester, 
who  describes  it  fully  in  his  Life  of  Saint 
Swithun,  was  himself  the  author  of  a  treatise 
on  Harmony  [De  tonormn  Harmonia),  which 
was  a  standard  book,  and  remained  in  use  200 
years  after  it  had  been  issued.  William  of 
Malmesbury,  writing  after  iioo,  describes  this 
book  as  "very  useful"  [valde  utile).  It  is 
quoted  (or  else  some  second  treatise  on  music 
by  the  same  author)  as  the  Breviloquium 
Wolstani,  at  the  end  of  the  13th  century. 
We  have  Winchester  hymns  with  music 
on  four  lines  aiid  spaces  in  the  time  of 
Ethelred  II.  (978  to  1016),  and  even  the 
words  of  these  hymns  are  not  to  be  found  in 
any  foreign  collection.  They  are,  however, 
by  no  means  solitary  specimens  of  English 
hymnology  of  the  same  kind,  and  as  they 

t  Sequentia  magis  cantilenis  per  successiones  tem- 
porum  detritis,  quam  libris  ad  instructiones  posteriorum 
elucubratis,  didicerim."  [De  Gestis  Regum  Anglorum, 
Lib.  2,  cap.  6.) 

I  "Indemerito,  jureque,  culpant  eum  liters;  nam 
ceteras  infamias,  quas  post  dicam,  magis  resperseruni 
cantilenae."    (De  Gestis  Rfgum  Anglor.,  Lib.  2,  cap.  8.) 


(  44  ) 


BALLAD. 


are  before  the  time  of  Guide  d'Arezzo, 
they  must  be  considered  as  proofs  that  the 
English  used  Hnes  and  spaces  before  other 
nations.  The  only  difference  between  this  most 
ancient  English  notation  on  lines  and  spaces, 
and  that  which  came  into  use  after  Guido's 
system  had  been  relinquished  (for  he  em- 
ployed only  red  and  yellow  lines  for  F  and  C, 
which  was  incompatible  with  the  use  of  four 
lines  and  spaces  because  C  was  under  F),  was 
that  the  English  placed  any  letter  of  the  scale 
at  the  signature,  and  in  the  later  use  of  lines 
and  spaces  only  F,  C,  or  G,  were  so  placed. 
We  have  also  an  extant  Kyrie  composed  by  St. 
Dunstan,  which,  when  rendered  into  modern 
notation,  will  be  found  a  favourable  specimen 
of  early  music.  As  to  secular  music,  we  find 
in  the  Gesta  Herwardi,  or  the  Life  of  Here- 
ward,  who  was  son  of  Leofric,  Earl  of  Mercia, 
and  the  Lady  iEdiva  (the  Lady  Godiva  of  popu- 
lar fable),  that  he  seized  the  harp  and  sang 
with  correct  musical  intervals  "  (for  that  is 
the  meaning  of  "per  discrimina  vocum"*), 
sometimes  alone,  and  at  other  times  in  three 
parts  with  his  companions  after  the  manner 
of  the  Gyrwians.j  These  Gyrwians  were  the 
inhabitants  of  the  fenny  districts  between 
East  Anglia  and  Mercia,  including  Peter- 
borough (then  called  Medeshamstede)  in  the 
north,  and  the  Isle  of  Ely  in  the  south.  This 
was  not  a  district  likely  to  be  in  advance  of 
the  rest  of  England,  and  yet,  even  here,  we 
read  of  singing  in  three  parts  as  customary. 

When  Archbishop  Alfric  wished  to  trans- 
late the  Latin  word  "  Concentor "  for  his 
vocabulary  of  Latin  and  English  words,  he 
rendered  it  by  "  mid-singend,"  which  seems 
sufficiently  to  express  singing  in  three  parts, 
for  there  would  be  no  middle  in  two  or  four. 
It  might  perhaps  have  been  taken  to  mean 
"  singing  all  together,"  or  in  "  chorus,"  if 
Alfric  had  not  also  given  two  different  trans- 
lations of  "  Chorus, "J:  besides  others  for 
"Song,"  "Duet,"  "Tune  for  an  instrument 
alone,"  "  Harmony,"  "  Discord, "§  &c.,  all 
which,  taken  together,  are  sufficient  to  prove 
the  very  early  cultivation  of  music  in  England. 

These  notices  of  early  music  may  not 
appear,   at   first    sight,  to  be  immediately 


•  It  is  a  quotation  from  Virgil's  "  septem  discrimina 
vocum,''  and  One  frequently  employed  to  express  the 
seven  intervals  of  the  diatonic  scale,  viz.,  A,  B,  C,  D, 
E,  F,  G. 

t  "  Multipliciter  cum  ea  [cythara]  canendo,  et  per 
discrimina  vocum,  nunc  solitarie,  et  nunc  tripliciter 
cum  suis  sociis,  more  Girwiorum,  cantavit."  (From  a 
photographic  copy  of  the  Peterborough  Manuscript.) 

X  "  Singende  heap  "  and  "  Hluddra  sang.'" 

§  "  Sang,"  "  twegra  sang,"  "  answege  sang,"  "  ge^ 
— waere  sang,"  and  "  ungeswege  sang.  '  (  Vocabularies 
edited  by  T.  'Wright,  F.S.A.,  p.  28,  privately  printed  by 
Joseph  Mayer,  Esq.,  of  Liverpool,  F.S.A  ,  &c.) 


connected  with  our  text  of  "  Old  English 
Ballads,"  but  the  arts  of  music  and  poetry 
were  then  united,  all  poetry  being  intended  to 
be  sung ;  and  there  is  so  much  new  matter  to 
be  adduced  in  the  history  of  music,  especially 
in  that  of  our  own-  country,  of  which  Dr 
Burney's  account  is  most  inaccurate,  that 
it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the  temptation  of  refer- 
ring to  the  subject.  If  we  desire  to  prove 
that  music  was  cultivated  by  the  working 
classes  as  well  as  by  those  above  them,  we 
may  quote  the  fact  of  the  Watermen  of 
London  having  made  a  round  for  three  voices, 
in  honour  of  Sir  John  Norman,  Lord  Mayor 
of  London,  who,  in  1453,  commenced  the 
custom,  which  became  afterwards  established, 
of  going  to  Westminster  in  his  barge  to  be 
sworn  into  his  office  of  Lord  Mayor,  instead 
of  riding  both  to  and  fro  with  a  procession  on 
horseback  as  before.  The  music  of  the  Round  || 
is  like  the  chiming  of  bells  from  one  church 
steeple  to  another,  and  might  be  sung  by 
hundreds  of  men  together  to  the  words, 

"  Heave  and  ho,  rumbelow, 
Row  the  boat,  Norman,  row. 
Row  to  thy  Leman." 

The  idea  of  representing  the  taking  charge  of 
the  City  of  London,  as  a  "  leman  "  or  "  loved 
one,"  was  quite  watermanic. 

The  people  were  then  fond  of  singing,  and 
altogether  more  cheerful  than  after  the  advent 
of  tliat  severe  puritanism  which  told  them,  in 
the  words  of  Pr}'nne,  to  "  go  about  chattering 
like  cranes,  and  cooing  like  doves  for  their 
own  and  others'  sins."^  Solomon  thought 
that  there  was  a  time  for  everything — "  a  time 
to  dance,  a  time  to  sing,  and  a  time  to  play  ;  " 
but  these  wise-acres  did  not.  They  put  down 
the  Maypoles  and  the  dances  on  the  village 
green,  and  thus  reduced  the  people  to  drinking 
and  to  earnest  politics  as  the  only  excitements 
left  to  them. 

The  character  of  "  Merry  England  "  will  com- 
pare favourably  with  that  of  "  Old  England  " — 
for  England  had  not  the  title  of  "  Old  "  until 
a  "  New  England "  had  been  planted  in 
America,  and  puritanism  had  become  both 
rampant  and  dominant  at  home. 

"  The  merry,  free,  and  frank  disposition  of 
the  Old  English,"  says  Camden,  "  was  thus 
described  by  Alfred  of  Beverley  "  (who  died 
A.D.  1 136):  "  England, 0/  sports,  a  free 
people,  delighting  in  jokes."**    In  the  same 


II  The  easy  music  of  this  little  Round  is  printed  in 
Popular  Music  of  the  Olden  Time,  'Vol.  II.  p  783. 

•j  Prj  nne  was  parodying  Hezekiah's  words  when 
he  thought  himself  d\  ing  :  "  Like  a  crane  or  a  swallow, 
so  did  I°chatter  :  I  di^  mourn  as  a  dove  : '  but  Hezekiah 
was  mourning  for  his  sickness,  and  not  for  the  sins  oi 
others. 

*•  "  Anglia,  plena  jocis,  gens  libera,  et  apta  jocari."— 

Camden's  Remaines. 


(.  45  ) 


BALLAD. 


strain  runs  William  of  Malmesbury,  referring 
to  the  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  men,  or  East 
Anglians:  "they  are  a  merry,  pleasant,  jovial 
race,  but  apt  to  carry  their  jokes  to  an  irrita- 
ting excess."*  For  a  third  testimony  we  may 
take  an  extreme  part  of  England  :  "  Merry 
Michael,  the  Cornish  poet,  piped  this  upon 
his  oaten  pipe,  for  Merry  England,"  says 
Camden  : 

"  For  money,  dinners,  varied  drinks,  no  land  will  e'er 
be  found 

Like  England,  famous  England,  where  the  fertile  soil 
is  crown 'd 

With  countless  flocks  and  herds,  and  where  all  social 
joys  abound.  "  f 

We  know  from  another  source  that  there  was 
no  lack  of  tunes  when  the  Normans  came, 
for  Thomas,  the  first  Norman  Archbishop  of 
York  (1070),  set  about  collecting  those  which 
he  heard  from  the  minstrels,  and  wrote  hymns 
to  them.:}:  Richard  de  Ledrede,  a  Londoner, 
who  was  Bishop  of  Ossory,  from  1318  to  1360, 
did  the  same  thing  ;  but  carried  the  tunes  to 
Ireland  with  him.  We  know  the  names  of 
the  ballads,  because  they  are  written  in  the 
Red  Book  of  Ossory  over  his  Latin  hymns. 
Among  them  are  "Sweetest  of  all,  sing!" 
"How  should  I  with  that  old  man?"  "Do, 
do,  nightingale,  sing  full  merry,"  and  "Good 
day!  my  leman  dear."  Thus  he  anticipated 
the  Rev.  Rowland  Hill,  or  whoever  else 
may  have  said,  that  "  the  Devil  should  not 
h.ive  all  the  pretty  tunes."  And  yet  there 
was  some  danger  from  this  appropriation  of 
secular  words,  lest  they  might  become  so 
fixed  in  the  memory  as  to  crop  up  unexpectedly 
and  unwittingly.  Giraldus  Cambrensis  relates 
a  case  that  should  have  been  a  warning.  It 
is  of  a  priest  in  Worcestershire,  who  had 
been  listening  to  choral  singing  and  dancing 
near  the  church  during  the  night,  and  who,  in 
pure  forgetfulness,  sang  one  of  these  popular 
burdens  in  the  morning,  instead  of  greeting 
the  people  with  "  Dominus  vobiscum." 

As  to  London,  the  first  good  description  of 
the  city  and  of  its  customs  was  written  in 
1 174  by  Fitz-Stephen  (Stephanides),  the 
friend  and  biographer  of  Thomas  Becket. 
He  says  that  "  in  summer  evenings  the  young 
people  danced  till  dark,  to  the  sound  of  the 
harp  (or   cittern),   and   that   some   of  the 


•  "  Gens  laeta  et  lepida,  facetaque  festivitate  jocorum 
ad  petulantiam  pronior."  (Gesta  Reg.  Anglor.,  Book  2, 
cap.  13.1 

■j  "  Nobilis  Anglia  pocula,  prandia  donat,  et  ara, 
Terra  juvabilis  et  sociabilis,  agmine  plena: 
Omnibus  utilis,  .\nglia  fertilis  est  et  amoena." — 

Camden's  Rcniaims. 

X  "  Si  quis  in  auriitu  ejus  arte  jocularia,  aliquid  vocale, 
Sonaret,  statim  illnd  in  divinas  laudes  cffigiabat." — W. 
Malmeshury. 


maidens  acted  as  the  musicians. "§  Also 
that,  on  festival  days,  the  boys  of  the  London 
schools  attached  to  the  three  principal 
churches  "  contended  with  each  other  in 
verse,  '  and  wound  up  their  contests  "  by 
recitations  of  epigrams,  ballads,  and  rhymes, 
in  which  the  foibles  and  frailties  of  their 
fellows  were  sarcastically  exposed,  without 
naming  the  individuals."  At  this  "  the  audi- 
tors, who  were  prepared  to  enter  into  the  jest, 
shook  the  assembly  with  peals  of  laughter." 

These  are  gayer  pictures  and  of  more  content, 
than  are  common  now.  Examples  might  be 
continued  to  the  extent  of  a  volume,  but  one 
more,  from  Oxford  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, will  suffice.  It  was  written  by  the  learned 
Dr.  John  Case,  whose  Specnltim  moraliiim 
QucEstionum  in  universam  Ethicen  Aristotclis, 
was  the  first  book  printed  at  the  new  press  at 
Oxford  in  1585.  The  extract  is  horn  The 
Praise  of  Musicke,  printed  at  Oxford  by  John 
Barnes,  in  the  following  year:  "Every 
troublesome  and  laborious  occupation  hath 
musick  for  a  solace  and  recreation,  and  hence 
it  is  that  the  wayfaring  men  solace  themselves 
with  songs,  and  ease  the  wearisomness  of 
their  journey ;  considering  that  musicke,  as 
a  pleasant  companion,  is  unto  them  instead 
of  a  waggon  on  the  way.  And  hence  it  is 
that  manual  labourers  and  mechanical  arti- 
ficers of  all  sorts  keep  such  a  chanting  and 
singing  in  their  shoppes — the  tailor  on  his 
bulk,  the  shoemaker  at  his  last,  the  mason  at 
his  wall,  the  shipboy  at  his  oar,  the  tinker  at 
his  pan,  and  the  tiler  on  the  house-tops." 
Even  the  proverbially  merry  cobler  has  now 
almost  ceased  to  sing,  and  tailors  seek  only  to 
mend  the  State.  A  tuneless  tailor,  in  former 
days,  was  such  a  rara  avis  as  to  become  at 
once  an  object  of  suspicion.  "  Never  trust  a 
tailor  that  does  not  sing  at  his  work,"  says 
Fletcher,  "  for  his  mind  is  of  nothing  but 
filching "  The  treatment  of  the  poor  was 
perhaps  less  considerate  than  now ;  but 
the  people  having  their  amusements  were 
certainly  more  content.  The  number  of 
ballads  left  for  entry  at  Stationers'  Hall  at 
the  end  of  year  1560  was  796,  and  only  44 
books. 

We  have  still  a  large  number  of  extant 
ballads,  such  as  were  printed  on  one  side  of  a 
sheet  of  coarse  paper,  to  be  sung  about  the 
streets  and  villages  in  the  i6th  and  17th 
centuries.  Their  tunes  aie  also  to  be  found, 
being  included  in  early  collections  of  country 
dances.  Ball  and  ballad  are  words  derived 
from  the  same  root,  and  when  the  people 
danced  country  -  dances  they  accompanied 
them  with  song.     Nearly  every  old  ballad  ^ 

(  "  Puellarum  cithara  choros  ducit  usque  imminente 
luna,  et  pede  libero  pulsatur  ttllus."  [Descrip.  Loud., 
ed.  T.  Pegge.) 


(  46  ) 


BALLAD. 


has  the  name  of  tne  tune  printed  upon  it 
for  which  it  was  intended,  and  it  has  been 
owing  to  this  combination  of  circumstances 
that  so  many  of  our  national  airs  have  been 
recoverable,  and  that  words  and  tune  could 
be  re-fitted  together  in  authentic  forms.  Mere 
tradition  is  the  frailest  of  guides  in  music, 
for  hardly  do  any  two  untaught  singers  sing 
an  air  alike,  and  they  often  vary  the  tune 
between  one  stanza  and  another. 

Captain  Cox,  the  Coventry  mason,  is  the 
first  recorded  collector  of  old  printed  ballads. 
He  is  mentioned  by  Laneham  in  his  letter 
from  Kenilworth  in  1575.  The  next  in  order 
of  date  is  the  learned  Selden.  He  lent  his 
collection  to  Samuel  Pepys,  the  amusing 
diarist,  who  did  not  return  it.  We  are,  in  all 
probability,  indebted  to  that  circumstance  for 
its  preservation  ;  for  Pepys  left  his  library,  in- 
cluding his  collection  of  ballads  and  those 
borrowed  from  Selden,  to  Magdalene  College, 
Cambridge,  where  they  remain  under  the 
strictest  custody,  owing  to  the  terms  of  the  be- 
quest. Old  Pepys  took  the  greatest  care  to 
prevent  others  from  indulging  in  his  own 
little  habit  of  filching. 

The  united  collections  of  Selden  and  Pepys 
(or  of  Pepys  including  those  ballads  that  he 
borrowed  from  Selden)  are  bound  in  five  folio 
volumes  containing  1785  ballads,  mostly  with 
second  parts.  Sometimes  two  ballads  were 
printed  upon  one  page,  and  these  would  enlarge 
the  above  named  number.  In  addition  to  the 
broadsides  there  are  three  volumes,  lettered 
"  Penny  Merriments,"  which  were  also  col- 
lected by  Pepys,  and  which  include  a  large 
number  of  "  Garlands,"  that  are  in  themselves 
collections  of  ballads,  but  printed  in  octavo 
or  other  small  size,  instead  of  "in  broadside," 
i.e.,  on  one  side  of  a  folio  page. 

A  second  great  collection  of  broadside  ballads 
is  that  which  is  now  called  the  Roxburghe 
Collection.  John,  Duke  of  Roxburghe,  was 
only  one  of  several  proprietors  through  whose 
hands  the  collection  successively  passed  ;  but 
his  name  became  especially  connected  with 
it,  owing  to  the  notoriety  of  the  comparatively 
large  price  it  produced  at  the  sale  of  his 
library.  The  collection  had  been  purchased 
for  the  Duke  at  the  auction  of  Mayor  Thomas 
Pearson's  library  in  1788  for  £36  14s.  6d., 
and  was  resold  in  1813,  with  the  duke's  addi- 
tions, for  £477  15s.  It  was  originally  formed 
by  Robert  Harley,  who  was  raised  to  the 
peerage  as  Earl  of  Oxford  and  Mortimer  in 
171 1,  the  same  whose  magnificent  collection 
of  manuscripts,  known  as  the  Harleian  Col- 
lection, is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  British 
Museum. 

This  collection  consists  of  four  volumes, 
containing  2133  pages  of  ballads.  Sometimes 
one  ballad  takes  two    pages   including  its 


second  part,  and  sometimes  two  ballads 
are  printed  on  the  same  page.  It  was  pur- 
chased for  the  British  Museum  at  the  sale  of 
the  library  of  the  late  Benjamin  Heywood 
Bright,  M.P.,  in  1845. 

Another  important  collection  of  ballads  in 
the  British  Museum  is  that  formed  by  Bag- 
ford,  who  was  agent  in  purchasing  for  Harley, 
Earl  of  Oxford.  It  is  bound  in  three  volumes. 
There  are  also  many  minor  collections  in  the 
same  library,  and  a  large  number  of  political 
ballads  and  songs  among  "  The  King's 
Pamphlets." 

For  early  date  there  are  no  extant  collec- 
tions to  compare  with  those  of  Mr.  Henry 
Huth,  Mr.  S.  Christie-Miller,  and  of  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries  of  London.  These  are 
unrivalled  for  rarity,  but  they  are  not  of  so 
large  an  extent  as  some  others. 

The  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford  is  particu- 
larly rich  in  ballads,  and  the  Public  Library 
at  Cambridge  particularly  poor,  if,  indeed,  it 
possess  any  collection  at  all.  Oxford  can 
boast  of  the  Douce  collection,  which  is,  per- 
haps, next  in  extent  to  the  Roxburghe  and 
Pepys,  but  rather  later,  as  to  average  date,  than 
either.  It  contains  877  ballads  bound  in  4  vols., 
the  fourth  volume  being  later  than  the  rest. 
The  Bodleian  also  possesses  Anthony  Wood's 
famous  collections,  both  in  print  and  in  manu- 
script, as  well  as  a  smaller  number  of  printed 
ballads  collected  by  Rawlinson.  Wood's 
printed  collection  is  of  279, and  the  Rawlinson 
of  218  black-letter  ballads,  and  (as  a  rough 
guide  to  the  number  of  duplicates  to  be  found 
in  the  great  public  libraries)  it  may  be  stated 
that  although  the  Roxburghe  Collection  con- 
tains about  ten  times  the  number  of  the 
Rawlinson,  yet  the  latter  includes  130  ballads, 
of  which  no  edition  whatever  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Roxburghe.  Yet  they  are  generally  of 
coeval  dates. 

The  Cheetham  Library,  Manchester,  pos- 
sesses an  extensive  collection  of  ballads  pre- 
sented by  James  Orchard  Halliwell,  F.R.S. 
Of  other  collections  in  private  hands,  it  may  be 
sufficient  to  name  first,  that  of  the  late  W. 
Ewing,  F.S.A.,  Scot.,  which,  according  to  the 
printed  catalogue,  contains  408  ballads  ;  a 
collection  at  Osterley  Park ;  and  a  rare  col- 
lection formed  by  Mr.  J.  Payne  Collier,  and 
now  in  the  possession  of  Frederic  Ouvry,  Esq., 
Treasurer  to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries. 

There  are,  no  doubt,  many  more  collections 
in  private  hands,  as  well  as  many  ballads 
scattered  in  collections  of  pamphlets,  both  in 
public  and  private  libraries;  but  even  in  those 
already  named,  the  number  of  extant  English 
ballads  dating  from  the  reign  of  Henry  VlII. 
to  the  year  1700  cannot  be  computed  at  less 
than  ten  thousand.  It  would  be  much  larger, 
if  ballads  printed  with  music  were  taken  into 


(  47  ) 


BALLADE  BALLET. 


account,  or  even  if  manuscripts,  like  the  Percy 
foiiu,  and  Wood's  collection,  were  included  in 
the  calculation.  The  tunes  for  some  thou- 
sands of  them  have  been  traced,  and  many 
are  printed  in  the  "  History  of  Popular  Music 
of  the  Olden  Time."  "  In  a  word,"  says  an  old 
writer,  "  scarce  a  cat  can  look  out  of  a  gutter, 
but  up  starts  a  halfpenny  chronicler,  and 
presently  a  proper  new  ballad  of  a  strange 
sight  is  indited." 

Ballade  {Ger.)    A  dance,  also  a  ballad. 

Ballata  (it.)  The  melody  of  any  song  which 
may  furnish  a  tune  for  dancing.  [Ballet.] 

Ballatetta  {It.)    Diminutive  of  Ballata. 

Ballematia.  "i  o        •    j         ^  i 

Ballistia.      I  So"gs  dance-style. 

Ballet.  A  Madrigalian  part-song  with  a 
fa  la  chorus.  The  "  Ballets  "  or  "  fa  las  "  of 
Giovanni  Gastoldi  [1532-1598]  the  reputed 
originator  of  this  form  of  vocal  music,  are  in 
most  cases  in  simple  counterpoint  —  note 
against  note — but  the  rhythm,  strongly  marked 
and  well  defined,  is  admirably  suited  to  the 
purposes  of  the  dance  which  these  vocal  har- 
monies were  intended  to  accompany.  There 
are  many  examples  of  Ballets  to  be  found  in 
the  writings  of  the  Elizabethan  madrigal  com- 
posers. 

Ballet  {Fr.)  A  representation  in  dancing 
and  gesticulation,  of  some  story,  without  words. 

The  rise  of  the  Ballet  is  almost  coeval  with 
dancing  itself,  for  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
any  number  of  dancers  could  have  so  dis- 
ported themselves  as  to  give  delight  to  the 
spectators,  if  there  had  not  been  some  definite 
and  organised  arrangement.  The  dances 
described  as  having  been  led  by  Miriam, 
David  and  Jephtha's  daughter,  the  Emmeloeia, 
the  Pyrrhic  dances,  the  Motions  of  the  Mimes, 
Minstrels,  and  Joculators,  and  the  homely 
dances  popular  among  the  peasantry,  besides 
the  more  stately  measures  favoured  by  people 
of  high  degree,  were  all  ballets — in  which 
certain  motions  were  made  to  the  sound  of 
music,  and  whose  gestures  and  actions  had 
meanings  and  intentions  that  were  commonly 
understood.  When  these  dances  were  trans- 
ferred from  home  circles  to  the  stage,  the 
gestures  and  actions  made  were  such  that 
could  be  readily  interpreted  by  the  lookers-on, 
and  even  when  great  skill  was  acquired  by 
the  performers  in  following  ages,  the  old  con- 
ventional signs,  attitudes,  and  motions  were 
retained,  that  all  who  chose  might  understand. 
The  first  ballets  on  the  stage  were  those  that 
were  introduced  into  the  oratorios,  masques, 
and  comedies,  each  being  a  development  of 
portions  of  certain  entertainments,  from  which 
they  arose  in  common. 

The  oratorio  and  the  drama  arose  from  the 
ancient  sacred  and  classical  plays  and  the 
mediaeval  mysteries  and  moralities,  and  cir- 


cumstances gave  importance  to  particulai 
parts  of  those  productions,  so  that  from 
forming  a  continued  or  dependent  whole,  they 
became  detached  and  separate,  and  made  what 
seemed  in  later  years  distinct  things  of  those 
that  had  a  common  origin.  The  splendoui 
of  the  Court  Masques,  the  glory  of  the  unity 
of  the  genius  of  the  poet,  architect,  painter, 
and  musician,  are  matters  of  history.  Give 
prominence  to  the  music,  let  the  poetry  fade 
away  from  inanity,  retain  the  skill  and  genius 
of  the  machinist  and  scene  painter,  and  you 
have  opera.  Let  your  poet  write  prose,  have 
as  little  music  as  possible,  respect  the  scenic 
effects  and  mechanical  means,  and  drama  is 
the  result.  Dispense  with  poetry  or  words  of 
any  kind,  make  music  subservient,  but  do  all 
that  can  be  done  with  scenery  and  machinery, 
and  make  the  dramatis  personae  bound,  caper, 
and  gesticulate,  and  ballet  is  the  product. 

The  Ballet  had  its  origin  in  the  Masques, 
which  were  written  for  and  often  performed 
by  princes  and  other  distinguished  personages. 
In  England,  Italy,  and  France,  it  arose  almost 
simultaneously  out  of  the  remains  of  the 
Masque.  Count  Aglio,  at  Turin,  invented 
pieces  that  were  at  the  same  time  pastoral, 
mythological,  allegorical,  and  fantastic,  in 
which  the  princes  of  the  Court  took  part. 
In  France  Louis  XIII.  danced  in  a  ballet,  and 
his  successor,  Louis  XIV.,  did  the  same  in 
his  turn,  these  ballets  being  portions  of  spec- 
tacles that  were  operatic,  dramatic,  and  terpsi- 
chorean  by  turns  or  in  combinations.  Antoine 
de  la  Motte  improved  the  ballet,  and  made  it 
distinct,  and  independent  of  other  means 
for  explanation  and  elucidation ;  he  also  en- 
couraged the  introduction  of  female  dancers, 
till  then  almost  unknown  in  Europe,  and  from 
that  time  the  ballet  gradually  sank  from  im- 
portance and  consideration,  and  became  a 
mere  exhibition  of  artificial  agility  and  natural 
comeliness.  It  is  not  many  years  since  it 
was  a  very  considerable  item  in  the  evening's 
entertainment  at  the  opera  in  England,  rival- 
ling in  spectacular  splendour  the  famous 
ballets  of  Milan,  the  absence  of  vigour  and 
intellectual  power  in  the  operas  produced 
being  counterbalanced  by  the  so-called  glory 
of  the  ballet.  But  as  people  began  to  be 
alive  to  the  fact  that  contortions,  dislocations, 
and  indecent  postures  were  the  reverse  of  ele- 
vating or  instructive,  and  not  really  amusing, 
the  patronage  of  the  ballet  as  a  distinct  enter- 
tainment fell  away  and  finally  ceased  alto- 
gether, and  an  attempt  to  revive  it  apart  from 
and  out  of  the  course  of  the  situations  of  an 
opera,  during  the  season  of  187 1,  met  with  so 
little  encouragement  that  it  was  silently  aban- 
doned. The  ballet  was  once  a  poem  and  a 
power :  kings  did  not  scorn  to  exhibit  trained 
and  practised  personal  skill  for  the  edification 


(  4^  ) 


BALLETTO  BAR. 


of  their  loyal  subjects,  and  the  exaltation  of 
the  exercise  in  which  they  indulged  ;  but  the 
"improvements"  of  De  la  Motte  introduced 
an  element  which  was  at  once  the  cause  of 
its  glory  and  of  its  shame,  its  culmination 
and  contempt.  [Dance.] 

Balletto  (It.)    A  ballet,  a  dance. 

Ballet-master.  One  to  whom  is  entrusted 
the  direction  of  the  motions  of  the  ballet,  and 
the  order  of  the  performers. 

Balli  Inglesi  {It.)    English  dances. 

Balli  della  Stiria  (It.)    Styrian  dances. 

Balli  Ungaresi  (It.)  Hungarian  dances. 
Dances  in  the  Hungarian  style. 

Ballo  (/t.)    A  dance,  a  ball. 

Ballonchio  (It.)  [Passamezzo.] 

Ballonzare  (It.)  To  dance  wildly,  reck- 
lessly, without  rule. 

Band  [Ger.)  A  part,  a  volume,  any  thing 
sewn  together. 

Band.  Instrumentalists  collected  together 
for  the  performance  of  music. 

(1)  Brass  Band.  A  collection  of  players 
on  brass  wind-instruments. 

(2)  String  Band,  {a)  That  portion  of  an 
orchestra  which  consists  of  players  on 
stringed-instruments  of  the  violin  family, 
(i)  A  band  consisting  only  of  instruments 
played  with  a  bow. 

(3)  Wind  Band.  Stromenti  di  fiato  (It.) 
That  portion  of  an  orchestra  which  consists 
of  players  on  flutes,  oboes,  clarinets,  bas- 
soons, and  horns  ;  but  not  on  trumpets,  trom- 
bones, and  other  loud  brass  instruments,  these 
being  included  only  under  the  sign  "tutti." 

(4)  Wood  Band.  The  players  on  the  wood 
wind-instruments,  flutes,  oboes,  clarinets, 
bassoons  ;  but  not  on  the  serpent,  which  is 
usually  classified  with  brass  instruments. 

(5)  Military  Band.  A  number  of  musicians 
belonging  to  a  regiment  in  the  service  of  the 
King  or  Queen  of  a  country.  In  England, 
those  who  perform  upon  instruments  pro- 
vided by  the  officers  of  the  corps  to  which 
they  belong,  the  military  regulations  only 
recognising  side  drums,  fifes,  bugles,  and 
trumpets,  as  necessary ;  these  are  supple- 
mented by  clarinets,  flutes,  cornets,  bassoons, 
horns,  trombones,  ophicleides,  bombardons, 
triangles,  cymbals,  big  drums,  &c.,  and  the 
combination  is  known  as  a  military  band. 
The  band  is  conducted  by  some  one  skilled 
in  directing  and  arranging,  who  is  usually 
a  civilian,  but  the  bandsmen  over  whom  he 
presides  are  in  every  other  respect  the  same 
as  private  soldiers.  Military  bands  are  some- 
times used  upon  the  opera  stage,  for  the 
purpose  of  gaining  an  increased  eff'ect. 

Banda  (/il.)    A  military  band.    [Band  §5.] 
Bandora  (Fr.)  [Bandore.] 
Bandore.    An  English  form  of  the  ancient 
Greek  Pandoura,  having  twelve  strings  of 


steel-wire.  The  Bandore  is  said  to  have  been 
invented  by  John  Rose,  of  London,  in  1561. 

Banduira.  A  form  of  guitar,  strung  with 
wire  instead  of  cat-gut.  [Pandoura.] 

Banja  or  Banjo.  A  stringed  instrument 
of  supposed  African  origin,  popular  with  the 
negroes  of  America,  and  one  of  the  most  im 
portant  musical  instruments  employed  by 
troupes  of  fictitious  negroes.  The  instrument 
consists  of  a  handle,  which,  running  the  whole 
length,  serves  at  once  as  finger-board,  as  sup- 
port for  the  hoop,  over  which  a  skin,  acting 
as  sounding  board,  is  stretched,  and  also  as  a 
hold  for  the  pegs  which  tighten  and  keep  the 
strings  in  tune.  The  banjo  is  strung  with 
five  strings,  so  arranged  that  they  may  be 
stopped  in  the  ordinary  way  to  vary  the  melody 
or  harmony,  together  with  an  octave  string 
which  is  never  stopped.  The  tuning,  which 
may  be  in  any  key,  is  generally  according  to 
the  following  plan  : 


The  character  of  banjo  music  is  sprightly  and 
well  adapted  for  dancing,  for  which  it  is  as 
often  used  as  it  is  for  accompanying  the  voice. 

Bar.  A  line  drawn  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom  of  the  stave  to  denote  the  division  of 
the  time  in  a  piece  of  music,  and  the  place  of 
the  strong  accent.  Each  portion  comprised 
within  two  of  these  lines  is  also  called  a  bar. 
In  mediaeval  music  the  bar,  also  called  the 
lesser  bar,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  greater 
or  double  bar,  was  often  used  solely  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  the  end  of  a  line  or  sen- 
tence of  the  words,  hence  it  was  said  "  to  give 
time  for  the  whole  choir  together  to  draw 
breath  "  (Nievers,  sur  le  Chant  Gregorien) ; 
whereas  the  two  great  bars  or  the  double  bar 
is  "  the  most  efficacious  contrivance  that  can 
be  thought  on  to  remedy  all  the  cacophonies 
and  contrarieties  in  the  voices  of  the  singers, 
who  without  them  could  not  guess  when  to 
rest."  (Ibid.)  Mr.  Chappell  ("  Popular  Music 
of  the  Olden  Time  ")  remarks  that  the  Tunes  in 
the  "Dancing  Master,"  printed  in  1651  in 
only  a  single  part,  have  no  bars,  but  that  the 
score  of  the  moral  play,  "  The  four  elements  " 
(to  which  Dr.  Dibdin  has  ascribed  the  date 
1510),  is  barred.  He  further  adds,  that  so  far 
as  he  has  observed,  all  music  in  the  ordinary 
notation,  even  for  one  voice  or  one  instrument, 
was  barred  after  1660.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, that  the  regular  barring  of  music  had  its 
origin  in  the  system  of  Tablature,  in  which 
its  efficacy  as  a  means  of  pointing  out  the 
position  of  accent  must  have  been  generally 
observed.  But  for  a  considerable  period  after 
the  introduction  of  the  bar,  its  use  in  eccle- 
siastical music  was  very  irregular,  two,  four, 


(  49  ) 


BARBET  BARITONE  CLEF. 


six,  or  even  eight  minims  being  included  in  a 
bar  which,  by  the  signature,  should  contain 
only  four.  In  modern  music-printing  and 
engraving,  care  is  taken  that  the  bars  in  the 
separate  lines  forming  a  score  shall  stand 
exactly  over  one  another.  The  neglect  of  this 
in  early  publications  in  score  adds  greatly  to 
the  difficulty  of  reading  them. 
Barbet.  [Barbiton.] 

Barbiton.  An  ancient  Greek  instrument 
Baid  to  have  been  invented  by  Anacreon ;  it 
was  in  the  form  of  a  lyre,  and  had  seven 
strings.  The  name  was  applied  to  instru- 
ments of  the  violin  class  in  the  i6th  and  17th 
centuries. 

Barcarole.  A  simple  melody,  composed 
in  imitation  of  the  songs  of  the  Venetian 
gondoliers,  many  of  which  are  of  striking 
beauty.  Apolloni  Salvadore,  a  Venetian  barber 
and  fiddler  in  1720,  is  named  as  the  com- 
poser of  several  popular  tunes  of  this  class. 

Bard.  A  name  given  to  hereditary  poets 
and  minstrels  by  all  the  Celtic  nations.  In 
their  songs  and  poems  the  bards  recorded  the 
deeds  and  prowess  of  the  warriors,  kings,  and 
people,  at  festive  and  social  gatherings  ;  and 
at  religious  assemblies  they  celebrated  the 
acts  and  fame  of  the  gods  and  heroes,  accom- 
panying their  songs  with  the  harp  and  crowd 
or  crwth.  The  power,  reputation,  and  in- 
fluence of  the  bards  were  very  great,  and  the 
favour  of  kings,  princes,  and  nobles  was 
accorded  to  them.  They,  like  the  Aoidoi  of 
ancient  Greece,  were  the  historians,  poets,  and 
chroniclers  of  their  time;  they  incited  their 
armies  to  courage  in  the  hour  of  battle,  and 
by  their  heroic  strains  roused  the  fury  and 
valour  of  the  warriors.  In  time  of  peace  they 
were  am'oassadors,  heralds,  and  the  deposi- 
taries of  all  historical  tradition,  and  of  much 
of  the  learning  that  was  at  that  time  possessed 
by  the  community.  As  an  institution  they 
kept  longest  influence  in  England,  Scotland, 
and  Wales.  In  the  last-named  country  their 
privileges  were  fixed  by  King  Howel  Dha, 
A.D.  940,  and  a  century  and  a  half  later 
Griffith  ap  Conan  revised  and  reformed  the 
whole  system.  The  Eisteddvodau,  as  the 
congregations  of  Welsh  bards  are  called, 
were  held  from  time  to  time  until  the  con- 
quest of  Wales  by  Edward  I.,  in  1284,  when 
the  bards  were  persecuted,  and  as  some 
authors  declare,  were  put  to  death.  Although 
the  power  of  the  bards  was  broken,  still  their 
Eisteddvodau  were  encouraged  by  the  rulers 
of  succeeding  generations,  until  the  time  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  who  was  the  last  monarch 
who  made  any  concessions  to  the  bards  of 
Wales.  The  preservation  of  such  of  their 
literature  that  has  survived  them  is  owing  to 
several  learned  societies  who  have  made  this 
object  their  peculiar  study.    An  Eisteddfod  as 


now  understood  is  a  curious  compound  of 
heterogeneous  matter,  for  although  it  is  held 
for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  national  ar* 
in  music  and  poetry,  its  judges  appear  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  least  worthy  effusions  com- 
mon to  London  concert-rooms,  provided  they 
are  given  through  the  medium  of  the  Cambrian 
tongue.  Little  is  known  of  the  bards  in 
Scotland  beyond  the  fact  that  they  were 
similar  in  constitution  to  the  bards  in  Ireland, 
who,  like  those  of  Wales,  were  a  hereditary 
community.  The  Irish  bards  were  divided 
into  three  classes,  the  Filhedha,  the  Braithea- 
main,  and  the  Senachaidhe.  The  first  sang 
the  sacred  and  heroic  songs,  and  were 
employed  as  heralds  and  counsellors,  the 
second  recited  and  expounded  the  laws,  and 
the  third  were  the  chroniclers  and  recorders. 
They  were  endowed  with  many  privileges 
and  had  great  influence,  and  their  power  over 
the  minds  of  the  people  was  so  strong  that 
severe  measures  had  frequently  to  be  resorted 
to,  to  check  their  sway.  In  England  bardism 
took  a  more  refined  and  less  exciting  form 
than  that  which  was  acceptable  to  those 
nations  of  more  strictly  Celtic  origin.  [Min- 
strels.1  [Ballad.] 

Bardone.    [Viola  di  Bardone.] 
Barem  (Ger.)    An  organ-stop,  consisting 
of  closed  flute-pipes  of  8  ft.  or  16  ft.  pitch,  of  a 
soft  character  of  tone. 

Barginet,  Berginet,  Bargaret,  or  Ber- 
geret.  Shepherd's  songs,  to  accompany 
dances.    Songs  relating  to  pastoral  matters. 

"  A  bargaret  in  praising  the  daisie. 
For,  as  methought,  among  her  notes  swete, 
She  said,  '  Si  douce  est  le  Margarite.'  " 

Chaucer. — Floure  and  Leafe. 

Baribasso.    A  deep  bass  voice. 

Bariolage  (Fr.)  A  medley.  A  cadenza, 
or  series  of  cadenzas,  whose  appearance  forms 
a  design  upon  the  music  paper,  "a  waistcoat 
pattern"  as  it  is  called  by  performers. 

Baritenor.    A  deep  tenor. 

Baritone.  A  brass  instrument.  [Metal 
Wind-instruments.] 

Bariton,  or  Baryton.  [Viola  di  Bardone.] 

Bariton  Clarinet.  An  instrument  used 
in  military  bands,  the  tone  of  which  is  between 
the  clarinet  and  bassoon. 

Baritone  Clef.  The  F  clef  placed  upon 
the  third  line  of  the  stave. 

It  is  not  now  used,  but  was  frequently  em- 
ployed in  vocal  music  of  the  i6th  and  17th 
centuries.  Purcell's  Song,  "  Let  the  dreadful 
engines,"  was  originally  written  in  this  clef, 
anJ  it  was  also  used  occasionally  for  horn 
parts  by  Handel,  Cooke,  and  other  writers  in 
the  i8th  century. 


(  50) 


BARITON  BASSE 


FONDAMENTALE. 


Bariton   (Fr  )  |  jhe  Baritone  voice. 

Bantono  (It.) ) 

Bariton  voice.  [Barytone.] 

Barocco  (/^)  )  Unusual,  singular,  eccen- 

Barock  (Ger.)  >  trie,  whimsical,  irregular. 

Baroque  (Fr.)  j  Applied  to  a  composition 
with  over-chromatic  harmonies,  or  unrhyth- 
mical melodic  phrasing. 

Barpfeife  {Ger.)  [Baarpyp.] 

Barquade  (Fr.)  An  obsolete  term  for 
Barcarole,  q.v. 

Barre  (Fr.)  In  guitar  or  lute  playing,  the 
pressing  of  the  fore-finger  of  the  left  hand 
across  all  the  strings,  so  as  to  alter  temporarily 
tlie  pitch  of  the  instrument,  the  remaining 
fingers  being  at  the  same  time  engaged  in 
forming  a  chord.  The  first  finger,  therefore, 
performs  the  duties  of  a  capotasto,  q.v. 

Barre  de  luth  (Fr.)  The  bridge  of  the  lute. 

Barre  de  mesure  (Fr.)  [Bar.] 

Barre  de  rep6tition  (Fr.)  A  double  bar 
with  points,  marking  a  repeat. 


Barrel.  A  revolving  cylinder  of  wood  or 
metal. 

(1)  Barrel-organ.  An  organ  in  which  a 
wooden  cylinder  furnished  with  pegs  or  staples, 
when  turned  round,  opens  a  series  of  valves 
to  admit  a  current  of  air  to  a  set  of  pipes,  pro- 
ducing a  tune  either  in  melody  or  harmony. 
The  barrels  are  sometimes  made  moveable, 
in  order  to  obtain  a  variety  in  the  tunes,  as 
the  capability  of  a  single  barrel  is  necessarily 
limited.  Barrel  organs  furnished  with  hymn 
and  psalm  tunes,  or  even  voluntaries,  were 
sometimes  used  in  places  of  worship,  but  the 
increased  knowledge  of  music,  even  in  remote 
places,  has  led  to  the  introduction  of  the  har- 
monium, which  has  superseded  the  use  of 
barrel  organs  to  a  great  extent.  The  tone  of 
barrel  organs  is  incapable  of  expression  or 
variety,  and  has  consequently  been  found 
seriously  monotonous.  The  only  advantage 
belonging  to  the  instrument  is  its  portability, 
and  this  renders  it  available  for  street  musicians, 
who  generally  hire  one  at  a  small  charge, 
the  cost  of  the  instrument  (from  £20  to  £jo) 
being  beyond  their  means.  Many  of  the  poor 
hirers  are  cruelly  used  by  the  Padrone  from 
whom  they  obtain  their  instruments.  The 
barrel-organ,  as  a  street  entertainment  in 
London,  dates  from  about  the  year  1790. 
The  stops  in  a  barrel-organ  generally  consist 
of  a  stopped  diapason  and  flute  or  principal, 
to  which  is  sometimes  added  a  reed  stop  of 
coarse  quality.  The  compass  rarely  exceeds 
two  octaves  and  a  half. 

(2)  Barrel  of  a  musical  box  is  constructed 
in  a  manner  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  an 
organ,  but  is  of  metal,  and  instead  of  opening 


a  series  of  valves,  the  pegs  and  staples  set  in 
vibration  the  teeth  of  a  steel  comb,  which 
produce  the  sounds.    [Musical  box.] 

Barypycni  (trie d.L at.,  irom  Gk.(]apvg  deep, 
and  TTvKi've  close),  (i)  Lowest  strings  of  tetra- 
chords  in  the  chromatic  or  enharmonic  scale. 
(2)  In  ecclesiastical  music,  those  modes  which 
have  the  pycnon  or  semitone  at  ths  bottom  oi 
the  tetrachord,  e.g.  : 


Phrygian. 


Hypophrygia 


see  mesopycni,  oxypycm. 

Barytone  voice.  A  voice  of  fuller  quality 
than  a  tenor  and  lighter  than  a  bass,  having  a 
compass  partly  included  in  both,  namely, 


to 


m 


This  is  the  extreme  compass,  and  both  limits 
are  rarely  reached. 

This  voice  has  only  been  distinguished  by 
name,  as  being  of  a  separate  cfiaracter,  within 
the  present  century.  Early  writers  indicate 
its  existence  by  the  use  of  its  special  clef.  The 
term  Barytone  is  unmeaning,  unless  it  be 
looked  upon  as  a  corruption  of  Barytenor,  but 
it  is  quite  possible  it  was  borrowed  from  the 
instrument  Barytone  or  Bardone,  which  occu- 
pied a  place  between  the  tenor  and  bass  viols. 
Rousseau  calls  this  voice  Basse-chantante,  or 
Basse-taille  ;  and  Shield,  in  his  "  Introduction 
to  Harmony,"  having  used  the  word  Barytone, 
thinks  it  necessary  to  explain  in  a  foot-note 
that  it  is  "  a  voice  between  a  tenor  and  a  bass." 

Bas-dessus  (Fr.)  Mezzo  soprano,  or 
second  treble. 

Base.    Old  form  of  the  word  Bass. 

Bass.  Low,  as  bass  trombone,  bass  viol, 
bass  voice,  &c. 

Bassa  ottava  (It.)    At  the  lower  octave. 

Basse  (Fr.)  Bass. 

Basse  chantante  (Fr.)  A  barytone  voice. 

i--rr  '  /c  \  A  figured  bass, 
Basse  chiffree  (Fr.  U  bass  part,  the 
Basse  continue   (Fr.)  J  accompanying 

harmonies  of  which  are  expressed  by  numbers. 
Basse  contrainte  (Fr).    [Ground  bass.] 
Basse  contre  (Fr.)    A  deep  bass  voice, 

capable  of  singing  below  the  ordinary  bass 

part. 

Basse  de  cremone  (Fr.)    The  bassoon. 
Basse  de  hautbois  (Fr.)    Corno  inglese. 
Basse  d'harmonie  (Fr.)   The  ophicleide. 
Basse  de  viole  (Fr.)    The  violoncello. 
Basse  de  violon  (Fr.)  Double-bass. 
Basse  double  (Fr.)    Large  double-bass. 
Basse  figuree  (Fr.)    Figured  bass. 
Basse  fondamentale  (Fr.)    Root-bass  ot 
generator.  [Harmony.] 


(  SI  ) 


BASSE  RECITANTE  BASSOON. 


Basse  recitante  {Fr.)  [Basse  chantante.] 
Basse  taille  {Fr.)  The  Barytone  voice. 
Basset-horn,  Corno  di  Bassetto  [It.) 
A  transposing  instrument  of  the  clarinet 
order,  of  a  beautiful,  soft,  and  rich  quahty, 
invented  in  Passau  about  the  year  1770,  and 
improved  by  Lotz  of  Presburg  twelve  years 
later.  In  form  like  a  long  clarinet,  with  a 
curved  and  bell-shaped  metal  end.  The 
compass  extends  from  F  below  Gamut  to 
C  in  Altissimo 


With  all  the  intermediate  semitones,  except 
the  F  sharp  and  A  flat  in  the  lower  range. 


The  music  is  written  for  it  in  the  bass  and 
treble  clefs  a  fifth  higher  than  the  real  sound. 
Mozart  has  written  with  brilliant  effect  for 
the  basset-horn  in  his  "  Nozze  di  Figaro,"  in 
"Clemenza  di  Tito,"  and  in  the  "Requiem." 

Bassetto  (It.)  (i)  The  diminutive  of 
Basso.  A  name  sometimes  given  to  the  tenor 
violin.  (2)  A  reed  stop  in  the  organ  of  8  ft. 
or  16  ft.  in  length. 

Bass  Flute.  The  lowest  in  pitch  of  in- 
struments of  the  flute  family,  now  obsolete. 


Its  compass  was 


It  was  a  Jlute 


a  bee,  not  a  fiauto  traverso ;  that  is,  it  was 
blown  at  the  end  (like  a  flageolet),  not  at  a 
hole  in  its  side.  In  order  to  enable  the  player 
to  reach  the  remote  holes  with  his  fingers,  a 
bent  tube  turning  upwards  conveyed  the  air 
from  his  lips  to  the  mouthpiece  of  the  instru- 
ment. 

Bassgeige  {Ger.)  Bass  Fiddle,  or  Violon- 
cello. 

Bass  Horn.  English  Bass  Horn,  Corno 
Basso,  a  kind  of  serpent.  [Serpent.] 

Basslaute  [Ger.)    [Bass  Lute.] 

Bass  Lute.  [Theorbo.] 

Basso  [It.)  A  bass  singer,  also  the  double- 
bass,  and  the  bass  part. 

Basso  buffo  [It.)  A  comic  singer,  with  a 
bass  voice. 

Basso  cantante  [It.)  [Basse  chantante.] 

Basso  concertante  [It.)  The  principal 
bass,  that  which  accompanies  solos  and 
recitatives. 

Basso  continuo  [It.)  A  bass  part  figured 
for  the  organ  or  pianoforte. 

Basso  figurato  [It.)  (i)  Basso  continuo. 
(2)  A  bass  part,  with  running  passages. 

Basso  fondamentale  [It.)  The  funda- 
mental ground  bass,  or  root. 

Basson  [Fr.)  [Bassoon.] 

Basson   quinte  [Fr.)     A  bassoon,  the 


pitch  of  which  is  five  notes  higher  than  that 
of  the  common  bassoon.  The  part  given  to 
it  must  therefore  be  written  five  notes  lower 
than  the  actual  sounds  required.    Its  written 

compass  is     @' — -j^;^:^ — \  sounding 

including  all  the  intervening 

semitones.  Its  tone  is  more  powerful,  but  less 
sympathetic,  than  that  of  the  corno  inglese. 

Basso  numerato  [It.)  A  bass,  the  accom- 
panying harmonies  to  which,  are  indicated 
by  numbers. 

Bassoon.  Basson  (Fr.)  Fagotto  (/<.)  A 
reed  wind-instrument  of  deep  pitch,  with  a  com- 
pass of  more  than  three  octaves  from  low  B  flat. 


This  compass  includes  all  the  intermediate 
semitones,  with  the  exception  of 


which  are  as  yet  to  be  obtained  only  from 
instruments  of  improved  construction.  Some 
performers  can  produce  three  notes  higher 
than  the  B  flat,  but  for  all  common  orchestral 
purposes  they  are  unnecessary.  The  bassoon 
ordinarily  forms  the  bass  or  deepest  tone 
among  wood  wind-instruments,  and  is  capable 
of  excellent  independent  effects,  among  which 
the  grotesque  ought  not  to  be  forgotten,  as  in 
Beethoven's  "  Pastoral  Symphony,"  and  the 
"  Clown's  March,"  in  the  music  to  the  "  Mid- 
summer Night's  Dream,"  by  Mendelssohn. 

It  is  customary  to  write  for  the  Bassoon 
in  the  Bass  clef,  and  as  the  instrument  is 
usually  employed  in  pairs,  one  stave  serves 
for  the  two  parts.  The  tenor  clef  is  often 
employed  for  the  higher  notes  of  the  register 
of  the  Bassoon,  sometimes  in  a  separate  stave. 

Some  writers  assert  that  the  Bassoon  is  the 
invention  of  Afranio  of  Ferrara  in  1540,  and 
that  he  gave  it  the  name  Fagotto  from  its 
resemblance  to  a  bundle  or  fagot  of  sticks  (his 
instrument  being  made  of  several  pieces  laid 
together),  but  it  was  known  long  before  under 
the  name  of  Buisine,  Buzaine,  Courtal,  Bom- 
bard, or  Wait. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Bassoon 
is  of  Eastern  origin,  introduced  into  western 
Europe  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  that  it  is 
an  improvement  of  the  drone-pipe  of  the  Bag- 
pipe. The  Egyptian  word  for  a  pipe  of  deep 
tone,  and  for  the  drone  of  the  Bagpipe  is,  ac- 
cording to  E.W. Lane  ("Modern  Egyptians"), 
Zummarah-bi-soan,  and  the  manner  in  which 
the  word  Buzaine,  Buisine,  is  used  in  mediae- 
val MSB.,  shows  a  possible  connection  with 


f  52  ) 


BASSO  OSTINATO  B  CANCELLATUM. 


this  origin.  The  instrument  was  introduced 
into  the  orchestra  about  the  commencement 
of  the  i8th  century  ;  for  a  long  time  it  was 
employed  to  strengthen  the  voice  parts  only. 
Handel  generally  makes  it  double  the  bass 
voice  part,  or  treats  it  as  a  bass  to  the  oboe; 
he  has,  however,  made  excellent  use  of  it 
as  a  solo  instrument  in  the  scene  of  Saul 
and  the  Witch  of  Endor,  in  his  oratorio  of 
"  Saul." 

Basso  ostinato  (It.)    Ground  bass. 

Basso  ripieno  (It.)  The  bass  of  the  full 
or  chorus  parts. 

Basspommer  (Ger.)  A  deep-toned  in- 
strument of  the  Oboe  family,  precursor  of  the 
Bassoon. 

Bass-Posaune  (Ger.)  Bass  trombone. 
[Trombone.] 

Bassschliissel  {Ger.)    The  bass  clef. 

Bass  Trumpet.  An  old  instrument,  now 
superseded  by  the  trombone. 

Bass  Tuba.  A  brass  instrument,  a  species 
of  bombardon,  not  capable  of  such  rapid  exe- 
cution as  bass  ophicleides,  but  producing  a 
much  finer  quality  of  tone.  It  has  the 
enormous  compass  of  four  octaves  from 


with  all  the  chromatic  intervals. 
It  is  sometimes  treated  as  a  transposing 
instrument,  in  which  case  it  is  in  Ei7  or  F, 
and  its  part  has  to  be  written  a  minor  third, 
or  major  fourth  higher  respectively  than  the 
actual  sounds  given  above. 

Bass  Viol,  (i)  A  familiar  name  for  the 
violoncello.  (2)  The  largest  and  deepest  in 
tone  among  a  chest  of  viols,  which  had  five 
and  sometimes  six  strings,  and  a  fretted 
finger-board.  The  manner  of  tuning  the 
open  strings  varied  according  to  the  music  to 
be  played. 

Playford  (Introduction  to  the  Skill  of  Music) 
mentions  three  sorts  of  Bass  viols  "  as  there 
are  three  manners  of  ways  in  playing." 
"First,  a  Bass  viol  for  consort  must  be  one 
of  the  largest  size,  and  the  strings  propor- 
tionable. Secondly,  a  Bass  viol  for  divisions 
must  be  of  a  less  size,  and  the  strings  accord- 
ing. Thirdly ,  a.  Bass  viol  to  play  Lyra. way, 
that  is  by  Tablature,  must  be  somewhat  less 
than  the  two  former,  and  strung  proportion- 
ably." 

The  common  accordatura  of  the  six-string 
instrument  was  as  follows  : 


Bass  Voice.  The  lowest  register  of  the 


human  voice,  having  a  compass  ranging 
between  two  octaves  from  lower  D  : 


The  whole  of  the  bass  voice  should  be  pro- 
duced from  the  chest,  and  the  most  useful  notes, 
and  those  generally  written  are  between  G 
and  tenor  C : 


A  bass  voice  rarely  reaches  full  perfection  of 
quality  or  sonorousness  before  the  possessor 
is  thirty  years  of  age,  and  a  true  bass  voice 
has  seldom  much  flexibility. 

Batillus.  An  instrument  formerly  em- 
ployed by  the  Armenians  in  their  Church 
service  to  supply  the  place  of  bells,  which 
they  were  forbidden  to  use.  A  board  struck 
with  a  hammer. 

BSton  (Fr.)  (i)  A  stick  used  in  beating 
time.  (2)  The  method  of  a  conductor  is 
called  his  baton,    (3)  A  pause  of  two  or  more 

bars  is  also  so  named,  e.g.  — I  F'=  a  baton 

of  five  measures  or  bars. 

Battement  (Fr.)  An  ornament  in  singing, 
opposed  to  the  Cadence  {Fr.)  e.g. : 


m 


is  called  a  cadence,  whereas  the  following 


is  a  battement.  [Beat.] 

Battere,  il  {It.)  The  down-stroke  in 
beating  time. 

Batterie  {Fr.)    A  roll  upon  the  side  drum. 

Battery.    An  effect  in  harpsichord  music, 


written  — (g=::  and  played 


Battimento  {It.)  [Battement.] 

Battuta  {It.)  (i)  In  correct  time.  (2)  A  bar. 

Bau  {Ger.)  The  structure  of  musical 
instruments. 

Bauernleyer  {Ger.)  [Hurdy-gurdy.] 

Bauerpfeife  {Ger.)  An  organ  stop  of  8  ft. 
length  of  a  small  scale. 

Baxoncillo  {Sp.)  An  organ  stop  like  an 
open  diapason. 

Bayles  {Sp.)  Comic  dancing  songs,  many 
of  which  were  written  by  Quevedo  in  the 
Spanish  gipsy  dialect.  [Ballad.] 

B.  C.    Basso  Continuo. 

B  cancellatum  (Lat.)  The  cancelled  B. 
The  note  B  7  as  altered  by  means  of  a  t]  or  J 
in  old  music.  Up  to  the  middle  of  the  iSth 
century  the  t  frequently  had  the  force  of 
the  t]  as  now  used. 


(  53  ) 


B  DUR  BELLS. 


B  dur  {Ger.)    The  key  of  B\}  major. 
B  durum  [Lat.)    B  natural.    [B  quad- 
ratum.] 

Bearings.    Those  few  notes  which  a  tuner 

accurately  tunes  or  lays  down  before  pro- 
ceeding to  adjust  the  whole  compass  of  the 
instrument. 

Beat.  (i)  A  short  shake,  or  transient 
grace  note,  played  or  sung  before  the  note 
it  is  desired  to  embellish.  The  beat  is 
always  a  semitone  lower  than  the  ornamented 
note. 

Written.  Played. 


(2)  The  portion  of  a  bar  of  music  occupied 
by  the  movement  or  supposed  movement  of 
the  hand  in  counting  time.  Thus,  a  beat  in 
I  time  is  equal  to  three  quavers  ;  a  beat  in 
I  time  is  equal  to  a  minim. 

(3)  The  peculiar  "throbbing"  heard  when 
sounds  not  quite  identical  in  pitch  are  sounded 
together.    [Acoustics,  §  14,  15.] 

Bebung  [Gcr.)  The  tremolo  stop  in  an 
organ.     A  repeated  note  in  pianoforte  music. 

Bebisation.  A  series  of  syllables  recom- 
mended by  Daniel  Hitsler,  a  Fleming,  in 
1630,  as  a  means  of  teaching  the  notes.  He 
proposed  to  substitute  the  syllables  la,  be,  ce, 
de,  mi,  fe,  gi,  for  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la,  si, 
already  in  use. 

Becarre  {Fr.)  a  natural,  t3. 

Bee    {Fr.)  |  A  mouth-piece,  lit.,  a  beak. 

Becco  {It.)  \     [Flute  a  bee] 

B:cco  polacco  {It.)    A  large  bag-pipe. 

B  icken  {Ger.)    A  cymbal. 

Bedon  {Fr.)  An  obsolete  term  for  a  drum, 
or  tambour. 

Begeisterung  {Ger.)  Spirit,  excitement, 
enthusiasm. 

Begleiten  {Ger.)    To  accompany. 

Begleitende  Stimmen  {Ger.)  Accom- 
panying voices  or  parts. 

Begieitete  Fuge  {Ger.)  A  Fugue  with 
free  parts.    [Free  parts.] 

Begleitung  {Ger.)  Accompaniment. 

Beitone(G6'r.)  Aliquottones.  [Harmonics.] 

Bell.  [Bells.] 

Bell.  The  lower  termination  of  any  tubu- 
lar musical  instrument  which  by  the  outward 
turning  of  the  rim  assumes  the  form  of  a  bell. 
Fr.  Pavilion,  Ger.  Schallstiick. 

Bell  diapason.  An  organ  stop  consisting 
Df  open  metal  pipes  with  bell  mouths.  Its 
tone  is  more  reedy  and  powerful  than  that 
of  an  ordinary  open  diapason.  Generally  of 
8ft.  length. 

Bellezza  {It.)  Beauty  of  expression  and 
tone  in  playing  and  singing. 

Bell  Gamba.  An  organ-stop,  the  pipes 
of  which  are  conical  and  surmounted  by  a 


bell.  It  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Hill,  organ- 
builder,  of  London.  Its  tone  is  remarkably 
sweet,  not  unlike  that  of  a  stringed  instru- 
ment, though  somewhat  more  reedy.  The 
pipes  speak  rapidly. 

Bellicosamente  {It.)  )  t,t  ,-i  ^1 
Bellicoso  {It.)  \  Warlike,  martial. 

Bell  metronome.  A  metronome  in  which 
the  recurrence  of  a  set  number  of  beats  is 
marked  by  the  sound  of  a  bell.  [Metronome.] 

Bell  Open  Diapason.  [Bell  Diapason.] 

Bellows.  In  the  harmonium,  organ,  con- 
certina, &c.,  that  contrivance  by  means  of 
which  wind  is  supplied  to  the  pipes,  tongues, 
or  reeds.  [Organ.] 

Bell  Piano.  [Glockenspiel.] 

Bells.  I.  Musical  instruments  of  per- 
cussion, consisting  of  a  series  of  metal  basins 
or  cups,  the  outline  of  which  has  from  time 
to  time  been  modified.  The  materials  of  which 
bells  are  usually  made  are  copper  and  tin,  the 
proportions  varying  in  several  countries  and 
even  among  the  manufacturers. 


The  various  parts  of  the  bells  are  A,  the 
Canons;  B,  the  Shoulder;  c,  the  Waist;  the 
thick  part  between  D  and  e,  the  Sound  Bow ; 
E,  the  Rim  or  lip  ;  f,  the  Clapper. 

The  following  analyses  of  English  and 
some  foreign  bells,  will  give  a  correct  idea  of 
the  composition  of  the  ancient  bells. 


English  Bells. 

Copper    80  0 

Tin   lo-i 

Zinc    5  6 

Lead    4  3 


Rouen  Bells. 


Copper 
Tin 

Zinc  ... 
Lead  ... 


72-0 
25-0 


Paris  Bells. 

Copper   72  9 

Tin    25-56 

Iron    I '54 

Swiss  Hour  Bells. 

Copper    75  o 

Tin   25-0 

Mr.  Denison  recommends 
on  theoretical  grounds 
the  following  proportion 

Copper    76  5 

  235 


Tin. 


2.  The  use  of  bells  to  call  worshippers  to- 
gether is  supposed  to  be  of  Christian  origin, 
but  it  is  said  that  the  feast  of  Osiris  in 
Egypt  was  announced  by  the  ringing  ol 
bells.  Aaron  and  the  Jewish  high  priests 
had  bells   attached  to  their  vestments,  and 


(54) 


BELLS, 


Plutarch  says  that  small  bells  were  used  in 
the  mysteries  of  Bacchus,  and  the  priests  of 
Cybele  at  Athens  employed  bells  in  their 
rites.  The  Greeks  sounded  bells  in  their 
camps,  and  the  Romans  indicated  the  hours 
of  bathing  and  business  by  the  tintinnabulum. 
It  is  also  said,  that  in  some  places  large 
gongs  were  suspended  in  the  air,  and  as 
the  wind  brought  them  together,  so  was  the 
character  of  the  sounds  made,  interpreted 
as  an  unfavourable  or  favourable  augury. 
Trumpets  were  employed  among  the  Jews  to 
call  the  faithful  to  worship  (Exodus  xx.,  13  ; 
Numbers  x.,  2;  Joel  ii.,  15).  Plates  of  iron 
are  still  used  in  the  Levant,  and  a  plank  of 
wood  is  occasionally  employed  for  the  same 
purpose  that  we  use  bells  in  some  of  the  old 
Wallachian  monasteries.  In  the  East  the 
call  to  prayer  is  made  by  the  Mueddin  of  each 
mosque,  who,  having  ascended  the  gallery  of 
the  mad'neh  or  minaret,  chants  the  "hadan" 
or  call  to  prayer,  apparently  in  opposition  to 
the  Christian  use  of  bells.  [Hadan.] 

The  introduction  of  bells  into  churches  is 
attributed  to  Paulinus,  Bishop  of  Nola,  in 
Campania,  about  the  year  400,  but  there  is 
an  epistle  of  that  bishop  still  extant  in  which 
he  describes  his  church,  but  makes  no  men- 
tion of  either  tower  or  bells  ;  indeed,  it  is 
believed  that  towers  were  not  constructed 
until  two  centuries  later.  Yet  it  is  not  a  little 
remarkable  that  the  general  name  for  bells 
was  Noise  or  Campanae,  and  hence  the  words 
knoll  as  meaning  the  sound  of  a  single  bell, 
and  campanile  a  bell  tower.  Sabianus,  who 
was  Pope  in  604,  ordered  the  bells  to  ring  the 
horce  canoniccE  at  the  proper  times  during  the 
day,  and  Benedict,  Abbot  of  Wearmouth, 
brought  his  bells  from  Italy  about  the  year  680. 
Bells  were  hung  in  towers  in  the  East  in  the 
gth,  and  in  Germany  in  the  iith  century. 
Those  that  were  in  use  before  are  supposed 
to  be  hand  bells ;  several  examples,  as  old  as 
the  6th  century,  are  still  preserved  in  some 
parts  of  Europe  and  the  United  Kingdom. 
St.  Patrick's  bell,  St.  Ninian's  bell,  St.  Gall's 
bell,  and  others  are  plates  of  iron  rivetted 
together.  St.  Gall's  bell  (about  646)  is  still 
shown  in  the  monastery  of  the  city  called  by 
his  name  in  Switzerland.  In  the  13th  century 
larger  bells  were  cast,  but  it  was  not  until  the 
end  of  the  15th  centurj'  that  they  began  to 
assume  great  proportions.  St.  Dunstan,  in 
the  loth  century,  seems  to  have  the  credit  of 
havingestablished  the  first  foundry  in  England, 
Glastonbury,  Malmesbury,  and  other  places 
having  been  furnished  with  bells  by  him. 
Bells  were  rung  not  only  to  indicate  the  com- 
mencement of  certain  services,  but  also  were 
tolled  to  mark  certain  stages  in  those  services. 
Thus  we  find  mention  made  of  the  Saints  or 
Sanctus  bell,  the  Compline  bell,  the  Judas 


bell,  the  Pardon  or  Ave  bell,  the  Passing  bell, 
the  last  tolled  to  warn  all  "  Christen  soules  " 
to  pray  for  the  parting  soul  of  the  dying. 
Bells,  being  thus  intimately  connected  with 
the  services  of  the  Church,  have  been  supposed 
to  possess  a  certain  sacred  character.  They 
were  founded  with  religious  ceremonies,  con- 
secrated, baptised,  and  were  anointed  with 
holy  oil  (see  Schiller's  "  Lay  "),  St.  Colomba, 
in  the  6th  century,  made  use  of  a  bell  whose 
name  was  "  Dia  Dioghaltus,"  or  "  God's  ven- 
geance," to  test  the  truth  of  assertions  made, 
as  it  was  believed  that  the  wrath  of  God  would 
speedily  overtake  any  who  swore  falsely  by  it. 
Pious  inscriptions  are  frequent  on  bells  of  the 
middle  ages,  and  inscriptions,  not  always 
pious,  are  found  on  those  of  later  date.  Bells 
were  often  rung  to  allay  storms,  there  being 
a  special  endowment  belonging  to  Old  St. 
Paul's,  "  for  ringinge  the  hallowed  belle  in 
great  tempestes  and  lightninges."  The  curfew 
bell,  still  sounded  in  many  parts  of  England 
and  Scotland,  is  of  more  ancient  practice  than 
the  period  usually  assigned  as  its  commence- 
ment, the  reign  of  William  the  Norman;  and 
there  are  many  social  practices  announced  by 
the  ringing  or  tolling  of  the  church  bells. 

3.  Change  ringing,  or  campanology,  is  fre- 
quently practised  when  there  are  more  than 
three  bells,  such  changes  being  known  by  the 
names  of  bob-majors,  bob  triples,  Norwich 
court  bobs,  grandsire  bob-triples,  and  caters. 
The  number  of  changes  a  set  of  bells  is  cap- 
able of,  may  be  known  by  in-multiplying  the 
numbers  of  the  set.  Thus,  three  bells  may  ring 
six  changes,  123,  132,  213,  231,  321,  312; 
four  bells  will  give  24  changes  ;  5  bells, 
120  changes;  6  bells,  720  changes;  7  bells, 
5,040  changes  ;  8  bells,  40,320  changes  ; 
9  bells,  362,880  changes  ;  10  bells,  3,628,800 
changes;  11  bells,  39,916,800  changes;  12 
bells,  479,001,600  changes.  To  ring  the 
changes  that  12  bells  are  capable  of,  would 
take  91  years  at  two  strokes  per  second, while 
a  peal  of  24  bells  can  make  so  many  changes 
that  it  would  occupy  117,000  billions  of  years 
to  ring  them  all. 

The  technical  terms  for  the  various  peals, 
on  sets  of  bells  of  different  numbers,  are  the 
following  : 

Rounds   On  three  bells. 

Changes  or  singles    „  four  ,, 

Doubles  or  grandsires          ,,  five  „ 

(Bobs)  Minor    „  six  ,, 

Triples    „  seven  ,, 

(Bobs)  Major    „  eight  ,, 

Caters    „  nine  ,, 

I  Bobs)  Royal    ten  „ 

Cinques   „  eleven  „ 

(Bobs)  Maximus   ,  twelve  ,, 

4.  A  bell  is  said  to  be  "set"  when  she  is 
mouth  upwards,  at  "  hand  stroke  "  when  the 
"  sallie  "  or  tuft  on  the  rope  has  to  be  pulled, 


(  55  ) 


BELLS  BELL  FOUNDING. 


at  "back  stroke"  when  the  ringer  has  to  pull 
the  end  of  the  rope.  A  bell  is  said  to  be  "  going 
up  "when  she  moves  her  position  in  the  change 
from  "treble"  towards  that  of  "tenor."  and 
"down"  when  she  is  changing  her  position 
from  that  of  "  tenor"  towards  that  of  "  treble." 
A  bell  is  said  to  be  "behind"  when  she  is  the 
last  of  the  changing  bells,  and  at  "lead" 
when  she  is  the  first.  Thus  the  progress 
from  "  lead"  to  behind  is  said  to  be  "going 
up,"  and  from  behind  to  lead  is  called  "going 
down."  "  Dodging  "  is  moving  a  place  back- 
wards out  of  the  ordinary  hunting  course.  A 
bell  is  said  to  be  "  hunting  up"  when  she  is 
pulled  after  the  one  which  previously  pulled 
p.fter  her.  A  bell  is  said  to  "  make  a  place  " 
when  she  strikes  two  blows  in  succession  at 
any  one  place.  To  "  lie  a  whole  pull "  is 
synonymous  with  "  making  a  place."  Two 
blows  at  "  lead  "  and  "  behind  "  are  a  part 
of  "  hunting,"  in  making  these  therefore  a  bell 
is  not  said  to  be  "  making  a  place."  "  Bob  " 
and  "  singles  "  are  words  used  to  produce  a 
certain  series  of  changes  by  disturbing  the 
ordinary  system  of  "  hunting."  The  full 
knowledge  of  the  meaning  of  these  and  many 
other  technical  terms  used  in  ringing  can 
only  be  learnt  in  the  belfry.  The  method  of 
Doubles  named  after  Stedman  (1640)  is,  in 
principle,  as  follows :  while  three  of  the  bells 
are  ringing  changes,  the  other  two  are  dodging 
behind,  but  at  the  completion  of  each  set  of 
six  changes  one  bell  comes  down  from  behind 
to  take  part  in  the  changes,  one,  of  course, 
at  the  same  time  going  up  behind  to  take 
part  in  the  dodging. 

5.  Bells  are  occasionally  employed  as  or- 
chestral instruments — small  bells,  tuned  to  a 
certain  scale,  being  most  favoured  —  as  in 
Victor  Masse's  "  Les  noces  de  Jeannette,"  a 
whole  peal  of  small  bells  being  used  with 
great  effect.  These,  as  in  Mozart's  "  Magic 
Flute,"  are  so  arranged  as  to  be  played  with 
keys,  like  a  pianoforte.  [Glockenspiel.] 

Auber  employs  a  single  bell  in  the  finale  to 
"  Fra  Diavolo."  Rossini  has  introduced  a  bell 
sounding 

in  the  opening  of  the  second  act  of  "  William 
Tell."  Donizetti  also,  in  the  finale  to  "  Lucia 
di  Lammermoor,"  has  written  for  a  bell  tuned 
to  the  same  note.  Meyerbeer,  in  his  "  Hu- 
guenots," emplo3's  a  bell  in 

lzzif=|: 

with  clarinets  and  bassoons.  In  "  Dinorah," 
in  what  is  popularly  known  as  the  "  Goat 
Trio,"  a  bell  with  the  note 


IB  used.    Ambroise  Thomas  has  a  series  of 


clever  harmonies  for  the  orchestra  in  his  opera 
"  Hamlet,"  while  a  deep-toned  bell  strikes  the 
midnight  hour.  Flotow,  in  "  Martha,"  uses 
a  bell,  as  does  Gounod  in  "Jeanne  d'Arc," 
tuned  to  the  following  note  : 


and  there  are  numerous  other  instances  where 
bells  of  all  grades  of  tone  have  been  used  with 
skill  and  effect. 

Bell  founding.  The  shape  and  propor- 
tions of  the  intended  bell  having  been  decided 
upon  according  to  a  certain  scale,  the  first 
part  of  the  process  of  casting  is  commenced, 
by  constructing  an  inner  mould  called  the  core, 
by  which  the  form  of  the  inside  of  the  bell  is 
determined.  This  core  has  a  foundation  of 
rough  brickwork  or  iron,  hollow  in  the  centre, 
afterwards  plastered  over  with  loam  or  soft 
clay.  A  guage  of  wood,  called  a  crook,  made 
to  revolve  or  sweep  round  on  a  central  pivot 
by  the  hand  of  a  workman,  gives  the  clay  the 
exact  form  required.  This  process  will  be  at 
once  understood  on  reference  to  the  following 
diagram.  A  is  the  core,  b  the  crook,  which  is 
fastened  to  c,  the  pivot  on  which  it  revolves  : 


The  core  is  hardened  by  a  fire  made  in  its 
hollow,  and  when  it  is  sufficiently  "  set,"  it  is 
covered  with  grease  and  tan,  over  which  is 
placed  a  coating  of  haybands  and  loam,  of 
the  thickness  of  the  intended  bell,  and  upon 
this  the  cope  or  outer  mould  is  shaped.  When 
this  is  dried  it  is  removed,  the  thickening  of 
haybands  and  loam  which  represented  the 
shape  of  the  bell  to  be  cast,  is  destroyed,  and 
the  two  moulds,  the  core  and  the  cope,  are 
examined  and  finished. 

The  core  is  sometimes  made  on  an  iron 
foundation,  instead  of  brickwork,  in  which  case 
it  can  be  dried  in  a  furnace,  instead  of  by  the 
f^re  in  its  hollow.  The  cope  having  been  care- 
fully adjusted  over  the  core,  the  head  and  the 
staple  to  hold  the  clapper  are  then  fitted  on, 


(  56  ) 


 B  QUADRO. 


BELLY 


and  the  whole  mould  is  firmly  imbedded  in 
the  earth,  leaving  only  the  holes  at  the  top 
visible. 


The  above  diagram  shows  the  position  of 
mould  ready  for  the  metal,  a  is  the  core,  b 
the  cope,  f  the  channel  for  the  metal  to  run 
in,  E  the  hole  for  the  air  and  gases  to  escape 
during  the  casting,  and  the  thick  black  line 
the  section  of  the  bell.  When  the  metal  is 
quite  ready,  the  furnace-door  is  opened,  and 
the  molten  mass  rushes  down  a  channel,  pre- 
viously prepared,  into  the  moulds  sunk  in  the 
pits,  and  excepting  mishaps,  from  insecure 
"  bedding,"  the  splitting  of  the  cope,  or  other 
accidents,  the  bell  is  cast,  and,  when  cold,  is 
dug  from  the  pit,  the  clay  mould  destroyed, 
and  the  bell  is  ready  for  the  next  process,  that 
of  tuning.  The  tuning  is  effected  by  means 
of  a  lathe  and  some  simple  machinery.  If 
the  bell  requires  sharpening,  the  diameter  is 
lessened  in  proportion  to  its  substance,  if  it  is 
too  sharp,  the  sound-bow  is  thinned  by  the 
same  means  ;  but,  as  a  rule,  bells  are  now  so 
accurately  cast,  that  little  if  any  tuning  is 
necessary  after  the  bell  leaves  the  mould.  It 
is  stated  in  "  Knight's  Encyclopaedia,  1854," 
that  the  German  bell-founders  made  the  vari- 
ous dimensions  of  the  bell  to  bear  certain 
ratios  to  each  other.  The  thickest  part  where 
the  hammer  strikes  is  called  the  "  Sound  Bow." 
If  this  thickest  be  called  one,  then  the  diameter 
of  the  mouth  equals  15,  the  diameter  of  the 
top  or  shoulder  7^,  the  height  equals  12,  and 
the  weight  of  the  clapper  of  the  weight  of 
the  bell. 

Denison  recommends  that  the  sound  bow 
of  the  three  or  four  larger  bells  of  a  peal  should 
be  of  the  thickness  of  a  thirteenth  of  the  dia- 
meter, and  that  the  smaller  bells  may  gradually 
increase  in  thickness  up  to  the  twelfth  in  a 
peal  of  six,  the  eleventh  in  a  peal  of  eight, 
and  to  the  tenth  in  a  peal  of  ten  or  twelve, 
greater  thickness  impeding  the  freedom  of  the 
Bound. 

The  bells  of  the  Cathedral  at  Exeter,  one  of 


the  largest  peal  of  bells  in  England,  the  greater 
number  of  which  were  cast  in  1676,  have  the 
following  weights,  diameters,  and  tones  ; — 


WEIGHT. 

DIAMETER. 

TONE. 

Cwt.  qr. 

lb. 

Ft. 

in. 

67  I 

20 

5 

11^ 

B  flat. 

46  3 

14 

5 

C. 

38  I 

16 

4 

D. 

30  I 

12 

4 

7 

E  flat. 

21  0 

0 

4 

I 

F. 

15  0 

0 

3 

10 

G. 

12  2 

0 

3 

A. 

10  I 

2 

3 

11 

B  flat. 

9  3 

20 

3 

0 

C. 

8  3 

20 

2 

9i 

D. 

The  relative  diameters  of  a  peal  of  eight 
tuneable  bells  should  be  according  to  the 
following  proportion  :  60,  53^,  48,  45,  40,  36, 
32,  30.  The  relative  weights  being  generally 
in  the  proportion,  100,  70-23,  51-2,  42-2,  29-63, 
21-6,  15-18,  12-5. 

Belly.  The  upper  plate  of  the  resonance- 
box.  In  instruments  of  the  Violin  and 
Guitar  family  the  strings  are  stretched  over 
the  belly,  and  the  bridge  across  which  they 
pass  is  so  placed  as  to  set  the  belly,  and  by 
its  means,  the  air  contained  in  the  resonance- 
box,  into  vibration.  In  instruments  of  the 
Pianoforte  class,  the  belly  is  that  thin  plate 
of  fir-wood  which,  placed  behind  the  strings, 
acts  as  a  sound-board.  Instead  of  an  upper 
plate  of  wood,  the  guitars  of  many  of  the  less 
civilized  nations  have  a  stretched  parch- 
ment.  The  belly  thus  formed  answers  all  the 
purposes  of  resonance  for  which  it  is  in- 
tended; the  Kissar  of  Nubia,  the  Banjo  of 
the  American  negroes,  the  Nanga  or  Negro 
Harp  which  shares  the  combined  designs  of  a 
guitar  and  harp,  may  be  quoted  as  examples. 

Bemes  or  Beemes.  Saxon  Trumpets  or 
Bugles. 

"  Of  brass  they  broughten  beemes  and  box, 
Of  horn  and  bone,  in  which  they  blew  and  pouped, 
And  therewithal  they  shriked  and  they  houped  ; 
It  seemed  as  that  the  heven  shulde  falle." 

Cliancer.  "  Nonne  preestes  tale."  See  also  the 
"  Romaunt  of  the  Rose." 

Bemol  {Fr.)    The  sign  tJ. 

Ben  [It.)  Well.  Ben  tnarcato,  well  and 
clearly  marked. 

Bene  (It.)  Well.  Used  as  an  expressioti 
of  approval  during  a  performance. 

Benedictus  (Lat.)  [Mass.] 

Bene  placito  (It.)  At  pleasure,  ad  libitum, 
e.g.,  "  Bassani's  Ballate  corrente,  Gighe,  e 
Sarabande,  a  violino,  e  violone,  overo  spinetta, 
con  il  secondo  violino  a  bene  placito  "  (1684). 

B  quadro  (It.)  The  square  B  or  t(,  that 
is,  B  durum  or  natural,  as  opposed  to  the  7, 
soft  B,  B  molle,  or  rounded  b  which,  in  its 
slightly  altered  outline,  is  now  known  as  a 
flat.  That  the  note  B  was  the  first  note 
altered  by  an  accidental,  accounts  foi  the  fact 


(  57  ) 


BEQUADRO  BIS. 


that  signs  of  b  and  t\  are  of  general  appli- 
cation. 

B6quafre°(K:)l  ^he  sign  K. 
Berceuse  (Fr.)  A  cradle  song, 
Bergomask.  Burgomask.  Berga- 
masca.  A  lively  dance  in  triple  time,  for 
two  clumsy  performers,  in  imitation  of  the 
dances  of  the  country  people  of  Bergamo, 
who  were  considered  the  least  graceful  of  the 
Italians. 

"  Will  it  please  you  to  see  our  epilogue,  or  to  hear  a 
Bergomask  dance,  between  two  of  our  company  ?  " 

Shakespeare. 

Bes  (Ger.)  The  note  B  double  flat. 


Besaiten  [Ger.)    To  string  an  instrument. 
Bewegung  (Ger.)  Motion. 
Bhat.    A  Hindu  Bard. 

Bianca  (It.)  A  minim,  c>.  The  white 
note,  as  opposed  to  the  J,  or  black  note  (nero). 

Bichord.  Havmg  two  strings  to  each 
note. 

Bicinium  (Lnt.)  A  duet,  from  bis  and 
cajn.  "  Cum  duo  canunt,  bicinium  appellatur; 
cum  multi,  chorus." 

Bifara  (Lat.)  An  organ-stop,  with  two 
pipes  to  each  note,  producing  a  tremulant 
effect.    [Vox  Angelica.] 

Bilancojel.  An  Indian  flute  with  seven 
holes,  played  by  a  mouthpiece. 

Bimmolle  [It.)  a  flat,  !>.  [See  B  Quadra- 
turn.] 

Bina,  or  Vina.  An  Indian  guitar,  with  a 
long  finger  board,  and  a  gourd  attached  to 
each  end.  Seven  strings  or  wires  wound 
round  pegs  in  the  usual  way  are  attached  to 
the  finger  board,  four  on  the  surface,  and 
three  at  the  sides.  There  are  about  twenty 
frets,  some  standing  up  as  high  as  an  inch 
from  the  finger  board ;  these  are  fastened 
with  wax,  and  the  performer  regulates  the 
positions  of  them  at  his  pleasure.  In  the 
performance  one  gourd  is  rested  on  the  left 
shoulder,  and  the  other  on  the  right  hip.  Its 
scale  consists  of  a  series  of  small  intervals 
lying  between  a  note  and  its  octave,  in  the 
bass- stave. 


Binary  Form.  The  form  of  a  movement 
which  is  founded  on  two  principal  themes  or 
subjects.    [Sonata  Form.] 

Binary  Measure.  Common  time.  [Tonic- 
Sol  fa.] 


Bind,  (i)  A  curved  line,  - — a  sign 
which,  when  placed  over  two  notes  of  the 
same  name  or  same  pitch  (enharmonically 
changed),  directs  that  the  two  are  to  be  sus- 
tained as  one.  It  is  of  frequent  occurrence 
at  points  of  Syncopation  and  Suspension. 


Enharmonic  change,  or  Modulation. 


Suspension. 


Syncopation. 

When  a  curved  line  is  placed  over  two  notes, 
not  of  the  same  name  or  pitch,  it  is  called  a 
Slur,  and  directs  that  they  are  to  be  played 
smoothly,  e.g.  : 


It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  horizontal 
line  introduced  by  Sir  W.  S.  Bennett  as  a 
Bind,  so  that  no  confusion  can  exist  between 
the  Bincl  and  Slur,  has  not  been  generally 
adopted,  e.g. : 


(2)  A  Brace  {Fr.,  Accolade)  which  binds 
together  the  separate  parts  of  a  score. 

Binde  (Ger.)  [Bind.] 

Bindebogen  (Ger.)  The  bind-bow.  [Bind.] 

Bindung  (Ger.)  Syncopation,  suspension, 
so  called  because  the  notes  forming  it  are 
bound,  or  at  least  might  be  so  written. 

Bindungszeichen  (Ger.)    A  slur  or  bind. 

Birn  (Ger.)  That  portion  of  a  clarionet  or 
similar  instrument  in  which  the  mouth-jiiece 
is  inserted,  so  called  from  its  pear-Uke  shape. 

Bis  (Lat.)  Twice,  (i)  A  direction  that 
the  passage  over  which  it  is  placed  shall  be 
twice  played  or  sung.  Its  use  is  generally 
limited  to  short  passages,  marks  of  repeat 


(  58  ) 


BISCHERO  BOMBARDO. 


oeing  written  for  a  long  repetition.  It  is 
placed  under  or  over  a  slur,  e.g. : 


(2)  Again.  Encore. 

Bischero  (It.)  The  peg,  or  pin,  with  which 
the  strings  of  an  instrument  are  secured. 

Biscroma  (It.)  1  .        ■  b 

Biscrome  (^r.) }  ^  -  • 

Bisdiapason.  The  interval  of  a  double 
octave,  or  fifteenth. 

Bissex.  A  kind  of  guitar  with  twelve 
strings  (Ger.  Zwolfsaiter),  invented  by  Van- 
hecke  in  1770.  Of  the  twelve  strings  six 
were  over  the  finger-board,  six  below,  hence 
the  name  twice-six.  Its  compass  was  three 
and  a  half  octaves. 

Bis  unca  {Lat.)  A  semiquaver  or 
note  with  two  hooks. 

Bit.  A  small  piece  of  tube,  generally  fur- 
nished with  two  raised  ears.  It  is  used  for 
supplementing  the  crook  of  a  trumpet,  cornet- 
a-piston,  &c.,  so  as  to  adapt  the  instrument 
to  a  slight  difference  of  pitch. 

/  Fantastically,  won- 

Bizzarramente(/<.)  \  derfully. 

Bizzarria  {It.)  <  Singularity,  affecta- 

Bizzarro  [It.)  J  tion. 

(  Odd,  droll. 

Blanche  (Fr.)    A  minim  J  [Bianca,] 

Blanche  pointee  {Fr.)  A  dotted  minim. 

Blasebalg  (Ger.)  The  bellows  of  an 
organ.    Saxon  bles-belg,  a  wind-bag. 

Blase-instrument  {Ger.)  Wind  in- 
strument. Flute,  oboe,  bassoon,  cornet, 
trumpet,  trombone,  &c. 

Blase-musik  {Ger.)  Music  for  wind 
instruments. 

Blatt  {Ger.)  A  vibrating  tongue  or  blade. 
[Reed.] 

Blech-instrumente  {Ger.)  [Metal  wind 
instruments.] 

B  mol  {Fr.)    The  note  Bb. 

B  moll  {Ger.)    The  key  Bt?  minor. 

B  molle  {Lat.)  The  note  Bb.  c.f.  B  quad- 
ratum. 

Bobibation  or  Bocedisation.  Solfeggi 
taught  by  Huberto  Walraent  at  the  end  of 
the  i6th  century  for  scale  practice,  which 
were  bo,  ce,  di,  ga,la,  mi,  ni.  [See  Bebisation.] 
Bobisation  or  Bocedisation,  in  which  the 
syllables  bo,  ce,  di,  ga,  lo,  ma,  ni  were  sub- 
stituted for  those  attributed  to  Guido,  was 
introduced  and  taught  in  many  schools  in 
Flanders,  and  so  this  peculiar  use  came  to 
be  called  Belgian  solmisation.  Walraent's 
method  was  adopted  in  Italy  in  1599  by 
Henri  de  la  Putte,  who  wrote  an  elaborate 
Latin  treatise  in  defence  of  it ;  and  a  few 
years  later  Calwitz,  ignoring  its  invention  and 


taking  the  credit  to  himself,  introduced  it  into 
Germany.  In  Spain  and  France  the  method 
was  proposed  by  Pietro  de  Ureno  and  John 
Lemaire,  but  without  success.  To  the  last- 
named  musician  the  addition  of  the  syllable 
Si  for  the  leading  note  is  attributed.  Bobisa- 
tion was  accepted  by  some  musicians  and 
rejected  by  others,  and  the  result  was  a  petty 
war,  which  lasted  until  the  commencement  of 
the  i8th  century.  Hitzler,  a  few  years  later, 
suggested  the  use  of  the  syllables  la,  be,  ce, 
de,  me,  fe,  ge — this  system  he  called  bebisa- 
tion or  labecedation  ;  and  Graun  recommended 
da,  me,  ni,  po,  tu,  la,  ba,  from  which  his  plan 
was  called  damenisation. 

Bob  major.  Bob  maximus, Bobs.  [Bells.] 

Bocal  [Fr.)  The  mouth-piece  of  the  horn, 
serpent,  trombone,  &c. 

Bocca  {It.)  The  mouth.  Con  bocca  ckiusa, 
with  closed  mouth,  humming. 

Bocca  ridente  {It.)  Smiling  mojith,  the 
position  of  the  mouth  needful  for  the  pro- 
duction of  pleasing  tone. 

Bocchino  {It.)  A  mouth-piece  of  wind 
instruments. 

Bockpfeife  {Ger.)  Bagpipe. 

Bockstriller  {Ger.)  A  goat-like  tremolo 
upon  one  note,  a  bad  shake.  [Vibrato.] 

Boden  {Ger.)  [Body.] 

Body.  The  resonance  box  of  a  string 
instrument.  That  part  of  a  wind  instrument 
which  remains  after  the  removal  of  mouth- 
piece, crooks,  and  bell. 

Bogen  {Ger.)  Bow. 

Bogenclavier  {Ger.)  [Tetrachordon.] 

Bogenfiihrung  {Ger.)  The  art  of  play- 
ing with  a  bow  upon  stringed  instruments. 

Bogenstrich  {Ger.)  The  stroke  of  the 
bow. 

Bolero  {Sp.)  A  Spanish  dance  in  triple 
measure  with  strongly-marked  accent,  also 
called  Cachuca.  It  is  accompanied  with 
singing  and  castanets,  and  the  performer 
assumes  in  the  course  of  the  dance  all  the 
various  feelings  supposed  to  be  excited  by 
love,  from  the  greatest  shyness  to  the  highest 
ecstasy.  [Chica.] 

Bombard.  Bombarde  {Fr.)  A  reed  stop 
on  the  organ,  usually  among  the  pedal  regis- 
ters, of  large  scale,  rich  tone,  and  often  on  a 
heavy  pressure  of  wind. 

Bombardino  {It.)  A  small  bombardo,  q.v. 

Bombardo  {It.)  A  mediaeval  wind  instru- 
ment, the  precursor  of  the  oboe,  of  which  it 
was  no  doubt  a  large  and  coarse  species. 
The  word  Pommer,  applied  to  these  instru- 
ments, was  a  corruption  of  the  Italian  name. 
The  chalameau  or  shawm  {Gev.Schalmey)  was 
the  smallest  of  this  class,  the  bombardone  the 
largest.  Clarinets,  oboes,  and  bassoons,  now 
so  clearly  defined,  grew  out  of  one  common 
parentage.  The  clarinet  has  but  one  vibrating 


(  59  ) 


BOMBARDON  BOW. 


reed  ;  the  oboe  and  bassoon  double  vibrating 
reeds. 

Bombardon.  A  brass  instrument,  in  tone 
not  unlike  an  ophicleide.  It  is  not  capable  of 
rapid  execution.  The  compass  is 


Music  for  it  is  written  without  transposition, 
although  it  is  in  F. 

Bombaulius, /3o/i/3ay\ioc(G^.)  A  facetious 
name  for  a  bag-piper.  A  pun  on  the  words 
av\T}Tiig,  a  flute-player,  and  /3o/i/3uX(oc,  a  buz- 
zing insect,  whence  our  word,  bumble-bee  ; 
c./.,  Latin,  Bombus. 

Bombyx  (Gk.)  /3o/i/3v|.  A  Greek  flute, 
perhaps  so  named  from  its  supposed  resem- 
blance to  the  silk-worm.  It  was  probably 
a  reed-instrument  of  powerful  tone.  The 
following  illustration  is  given  by  Burney  from 
a  sarcophagus  in  the  Capitoline  Museum,  at 
Rome. 


Bones.  Four  pieces  of  the  ribs  of  horses 
or  oxen,  held  in  the  hands  and  struck  together 
for  the  purpose  of  marking  time,  in  accompa- 
niment to  the  voice  or  an  instrument.  The 
bones  are  of  ancient  use  in  England,  and  are 
alluded  to  by  Shakespeare  in  the  fourth  act  of 
"A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,"as  forming  one 
meansof  rustic  music.  And  in  figuresdesigned 
by  Inigo  Jones  for  the  Court  Masques  one  is  re- 
presented playing  upon  knicky-knackers  of  bone 
or  wood.  The  word  knicky-knackers,  by  which 
the  bones  are  known  to  the  country  people, 
may  have  its  origin  from  the  word  "nakeres." 
In  Strutt's  "  Sports  and  Pastimes,"  a  payment 
is  recorded  as  being  made  to  Janino  le  Nakerer, 
among  the  minstrels  of  King  Edward  II.  The 
nakerer  was  probably  the  drummer;  but,  as 
the  minstrels  frequently  indulged  in  burlesque 
music,  Janino  may  have  been  the  performer 
on  that  primitive  or  rustic  instrument,  the  bones. 

Bon  temps  de  la  mesure  (Fr.)  The 
accented  portion  of  the  bar. 

Bordone  (It.)  [Bourdon.]  [Viola  di  Bar- 
done.] 

Boulou.  A  harp  used  by  the  negroes  of 
Senegambia  and  Guinea,  in  shape  like  the 
Oriental  harp.    Its  strings  are  of  fibre. 

Bourdon  (Fr.)  (i)  A  drone  bass,  a 
burden  such  as  that  produced  by  a  bagpipe, 
or  a  hurdy-gurdy.  [Burden.]  (2)  An  organ 
stop,  consisting  of  stopped  wooden  pipes, 
generally  of  16  ft.  tone.  Sometimes,  but 
rarely,  the  upper  part  is  of  metal.  It  is 
found  on  manuals  as  a  "double"  stop,  and 
also  on  the  pedal  organ  as  a  soft  foundation- 


stop.  It  was  formerly  made  of  a  large  scale 
in  England,  but  from  a  better  knowledge 
of  scientific  principles  organ  builders  are  now 
able  to  produce  a  strong  and  pure  body  of 
tone  from  a  pipe  of  moderate  scale.  As  a 
rule,  it  is  important  that  it  should  be  free 
from  a  preponderance  of  harmonics  or  over- 
tones, but  sometimes  they  are  purposely 
produced  with  the  fundamental  note,  in  which 
case  the  stop  is  called  quintaton,  because  the 
first  harmonic  or  over-tone  of  a  stopped  pipe 
is  its  twelfth,  or  octave  fifth.  Hence  a 
Bourdon  was  sometimes  said  to  hefifthy. 

Bourr6e  {Fr.)  A  dance  tune  in  common 
time,said  by  Hawkins  to  come  from  Auvergne. 
Other  writers  give  Biscay  as  its  birthplace. 
The  earliest  mention  of  it  is  probably  about 
1580.  It  is  still  popular  with  the  peasants 
of  Lower  Brittany.  It  often  forms  one  of 
the  movements  of  the  earlier  Sonata. 

Boutade  {Fr.)  A  dance  which  was  sup- 
posed to  be  impromptu. 

Bow.  An  instrument  of  wood  and  horse- 
hair, employed  to  set  the  strings  of  the  violin, 
&c.,  in  vibration.  The  bow,  originally  curved, 
as  its  name  implies,  has  been  subject  to  many 
changes  of  shape  from  time  to  time,  from  a 
large  curve  to  an  almost  flat  form. 

Fig.  I. 


Fig.  a. 


Fig.  3- 


Fig.  4. 


Fig.  5- 


The  bow  shown  in  fig.  i  is  that  still  used 
with  the  rebab  of  Algeria.  Fig.  2  is  given  by 
Gerber  from  a  MS.  of  the  8th  or  gth  century. 
The  bow  now  used  for  the  violin  is  about 
29  inches  in  length  (almost  straight,  but 
with  a  slight  curve  inwards,  not  outwards,  as 
in  the  older  bows),  the  violoncello  bow  being  a 
little  shorter,  fig. 5.  Christopher  Simpson(i676) 


I  60  ) 


BOW  BOWING. 


says  that  twenty-seven  inches  was  the  length 
of  the  bow  in  his  time,  the  "  sonata  bow,"  fig.  3, 
according  to  tradition,  being  only  twenty-four 
inches,  the  common  "  fiddle-stick "  being 
still  shorter.  The  form  of  the  bow,  which  was 
anciently  employed  for  all  stringed  instru- 
ments of  the  violin  kind,  known  now  as  the 
"  Corelli  bow,"  fig.  4,  is  to  a  certain  extent 
preserved  in  the  double-bass  bow  as  at  present 
employed  in  England. 

Most  of  our  stringed-instruments  can  be 
traced  to  an  Eastern  source,  but  as  the  earliest 
figure  of  the  bow  is  found  in  MSS.  relating  to 
this  country,  it  has  been  supposed  that  it  is  of 
British  origin.  There  are  many  representa- 
tions of  it  in  MSS.  as  early  as  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  period  (see  "  Sandy's  History  of  the 
Violin,"  pp.  52,  53,  &c.),  and  later  through 
successive  generations,  besides  existing  speci- 
mens of  actual  ancient  bows,  all  of  which  par- 
take of  the  bowed  character,  as  seen  in  fig.  i. 
The  curved  bow  was  still  in  fashion  until  the 
death  of  Handel,  if  any  trust  is  to  be  placed 
in  contemporary  pictures  and  drawings. 

The  little  that  is  known  of  the  early  bows 
gives  the  notion  that  they  were  incapable  of 
producing  anything  like  delicacy  of  tone  ;  and 
it  was  not  until  the  early  part  of  the  17th 
century,  when  violin-playing  began  to  be  cul- 
tivated, that  we  find  that  any  attempt  was 
made  to  improve  either  the  form  of  the  bow 
or  the  means  of  stretching  the  horse-hair, 
so  that  an  even  pressure  might  be  obtained. 
The  alteration  from  the  bowed  form  is  said  to 
have  been  made  after  a  suggestion  by  Tartini 
[1692-1770].  There  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  the  improvement  in  violin-playing  due  to 
him  could  only  be  effected  by  means  of  a  better 
bow  than  the  clumsy  one  of  his  time.  The 
earliest  improvement  was  made  when  a  metal 
band,  with  teeth-like  edges,  was  introduced, 
with  the  design  of  regulating  the  position  and 
tension  of  the  hair  at  or  near  the  handle.  This 
helped  to  prevent  the  hair  assuming  the  cord- 
like form  which  players  found  to  be  awkward 
and  clumsy.  But  it  was  reserved  for  Fran9ois 
Tourte  [1747-1833]  to  devise  the  plan  of  keep- 
ing "  the  hair  flat  by  means  of  a  clasp." 
Tourte  also  introduced  the  screw  and  button 
for  slackening  or  tightening  the  hair  at  plea- 
sure, and  was  the  first  to  choose  Brazil-wood 
as  a  material  in  bow-making.  It  was  the 
father  of  Tourte  who  attempted  the  first  im- 
provements in  bow-making,  but  it  was  the 
son  above-mentioned  who  introduced  the  most 
valuable  inventions.  The  bows  of  the  younger 
Tourte  are  almost  as  much  sought  as  those  of 
the  elder  Dodd  [1705-1810],  who  lived  to  the 
great  age  of  105  years,  but  the  works  of  the 
last-named  are  most  highly  valued.  Panormo, 
Tubbs,  and  Chanot  are  counted  among  the 
chief  of  modern  bow-makers. 


Bow-hand.  The  term  is  employed  by 
violinists  to  describe  the  power  and  skill  with 
which  a  player  produces  the  tone  of  his 
instrument. 

Bowing.  The  art  of  managing  the  bow. 
so  as  not  only  to  bring  out  the  best  tone  the 
instrument  is  capable  of,  but  also  so  to  phrase 
the  passages  played  that  the  best  possible 
character  may  be  imparted  to  the  music. 
The  importance  both  to  a  violinist,  and  a 
composer  of  music  for  the  violin,  of  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  art  of  bowing,  cannot  be 
overrated.  By  varying  the  system  of  bowing, 
a  simple  musical  sentence  may  be  changed  in 
its  character,  almost  indefinitely.  Formerly, 
very  little  attention  was  paid  to  this  subject, 
the  system  of  bowing  being  left  very  much  to 
the  discretion  of  the  players,  who  only  occa- 
sionally had  such  general  directions  as  legato 
or  staccato.  There  always,  however,  existed 
certain  traditional  rules,  e.g.  that  the  down- 
bow  should  be  used  at  the  first  beat  of  a  bar, 
or  where  any  great  emphasis  was  required  (as 
in  some  cases  of  syncopation);  also,  that 
where  no  directions  are  given,  the  passage 
should  be  bowed,  that  is,  the  notes  should  be 
alternately  played  by  an  up  and  down  bow. 
But  it  is  evident  that  in  simple  music,  of  triple 
measure,  these  rules  will  clash,  for,  alternate 
bowing  will  lead  to  the  recurrence  of  an  up- 
bow  cn  every  alternate  down-beat.  Hence, 
even  if  an  excellent  band  is  playing  music  up 
to  the  date  of,  and  including  that  by  Handel,  it 
must  have  often  been  observed  that  the  bowing 
is  far  from  being  uniform.  In  modern  music, 
every  direction  is  given  to  the  performers 
which  is  requisite  for  the  production  of  abso- 
lute uniformity,  and  more  than  this,  the  various 
effects  which  are  capable  of  production  by  the 
different  systems  of  bowing  are  used  as  part 
of  a  composer's  material.  The  prominent 
features  in  modern  bowing  are  the  more  fre- 
quent antithesis  between  legato  and  staccato, 
and  the  use  of  at  least  three  kinds  of  the  latter. 
When  notes  have  the  ordinary  dot  placed 
above  them  they  are  bowed  staccato  ;  when 
the  dots  are  under  a  slur,  they  are  played  with 
one  bow  (that  is  by  the  movement  of  the  bow 
in  one  direction)  the  short  length  of  the  sounds 
being  brought  about  by  keeping  the  bow  always 
lying  on  the  string,  so  that  any  movement  of 
the  bow  which  has  produced  a  sound  shall  be 
followed  by  absolute  silence.  The  third  kind 
of  staccato  is  produced  by  holding  the  bow  a.'- 
lightly  as  possible  and  allowing  it  almost  to 
dance  upon  the  string.  In  this  manner  rapid 
passages  may  be  played  either  by  one  bow  up 
or  down,  or  by  an  alternate  bowing,  during 
which  the  movement  of  the  bow  at  right  angles 
to  the  string  is  so  slight  that  it  seems  to  rise 
and  fall  almost  perpendicularly.  A  favourite 
division  of  four  rapid  notes  is  to  make  two 


(  61  ) 


BOWING  BRAWL. 


legato  and  the  following  two  staccato.  The 
well-known  Var.  II.  of  Beethoven's  Sonata  for 
Violin,  known  as  the  "  Kreutzer,"  is  a  good 
illustration  of  this: 


The  effect  which  results  from  moving  the 
bow  on  an  unaccented  part  of  the  bar  is  most 
striking  and  beautiful,  e.g.  (from  the  same 
Sonata) : 


and  in  the  following  (Beethoven  Symphony, 
No.  9) : 


Groups  of  three  notes  are  often  divided  into 
two  legato  and  one  staccato,  e.g. : 


less  often  into  one  staccato  and  two  legato, 
e.g.'. 

— •,   r  I — -I   r  I — -I  r 


Two  notes  out  of  eight  are  often  made  stac- 
cato, e.g. : 


The  above  few  examples  may  serve  to  give 
some  idea  of  the  inexhaustible  resources  of 
the  art  of  bowing.  It  will  of  course  be  under- 
stood that  what  is  here  said  of  the  violin 
applies  equally  to  the  viola  and  violoncello. 
But,  in  consequence  of  the  thickness  of  the 
strings,  the  double-bass  is  not  so  capable  of 
rapid  contrasts  of  bowing  as  the  rest  of  its 
family.  In  studies  and  exercises  it  is  usual 
now  to  direct  a  down-bow  by  the  sign  . ;  and 
an  up-bow  by  The  French  terms  corres- 
ponding to  these  signs  are  tirS  (draw)  ;  ponsse 
(push),  sometimes  abbreviated  by  p  and  t. 

(  62 


The  quality  of  tone  produced  depends  not  only 
on  the  nature  and  quantity  of  pressure  exer- 
cised by  the  bow  upon  the  strings,  but  also 
upon  the  position  of  the  point  of  impact. 
Thus,  if  played  very  close  to  the  bridge  (5m/' 
ponticello),  the  tone  is  of  peculiar  brightness 
and  shrillness ;  as  the  bow  is  used  further 
from  the  bridge,  the  tone  passes  through  a 
stage  of  great  purity  and  strength,  until,  at 
close  proximity  to  the  finger-board,  it  become? 
soft  and  somewhat  dull.  The  practised  per- 
former chooses  that  part  of  the  string  capable 
of  producing  the  tone  best  suited  to  the  pass- 
age he  is  playing,  and  he  draws  it  forth  with 
that  part  of  bow  most  suitable  for  the  purpose. 
As  a  general  rule,  from  the  heel  to  about  the 
middle  of  the  bow,  is  the  part  naturally  used 
for  forte  or  sforzando  passages  ;  and  from  the 
middle  to  the  point  for  those  of  a  more  delicate 
character.  But  actual  experience  is  the  only 
method  of  learning  the  intricacies  and  beauties 
of  the  art  of  bowing. 

Boyau  {Fr.)     Cat-gut  strings. 

B  natural.  The 
name  of  B  quadra- 
tum  or  B  square 
was  given  by  reason 
of  its  shape,  which 
was  originally  that 
of  a  gothic  B.  [B 
cancellatum.] 

Braban^onne.  The  Belgian  patriotic 
song  first  sung  at  the  time  of  the  revolution 
of  1830.  The  words  were  written  by  an  actor 
named  Jenneval,  at  that  time  engaged  at  the 
theatre  at  Brussels,  the  music  being  set  by 
a  singer  named  Campenhout.  Upon  the 
death  of  Jenneval  at  Berghem  his  mother  was 
allowed  a  pension  of  2400  fr.  Campenhout 
was  appointed  director  of  the  Royal  Chapel. 

Brace,  (i)  A  mark  connecting  two  or 
more  staves  together. 


B  quadratum  {Lat.) 
B  quadrum  {Lat.) 
B  quarre  {Fr.) 


(2)  The  leather  slides  upon  the  cords  of  a 
drum,  used  for  raising  or  lowering  the  tone 
by  tightening  or  loosening  the  head. 

Bransle  {Fr.)  Brawl. 

Brawl.  An  old  round  dance  in  which  the 
performers  joined  hands  in  a  circle.  A  country 
dance. 

"  Then  first  of  all  he  doth  demonstrate  plain 
The  motions  seven  tha'  are  in  nature  found, 
Upward  and  downward,  forth,  and  back  again, 
To  this  side,  and  to  that,  and  turning  round; 
Whereof  a  thousand  brawls  he  doth  compound, 
Which  he  doth  teach  unto  the  multitude, 
And  ever  with  a  turn  they  must  conclude." 

Sir  John  Davies.    Orchestra,  1607. 


BRATSCHE  BREVE. 


The  brawl  and  the  bransle  were  the  same 
dance.  Douce  gives  an  account  of  "  le 
branle  du  bouquet,'  from  "  Deux  dialogues 
du  nouveau  langage  Fran9ois,  Italianize," 
Anvers,  1579,  in  which,  kissing  the  whole  of 
the  ladies,  by  each  of  the  gentlemen  in  turn, 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  chief  features 
in  the  dance. 

The  following  Braule  from  Delaborde's 
specimens  (of  the  15th  or  i6th  century)  shows 
the  rhythm  of  this  dance  : 


Bratsche  (Ger.)  The  Tenor  Violin,  Alto, 
or  Viola.  So  called  from  the  Viola  da  braccia, 
or  viola  held  on  the  arm,  as  distinguished 
from  the  viola  da  ga;nba,  or  viola  held  be- 
tween the  legs,  the  precursor  of  the  violoncello. 
[Viola.] 

Brava,  fern.  {It.)  "| 

Bravi,  pi.  (It.)  VWell,  or  bravely,  done. 
Bravo,  mas.  {It.)  ) 

Bravura  {It.)  Aria  di  bravura.  An  air, 
distinguished  from  a  simple  melody  by  the 
introduction  of  florid  passages.  [Air.] 

Break,  (i)  The  point  of  junction  in  the 
quality  of  tenor,  soprano,  and  alto  voices.  A 
genuine  bass  voice  has  no  break.  The  lower 
range  is  called  voce  di  petto,  or  chest  voice; 
the  upper,  voce  di  testa,  or  head  voice ;  and 
the  place  of  junction  is  called  the  break.  A 
properly-cultivated  voice  should  have  the 
break  so  under  control,  that  the  union  of 
the  two  qualities  should  be  imperceptible. 
[Larynx.] 

(2)  In  the  clarinet  the  break  in  the  tone 
of  the  instrument  occurs  between  B  flat  and 
B  natural, 


Hence,  rapid  passages  containing  frequent 
transitions  from  one  register  to  the  other  are 
impossible  on  that  instrument,    in  trumpets 


and  horns,  when  from  imperfect  lipping,  tht 
note  produced  is  other  than  the  tone  intended, 
such  note  is  called  a  break.  A  similar  result 
often  occurs  in  imperfectly-formed  or  unset 
voices. 

(3)  Break,  in  an  organ  stop,  is  the  sudden 
alteration  of  the  proper  scale-series  of  the  pipes 
by  returning  to  those  of  an  octave  lower  in 
pitch.  A  break  becomes  necessary  in  the 
smaller  compound  stops,  for,  when  proceeding 
far  upwards  in  pitch,  it  is  found  that  the  pipes 
would  be  so  small  as  to  be  inaudible.  As 
mixtures,  sesquialteras,  and  other  stops  of  the 
same  class,  are  generally  formed  of  several 
ranks  of  high  harmonics,  breaks  in  them  are 
frequent.  The  break  generally  takes  place 
between  C  and  Cj,  or  F  and  F$ ;  but  organ- 
builders  do  not  act  with  uniformity,  either  as 
to  the  position  of  the  break,  or  the  exact  series 
of  sounds  to  be  produced  on  the  return. 

Breast.    The  voice. 

"Trulye  two  decrees  of  men,  which  have  the  highest 
offices  under  the  Kinge  in  all  this  realme,  shall  greatly 
lacke  the  use  of  singinge,  preachers,  and  lawyers,  be- 
cause they  shall  not,  withoute  this,  be  able  to  rule  their 
breastes  for  everye  purpose." — Ascham's  Toxophilite. 

"  By  my  troth,  the  fool  has  an  excellent  breast." — 
Shakespeare,  Twelfth  Night,  ii.,  3. 

"  The  better  brest,  the  lesser  rest, 
To  serve  the  queer,  now  there,  now  heer, 
For  time  so  spent,  I  may  repent 
And  sorrowe  make." 
TussER  {Five  hundred  points  of  good  husbandry,  1540) 

Breve.  In  Mediaeval  music,  the  note  equal 
to  half  the  value  of  a  long,  and  one  quarter  of 
the  double  lo7tg  or  maxima.  Its  shape  was  ■. 
"  Quandocunque  punctus  quadratus  invenitur, 
qui  caret  omni  tractu  brevis  dicitur"  (Franco, 
of  Paris.)  Breves  like  other  notes  in  the  early 
attempts  at  mensurable  music,  affected  the 
length  of  other  notes,  and  were  in  turn  affected 
by  other  notes  according  to  their  relative 
position.  A  long  "  in  modo  perfecto  "  was 
reduced  by  one  third  or  made  imperfect  by 
having  a  breve  next  to  it  on  either  side.  A 
breve  "  in  tempore  perfecto  "  was  made  im- 
perfect, that  is,  was  reduced  from  three  to  two 
beats,  by  juxtaposition  with  a  semibreve.  A 
breve  was  also  subject  to  "  alteratio  "  that  is, 
being  made  longer  when  between  two  longs. 
When  so  altered  it  was  called  alterata  or 
shortly  altera.  All  these  laws  and  many 
others  of  a  like  character  were  drawn  up  by 
writers  in  the  fifteenth  century,  in  the  dawn 
of  "  mensurable  "  music.  Having  discovered 
the  utility  of  showing  the  relative  length  of 
notes  by  their  shape,  authors  seem  to  have 
revelled  in  constructing  new  complications. 
These  were  gradually  dropped  by  succeeding 
writers,  until  the  breve  became  the  unit  oi 
duration,  a  position  which  it  held  for  nearly 


(  ^3  ) 


BRETT-GEIGE  BUGLE. 


two  centuries.  The  Semibreve  is  now  our 
recognized  unit,  the  Breve  being  a  double  note 
and  of  rare  occurrence.  But  these  changes 
have  been  a  slow  growth,  not  sudden  altera- 
tions of  existing  opinions  or  practices. 

Brett-geige.  Bret-Geige  [Ger.)  A  pocket 
fiddle  ;  hence,  Fr.  pochette,  GeT.Taschengeige. 
It.  sordino,  from  the  small  quantity  of  tone 
it  is  capable  of  producing.    Eng.  kit. 

Bridge.  A  piece  of  wood  which,  on  in- 
struments having  a  resonance-box,  performs 
the  double  duty  of  raising  the  strings  above 
the  belly,  and  of  terminating  at  one  end  their 
vibrating  portion.  In  instruments  played 
with  the  bow,  the  bridge  is  arched,  in  order  to 
allow  the  bow  to  impinge  upon  any  one  string 
without  touching  others.  In  instruments, 
such  as  the  guitar  and  pianoforte,  its  upper 
edge  runs  parallel  to  the  belly.  In  violins, 
the  material  and  adjustment  of  the  bridge  are 
of  great  importance.  Some  instruments  re- 
quire a  bridge  made  of  coarse-grained  wood, 
others  of  close-grained.  It  stands  on  two 
legs  ;  that  on  the  right  hand  should  rest  on 
the  belly  at  a  short  distance  behind  the  sound 
post.  The  legs  should  lie  flat  on  the  surface 
of  the  belly,  in  order  that  the  vibrations  of 
the  strings  should  be  duly  transferred  to  the 
resonance-box.  The  tone  of  an  instrument  is 
largely  influenced  by  the  position  of  the  bridge, 
and  only  great  experience  and  nice  handling 
can  discover  where  it  is  best  set  up. 

Brillante  {It.  and  Fr.)  Brilliant,  in  a 
showy  sparkling  style. 

Brillenbasse  (Ger.)  "  Spectacle  basses," 
music  for  the  drum,  so  called  from  its  resem- 
blance to  a  pair  of  spectacles.  I]***!^ 

Brindisi  (It.)  A  drinking  song.  Often  of 
a  florid  character,  so  arranged  as  to  exhibit 
the  change  from  the  chest  to  the  head  voice 
in  rapid  succession,  something  similar  to  the 
German  jodl,  q.v.  The  air  "  Libiamo"  in 
Verdi's  "  La  Traviata,"  is  called  a  brindisi. 

Brio,  con  {It.)  With  spirit,  vigour,  and 
force. 

Brioso  {It.)   Joyfully,  vigorously,  forcibly. 

Brise  {Fr.}    [Broken  chords,  arpeggios.] 

Brisk.  Lively.  A  term  frequently  used 
by  writers  of  the  last  century  before  the 
general  adoption  of  the  term  vivace. 

Broderies  {Fr.)  Ornaments  with  which 
it  was  the  fashion  in  a  past  age  to  cover  any 
simple  melody ;  these  were  generally  left  to 
the  caprice  of  the  performer,  until  Rossini  set 
the  fashion  of  writing  those  ornaments  which 
he  wished  his.  music  to  bear. 

Broken  cadence.  An  interrupted  cadence. 

Broken  chords.  [Arpeggio.] 

Broken  music.  Probably  music  played 
on  harps,  guitars,  or  lutes,  because  the  sounds 
of  these  instruments  cannot  be  sustained  at 


will.  Shakespeare,  "  Troilus  and  Cressida," 
Act  iii.  sc.  I  : 

"  Fair  prince,  here  is  good  broken  music." 

Also  "  Henry  V,"  Act.  ii.  sc.  i  ;  "As  you 
like  it,"  Act  i.  sc.  2. 

Brontium  {Gk.)  jipovTilov.  A  contrivance 
for  imitating  thunder,  used  in  the  Greek 
theatre.  Sheets  of  copper  were  laid  out  in 
the  hyposcenium  over  which  were  rolled 
bladders  filled  with  pebbles. 

B  rotundum  {Lat.)  B  flat.  See 
B  cancellatum. 

Brummeisen  or  Maultrommel  {Ger.) 
Jew's-harp.  From  Maul,  the  mouth.  [Jew's- 
harp.] 

Bruscamente  {It.)  Coarsely,  roughly, 
strongly  accented. 

Buccina.  Bucina  {Lat.)  A  crooked  horn 
or  trumpet,  tuba  being  the  straight  trumpet. 
It  was  used  as  a  signal  for  changing  the 
night-watches,  hence  the  expressions  ad  pri- 
mam  bucinani,  seciindam,  &c.,  at  the  first  and 
second  watches.  Public  assemblies  were 
also  summoned  by  it  in  early  Roman  times. 
Poets  and  sculptors  have  represented  Triton 
as  blowing  through  a  bucina,  from  bucinum, 
a  shell  called  the  sea-trumpet. 

Buccinator.  A  muscle  situated  in  the 
fleshy  part  of  the  cheeks.  It  is  so  called 
because,  when  the  cheeks  are  filled  with  air, 
the  contraction  of  the  buccinator  muscles 
forces  it  out.  It  derives  its  name  from 
buccinare,  Lat.,  to  blow  a  trumpet. 

Buccolica  {It.)  1     Rustic,  a  la  bucolique, 

Bucolique  {Fr.)  J  in  a  rustic  manner. 

Biichse  {Ger.)  The  boot  or  foot  of  an 
organ  pipe. 

Buffet  {Fr.)  An  organ  case.  Key-board 
case. 

Buffa   {It.)   fern.  ")  Comic.    Aria  huff  a. 

Buffo  {It.)  mas.  ]  a  humorous  melody; 
opera  buffa,  a  comic  opera.  In  mediaeval 
Latin  buffa  meant  a  slap  on  the  face,  and  in 
Italian  buffare  means  to  blow  wind  through 
the  mouth  ;  c.f.  Scotch  huffie,  puff'ed. 

Buffone  (/<.)  A  comic  singer  in  the  opera. 

Buffonescamente  {It.)  In  a  burlesque 
or  humorous  style. 

Bugle,  (r)  A  hunting-horn  of  a  straight 
or  curved  form.  (2)  A  copper  instrument  of 
the  horn  quality  of  tone,  but  of  less  compass, 
furnished  with  keys.  The  tone  is  sweet, 
powerful,  and  distinct ;  it  has  rarely  been  em- 
ployed in  the  orchestra.  There  are  bugle 
horns  in  C,  B  flat,  and  E  flat,  each  capable 
of  producing  its  generator  and  7  harmonics. 
The  ventil-horn  is  an  improvement  upon  the 
bugle.  The  word  Bugle,  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  huge,  to  bend  or  curve,  was  anciently 
applied  to  many  things  of  a  curved  shape, 
thus,  the  head  of  a  bishop's  crozier  was  called 


(  64  ) 


BUONACCORDO  BYSSYNGE  SONGES. 


the  bugle,  and  the  crozier  itself  the  bugle-rod. 
The  handle  of  a  kettle,  basket  handles,  and  a 
peculiar  sort  of  elongated  glass-bead  are  each 
called  by  the  name  bugle.  Some  writers  de- 
rive the  word  from  bowgle  or  bougie,  a  bull, 
on  the  ground  that  the  earliest  horns  were 
bull's  horns,  and  that  the  earliest  representa- 
tions of  hunting  horns  are  in  shape  like  bull's 
horn.    [Metal  wind  instruments.] 

Buonaccordo  {It.)  A  small  triangular 
spinet  for  the  use  and  amusement  of  chil- 
dren, the  notes  of  which  were  made  small  to 
suit  the  length  of  their  span. 

Buonamente  (It.)    Justly,  truly. 

Buona  nota  (It.)    Accented  note. 

Buon  gusto  (It.)    In  good  taste. 

Burden,  (i)  The  chorus  or  refrain  of  a 
song.  [Ballad.]  (2)  The  drone  of  the  bag- 
pipe. (3)  The  tune  sung  as  an  accompaniment 
to  a  dance  when  there  were  no  instruments. 

"  Foot  it  featly  here  and  there, 
And  let  the  rest  the  burden  bear." 
"  Belike  it  hath  some  burden  then  " 
And  clap  us  into  Light  o'  love,  that  goes  without  a 
burden. 

Do  you  sing  it,  and  I'll  dance  it." — Shakespeare. 
"  This  sompnour  bear  to  him  a  stiff  bordoune 
Was  never  trompe  of  half  so  gret  a  soun." 

Chaucer. 


Burla  (7^.)  A  jest. 
Burlando.  Burlescamente. 


[Buffo.] 


Burlesca  (7^.)  A  jest,  a  movement  in  a 
jocular  style,  c.f.  scherzo. 

Burletta  (It.)  A  comic  operetta,  a  farce 
interspersed  with  songs. 

Busaun.  Busain.  Buzain  A  reed- 
stop  on  the  organ.  Generally  of  16  ft.  length, 
and  on  the  pedal  organ.  Its  quality  of  tone 
is  soft.  It  is  not  improbable  that  this  word  is 
connected  with  bassoon. 

Bussone  (7^.)  An  obsolete  wind-instru- 
ment, c.f.  bassoon. 

Button,  (i)  A  small  round  piece  of  leather 
which,  when  screwed  on  the  tapped  wire  of  a 
tracker,  prevents  it  from  jumping  out  of  place. 
[Organ.]  (2)  The  keys  of  the  first-made 
accordions.  [Accordion.] 

Buxus.  Buxea  tibia  (Laf.)  A  flute  made 
of  boxwood. 

"  Tympana  vos  buxusque  vocant  Berecyntia  matria 
Id;eae." — Virg.  JE.  ix.  619. 

Byssynge  songes  (early  Eng.)  LuUa- 
byes,  cradle  songs. 


(65) 


C  CADENCE. 


c. 


C.  (i)  The  note  Ut  in  the  Guidonian 
system  and  in  modern  French  and  Italian 
nomenclature. 

—  (2)  The  letter  whose  original  form  was 
afterwards  modified  into  the  C  clef. 

—  (3)  The  first  note  of  the  Hypo-Eolian 
mode.    The  first  note  of  the  Ionian  mode. 

—  (4)  The  first,  or  key  note  of  the  modern 
normal  scale,  so  called  because  if  it  be  desired 
to  write  down  the  scale  now  used,  C  is  the 
only  note  from  which  the  series  can  start 
unless  sharps  or  flats  be  added. 

—  (5)  A  capital  letter  C  signifies  the  note 
in  the  second  space  of  the  bass  stave  (TenorC). 
A  small  c  signifies  the  note  one  octave  above 
this,  7niddle  C.  [Pitch.] 

Cabaletta  {Sp.)  {Lit.  a  little  horse.)  A 
melody  in  rondo  form,  at  first  sung  simply, 
afterwards  with  variations,  probably  so  called 
because  accompaniments  to  cabalettas  were 
in  triplet  form  like  the  noise  made  by  a  horse 
cantering. 

Cabinet  d'orgue  (Fr.)    Organ  case. 

Cabinet  Pianoforte.  An  old-fashioned 
upright  pianoforte,  about  six  feet  in  height. 
[Pianoforte.] 

Cabiscola  (Lat.)  A  corruption  of  the 
words  caput  scholae.  The  praecentor  in  a 
choir  (Praecentor).  In  Narbonne  and  many 
parts  of  Italy,  the  office  of  capischol  was  held 
by  the  Dean. 

Caccia  (It.)  Hunting,  (i)  Music  accom- 
panied by  horns,  or  in  praise  of  field  sports,  is 
said  to  be  alia  caccia,  in  the  hunting  style. 

(2)  Instruments  used  in  hunting  are  called 
da  caccia,  as  oboe  da  caccia,  hunting  oboe,  a 
large  kind  of  oboe  ;  corno  da  caccia,  hunting 
horn. 

Cachuca  (Sp.)  A  Spanish  dance.  [Bolero.] 
Cacophony  [Gk.)  l  Harsh  sounding  music 
Cacophonie(Fr.)  I  — not  necessarily  incor- 
Cacofonia  (It.)     J  rect,  but  often  treated 
as  though   it  were,  because  of  its  unusual 
appeal  to  imperfect  judgment.    The  word  is, 
liowever,  generally  used  in  a  bad  sense. 

Cadence.  (i)  A  vocal  or  instrumental 
shake  or  trill,  run  or  division,  introduced  as 
an  ending,  or  as  a  means  of  return  to  the 
first  subject. 


(2)  The  end  of  a  phrase,  formerly  called  a 
fall,  either  in  melody  or  harmony. 

"  That  strain  again 
It  had  a  dying  fall." — Shakespeare. 

(3)  There  are  four  principal  forms  of  cadence 
in  harmony,  the  whole,  or  authentic,  the 
half,  the  interrupted,  and  the  plagal  cadence. 
When  the  last  chord — the  major  or  minor 
chord  of  the  key  note — is  preceded  by  the  major 
chord  of  the  dominant,  such  cadence  is  called 
whole  or  perfect.  If  the  last  chord  is  the 
dominant  and  is  preceded  by  the  chord  of  the 
tonic,  the  cadence  is  called  half  or  imperfect. 
When  the  last  chord  of  the  phrase  is  other 
than  the  tonic  chord  and  is  preceded  by  that 
of  the  dominant,  the  cadence  is  said  to  be 
interrupted,  false,  or  deceptive.  The  cadence, 
called  plagal,  is  that  in  which  the  chord  of 
the  tonic  is  preceded  by  the  major  or  minor 
chord  of  the  subdominant.  The  whole  ca- 
dence is  used  to  conclude  most  modern 
music ;  the  half  and  the  interrupted  cadence 
in  the  progress  of  a  harmonised  melody. 
The  plagal  cadence  was  frequently  employed 
as  a  close  by  the  old  contrapuntal  writers. 


Whole  or  Perfect  Cadences.      Half  or  Imperfect  Cadences. 


Interrupted,  False  or  Deceptive  Cadences. 


By  some  authors,  cadences  are  divided  into 
two  kinds,  perfect  and  imperfect  ;  the  authentic 
and  plagal  being  considered  perfect ;  all  other 
cadences,  imperfect.  From  another  point  of 
view  cadences  have  been  divided  into  simple 


cadence;  imparfaite — cadenza. 


and  compound;  a  cadence  being  simple  when 
both  the  penultimate  and  final  chords  which 
form  it  are  plain  common  chords  ;  and  com- 
pound when  suspensions  or  other  devices  are 
introduced,  e.g. : 


Simple  Cadence.    '  Compound  Cadence. 


A  series  of  cadences  can  be  constructed  by 
making  any  one  of  the  relative  chords  (or  its  in- 
versions) precede  the  final  tonic  chord,  a 
relative  chord  being  a  common  chord  which 
can  be  made  up  out  of  the  notes  of  any  given 
scale.  The  relative  chords  of  C  are  therefore 
D  minor,  E  minor,  F  major,  G  major,  A 
minor,  but  not  B  major  or  minor,  as  there  is 
no  Fjt  in  the  key  of  C.  We  shall,  therefore, 
get  this  series : 


& 

Plagal.       Authentic.     ^  ^ 

>-:-g-|-^-ti-^4-^-g^=MI-"^  r^-ti  1—— H 

D  to  C.      E  to  C.       F  to  C.        G  to  C.        A  to  C. 

And  from  the  relative  chords  of  the  minor 
scale 

i 

Plagal.  Authentic. 

Eb  to  C.         F  to  C.  G  to  C.  Al>  to  C. 


It  will  be  observed  that  there  is  no  relative 
chord  on  the  second  or  seventh  degree  of  the 
minor  mode  owing  to  the  imperfection  of 
the  interval  of  the  fifth.  For  further  infor- 
mation see  Stainer's  "Theory  of  Harmony." 

Cadence  imparfaite  {Fr.)  An  imperfect 
cadence. 

Cadence  parfaite  (Fr.)  A  perfect  cadence. 

Cadence  perlee  (Fr.)  A  brilliant  cadence. 

Cadence  rompue  (Fr.)  A  broken  or  in- 
terrupted cadence. 

Cadenz  (Ger.)  [Cadence.] 

Cadenza  (/<.)  (i)  A  passage  introduced 
towards  the  close  of  the  first  or  last  move- 
ment of  a  concerto,  either  actually  extempore 
or  of  an  impromptu  character.  (2)  A  running 
passage  at  the  conclusion  of  a  vocal  piece. 
Solo  performers  in  times  past  were  accus- 
tomed to  display  their  skill  and  invention  in 
a  final  flourish,  apparently  extempore,  but 
often  the  result  of  careful  study  and  prepa- 
ration. In  some  cases,  however,  the  attain- 
ment of  the  performer  was  the  object  of  the 


display,  and  hence  the  added  cadenza  was 
often  so  inappropriate  and  incongruous,  espe- 
cially in  vocal  music,  that  composers  felt 
bound  to  write  down  all  the  ornaments  or 
embellishments  they  considered  their  music 
capable  of  bearing.  Purcell  is  said  to  have 
so  acted  with  regard  to  many  of  his  songs ; 
and  it  has  been  supposed  that  the  runs  or 
divisions  so  common  in  music  of  the  i8th 
century  were  introduced  as  concessions  to  the 
custom  of  the  time  of  ornamenting  a  plain 
melody.  Every  performer  considered  him- 
self at  liberty  to  alter  an  air  to  suit  his  own 
peculiarities,  and  singers  were  estimated  ac- 
cording to  their  vocal  agility.  An  extract 
from  a  diary  kept  at  Rome  in  1697,  by  a 
young  Scotch  gentleman,  speaking  of  Corelli 
and  his  playing,  says  :  "  This  is  his  manner 
in  adagios,  to  which  he  adds  innumerable 
graces  ;  not  crowded  in  confusion  as  some 
do,  but  gentle,  easy  and  sliding,  and  suited 
withal  to  the  composition  of  the  other  parts, 
which  no  man  but  he  who  has  taste  and 
knowledge  of  the  composition,  can  perform." 
When  a  great  master  in  art  sets  the  example, 
followers  are  always  found,  and  what  is  pleas- 
ing in  a  man  of  genius  becomes  the  reverse 
when  imitated.  Although  cadenzas  were 
fashionable  in  the  time  of  Handel,  instances 
of  fully  written  examples  by  him  are  rare. 
The  conclusion  of  the  duet,  "  O  lovely  peace," 
in  "Judas  Maccabaeus,"  is  one  of  the  few 
specimens  he  has  left.  Many  of  the  songs  in 
his  oratorios  were  constantly  so  changed  by 
the  singers  by  means  of  graces,  notes,  and 
turns,  that  their  form  was  completely  dis- 
guised. But  while  the  custom  existed  there 
were  not  wanting  some  musicians  who  con- 
stantly protested  against  what  they  considered 
the  ill-usage  of  an  author's  ideas,  forgetting 
that  the  composer,  probably  knowing  the  bad 
habit  of  his  singers,  had  constructed  his  melo- 
dies so  that  they  might  not  suffer  by  the 
overlading  of  fioritiire,  Rubinelli  the  singer, 
on  his  first  appearance  in  England,  was  cen- 
sured for  embellishing  and  changing  his  airs. 
On  his  second  appearance  in  this  country, 
he  determined  to  sing  without  introducing  a 
single  ornament  not  written,  and  so  fickle  was 
the  taste  of  the  time  (c.  1780),  that  when  he 
sang"  Return,  O  God  of  Hosts,"  from  "  Sam- 
son," in  Westminster  Abbey,  his  hearers 
thought  the  song  and  his  style  of  singing 
alike  insipid. 

The  omission  of  ornaments  in  a  musical 
performance  was  a  matter  for  surprise  a  cen- 
tury earlier  than  that  just  named.  Richard 
Lygon,  in  his  "  History  of  Barbadoes,  1687," 
describes  his  satisfaction  at  hearing  a  min- 
strel sing  a  song,  "  savouring  much  of  an- 
tiquity—  no  graces,  double  relishes,  trillos, 
grupcs,  or  piano -fortes,  but  plain  as  a  pack- 


(  67  ) 


CADENZA   D'INGANNO  ^A  IRA. 


staff ;  his  lute,  too,  was  but  of  ten  strings, 
so  that  the  rarity  of  this  antique  piece  pleased 
me  beyond  measure." 

Cathedral  chants,  services,  and  anthems 
— even  psalm  and  hymn  tunes — were  writ- 
ten with  every  possible  florid  turn,  as  shown 
by  existing  examples  of  the  Church  compo- 
sitions of  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century. 

The  story  told  of  the  elder  Dubourg  and 
Handel's  comment  upon  his  cadenza  is  well 
known  ;  and  there  is  another  anecdote  illus- 
trating the  absurdity  of  a  misplaced  cadenza, 
told  concerning  the  trombone  player  at  the 
first  performance  of  Mendelssohn's  "  Lobge- 
sang."  The  composer  met  the  player  and 
asked  him  if  he  had  looked  at  his  part,  as  he 
had  given  him  plenty  of  important  work  to 
do.  "  O  yes,  HerrDirector,  I  have  studied  it 
carefully."  The  astonishment  of  Mendels- 
sohn may  be  imagined  when  at  the  rehearsal 
he  heard  the  result  of  the  careful  study  of  the 
trombonist  in  the  announcement  of  the  initial 
phrase  of  the  symphony  as  follows  : 

Uaestoso  conmoto.  - — "2  ■    .0.- ^  _ 


Mendelssohn,  in  his  sweat  manner,  told  the 
performer  that  he  would  rather  have  the  phrase 
played  as  he  had  written  it.  Other  musicians 
of  less  agreeable  dispositions  have  sarcas- 
tically thanked  performers  for  taking  "  so 
much  trouble  to  sing  or  play  notes  that  were 
not  written  ;"  and  it  is  on  record  that  Beet- 
hoven repeatedly  quarrelled  with  vocalists  for 
not  adhering  to  his  text,  and  it  is  also  well 
known  that  Rossini  wrote  every  cadenza  out 
in  full,  "  for  he  thought  it  better  so  to  do  than 
to  trust  to  the  gaucheries  of  conceited  voca- 
lists." 

In  instrumental  compositions  the  habit  of 
leaving  a  space  for  the  ad  libitum  fancies  of 
the  performer  opened  a  door  for  the  admis- 
sion of  eccentricities  and  absurdities,  which 
the  better  sort  of  musicians  have  sought  from 
time  to  time  to  remedy,  by  the  composition 
of  suitable  cadenzas  as  much  as  possible  in 
accordance  with  the  original  composer's  de- 
sign. Clementi  wrote  cadenzas  for  the  whole 
of  Mozart's  concertos,  and  Dr.  Hiller  and 
others  have  done  like  things  for  other  works 
in  which  spaces  have  been  left. 

The  cadenza  has  been  made  the  vehicle  tor 
the  expression  of  musical  humour,  as  by 
Mendelssohn  in  the  Music  to  "  A  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream,"  and  of  quaintness  in  instru- 
mentation, as  in  Beethoven's  No.  5  Concerto, 
and  in  other  works  needless  to  particularise. 
"  It  is  usual,"  says  Jousse  in  his  "Dictionary 
of  Music,"  "  to  commence  a  cadenza  with  a 
plain  note  or  chord  sung  or  held  out,  so  that 


the  accompanying  performers  may  know  when 
it  has  been  begun  ;  and  it  is  also  customary 
to  make  a  long  shake  at  the  end  of  the  ca- 
denza, as  a  signal  that  the  accompaniment  is 
to  be  resumed." 

Cadenza  d'inganno  (It.)  A  deceptive 
cadence. 

Cadenza  fioritura  (It.)  An  ornamental 
cadence. 

Caisse  (Fr.)    A  drum. 

Caisses  claires  {Fr.)  Kettle  drums  ;g'ro55t 
caisse  {Fr,),  big  drum. 

Caisse  roulante  {Fr.)  Side-drum,  or 
snare-drum. 

Calamus.  (Gk.  (cd\a/ioc)  A  reed-flute. 
Probably  a  simple  rustic  instrument  like  our 
oaten-pipe.  But  some  suppose  it  to  have  been 
similar  in  construction  to  the  syritix,  or  pan- 
pipes, and  to  have  been  synonymous  with 
arundo.  From  calamus  is  derived  the  post-clas- 
sical calamaulos,  a  flute  made  of  reed,  whence 
calamaulis  {KaXafiavXrig  and  ica\a/jauX^rr/c)  a 
player  on  reed-pipes  ;  hence  too,  chalameau, 
schalmey,  shawm,  the  precursor  of  the  modern 
clarinet,  one  of  the  registers  of  which  is  still 
said  to  be  of  chalameau  tone. 

Calando  {It.)  {Calare.  To  descend,  de- 
crease.) A  passage  marked  calando  is  to  be 
sung  or  played  with  decreasing  volume  of 
tone  and  slackening  pace. 

Calandrone  {It.)  (Calandra,  a  woodlark.) 
A  small  reed  instrument  of  the  shawm  or 
clarinet  character,  with  two  holes,  much  used 
by  the  Italian  peasantry. 

Calascione.  [Colascione.] 

Calata  {It.)  An  Italian  dance  in  |  time, 
of  a  sprightly  character. 

Calcando  {It.)  Hurrying,  pressing  the 
time. 

Calcant  (from  Lat.  Calcare.)  Treading. 
The  bellows-treader  (balge-treter)  of  the  old 
German  organs. 

Calcanten-glocke  {Ger.)  Bells  sounded 
by  means  of  pedals. 

Call.  A  military  term  for  the  variations  of 
certain  musical  notes  played  on  a  trumpet 
or  bugle,  or  a  special  sort  of  beat  upon  the 
drum,  each  call  being  the  signal  for  a  definite 
duty. 

Call.  A  toy  instrument  made  by  winding 
a  narrow  tape  round  two  small  oblong  pieces 
of  tin,  so  that  one  fold  of  the  tape  may  be  set 
in  vibration  when  blown  through.  The  call 
is  used  by  men  who  work  the  drama  of 
"  Punch  and  Judy." 

Ca  ira  {Fr.)  'That  will  do.*  The  refrain 
of  'a  song  popular  during  the  revolution  in 
France  in  1793.  The  melody  to  which  it  was 
sung  was  a  favourite  with  the  unhappy  Queen 


i  68  ) 


CALMA,  CON  CANON. 


Marie  Antoinette.  The  song  was  called  the 
"  Carillon  national.  ' 

Le  refrain. 

Ah  !  9a  tra,  9a  ira,  (a  ira, 

Le  peuple  en  cejour  sans  cesse  repete 

Ah  !  9a  ira,  9a  ira,  9a  ira, 

Malgre  les  mutins,  toui  reussira. 

Calma,  con  [It.)    With  calmness. 
Calmata  [It.)   Calmed,  quieted,  appeased. 
Calore,  con  [It.)    With  heat,  warmth. 
Caloroso  [It.)   Warmly,  full  of  passionate 
feeling. 

Cambiare  [It.)    To  turn,  change,  alter. 
Cambiata  (//.)    [Nota  cambiata.] 
Camera,  musica di  [It.)  [Chamber  Music] 
Camminando  [It.)     Walking,  flowing, 
andante. 

Campana  [It.)    A  bell.  [Bells.] 

Campanella,-o,  [It.)    A  small  bell. 

Campanellino  (It.).    A  very  small  bell. 

Campanista  [It.)    A  bell-ringer. 

Campanology.  The  knowledge  of  the 
construction  and  use  of  bells.  [Bells.] 

Campanetta  [It.)  A  set  of  bells  tuned  to 
a  scale,  and  played  with  hammers  or  keys. 
[Glockenspiel.] 

Canaries.  A  dance  probably  of  English 
invention.  The  melody  was  a  lively  air  of 
two  phrases.  Purcell  introduced  a  Canaries 
tune  in  his  opera  of  "  Dioclesian." 

The  following  example  (from  Delaborde) 
shows  the  rhythm  of  this  dance  : 


Cancrizans.  [Canon  Cancrizans.] 
Canon  [Gk.  Kavibi').  A  rule, — a  term  ap- 
plied to  the  measurement  of  the  ratios  of 
intervals  by  means  of  the  monochord,  hence 
the  system  of  Pythagoras  was  called  the 
canoji  of  Pythagoras  ;  that  of  Euclid,  the  canon 
of  Euclid.  Hence,  too,  the  science  of  calcu- 
lating musical  intervals  is  called  canonik. 
Sectio  canonis  [Lat.),  a  division  of  a  string,  or 
monochord,  formed  by  a  moveable  bridge  or 
frets. 

Canon.  Owing  to  the  various  forms  which 
canons  assume  it  is  almost  impossible  to  give 
a  general  definition  which  will  be  intelligible. 
The  essence  of  a  canon  is  this,  that  the  music 
sung  by  one  part  shall,  after  a  short  rest, 
be  sung  by  another  part  note  for  note.  The 
simplest  form  is  when  there  are  only  two 
parts,  e.g.: 


The  above  is  called  a  canon  2  in  i  at  the 
octave,  because  two  parts  are  singing  one 
thing  at  that  interval.  The  part  which  com- 
mences is  called  the  sjibject  or  antecedent 
(guida)  ;  that  which  follows,  the  answer  or 
consequent  (consequenza).  The  above  is  also 
an  infinite  canon,  because,  anyone  having 
such  a  remarkable  desire  as  to  play  it  for  ever, 
could  do  so.  The  pause  shows  where  it  may 
be  concluded. 


The  above  (Ex.  2)  is  also  2  in  i,  but  at  the 
under-fifth. 


Ex.  3  is  a  canon  2  in  i  at  the  upper  sixth, 
the  upper  part  being  the  consequent. 


Schubert.   "  Song  of  Miriam." 


CiOPRANI  AND  ALTI.                               ^  — ^ 

r 

Jreadful     sea .      so      deeiT. .  and 

Dreadful      sea  ,   so      deep  . .  and  boundless, 

-m 

The  above  example  (4)  shows  a  canon  2  in 
1  at  the  octave,  with  a  free  accompaniment. 
Any  part  of  a  canon  which  is  not  an  ante- 
cedent or  consequent  is  said  to  be  a  free  part 
(ad  placitum).  It  is  also _;fnj7f  because  there 
is  no  repeat,  the  canon  being  dropped  at  the 
close  of  the  theme.  The  same  desciiption 
will  apply  to  the  next  example  (5). 


(  60  ) 


CANON. 


Ex.  5.  Beethoven.   Symphony,  No.  4. 

Clarinet. 


Ex.  6.  (Transposed.) 

Non      no  -  bis     Do  -  mi  -    ne,   non       no  - 


Non  no -bis         Do    -  mi  -   ne,  non 


Non  no  -  bis 


bis,  sed       no-mi  -  ni,        tu     -     -  - 


Do  -   mi  -  ne,    Non         no    -    -     -  bis, 
o       da      glo   -   -     ri   -   am.  Sed 


Tu     -     -     o  da        glo  -   ri   -  am. 


Sed      no  -  mi  -  ni  Tu     -      -     o  da 

no-mi-ni        Tu     -         -    o       da       glo    -   ri  - 


sed      no-mi-ni         Tu      -    -     o  da 


Tu     -  •  -  o      da        glo  -    ri   -  am. 

( 


The  above  well-known  canon  by  Byrde  ia 

3  in  I,  because  there  is  only  one  theme  which 
all  the  three  parts  sing. 


Ex.  7.  J.  S.  Bach.    Mass  in  B  minor. 


Do   -    na     no    -    bis   pa  -  cem  pa 


The  above  example  (7)  is  a  finite  canon 
4  in  I. 


Ex.  8.  Attwood.    Service  ia  F. 


Glo     -      ry      be        to   the    Ha    -     thur,  and 


The  above  example  (8)  shows  a  canon  4 
in  2  because  it  is  in  four  parts  and  there  are 
two  themes.  Enough  has  been  given  to  show 
the  exact  meaning  of  the  numerical  descrip- 
tions of  canons;  the  first  number  giving  the 
number  of  the  parts  in  which  it  is  composed; 
the  second  number,  the  number  of  themes 
sung  by  them,  thus  16  in  4  signifies  that  16 
parts  have  4  subjects  ;  8  in  i  that  8  parts  sing 
in  turn  the  same  theme,  &c.  A  canon  by  meg- 
mentation  is  when  the  consequent  is  double 
the  length  of  the  antecedent,  e.g. : 


Ex.  9.  From  Cherubini. 


A  canon  by  diminution  is  when  the  conse- 
quent is  half  the  value  of  the  antecedent, 
e.g.'. 


Ex.  10.  From  Cherubini. 


CANON^CANON  CANCRIZANS. 


Fragments  of  canon  by  augmentation  and 
diminution  are  not  uncommon  in  fugal  writing, 


A  canon  by  triple  or  quadruple  augmen- 
tation is  when  the  three  or  four  parts  of  which 
it  is  composed  are  each  twice  the  time-value 
of  its  predecessor.  A  canon  is  said  to  be 
strict  when  the  consequent  follows  the  ante- 
cedent at  an  exact  interval  (say  a  major  fifth 
or  fourth,  &c.)  regardless  of  key  tonality.  The 
canon  in  Ex.  3  is  not  therefore  strict.  If  it 
were  so,  the  consequent  must  be  in  the  key  of 
the  sixth  above,  which  would  be  impossible. 
A  canon  by  inversion  is  when  the  consequent 
follows  the  inverted  intervals  of  the  antece- 
dent, e.g. : 

I,  PURCELL. 


The  above  (Ex.  12)  is  a  canon  4  in  i,  because 
there  is  only  one  antecedent.  The  part  ap- 
pearing like  a  second  antecedent  being  only 
the  inversion  of  the  first.  A  canon  by  retro- 
gn'ssion  is  when  the  parts  forming  it  (generally, 
only  one  is  antecedent  and  one  consequent) 
sing  each  other's  notes  backwards.  An  ex- 
ample will  be  found  under  "  canon  cancrizans." 

Originally  canons  were  a  kind  of  musical 
riddle,  the  antecedent,  and  the  number  of 
parts,  only  being  given  ;  and  the  student 
being  required  to  solve  the  problem.  Thus, 
Ex.  I  would  be  put  forth : 


Non    no-bis,  (Sc. 


From  this  method  of  enunciating  canons, 
the  name  is  probably  derived,  as  the  reader 
had  to  discover  the  rule  or  canon  on  which  the 
composition  was  constructed.  A  canon  written 
out  in  full  was  called  canone  aperto,  and  one 
written  in  riddle  -  form  canone  chiusa.  A 
canon  at  the  unison  becomes  a  round,  if  the 
antecedent  has  a  cadence  before  the  entry  of 
the  consequent.  Thus  every  round  is  a  canon 
at  the  unison,  although  a  canon  at  the  unison 
is  not  necessarily  a  round.  [Round.]  Some 
of  the  early  writers  have  left  canons  of  the 
greatest  ingenuity.  Some  very  good  speci- 
mens are  to  be  found  in  Hawkins.  It  had 
been  well  if  the  labour  and  perseverance  which 
must  have  been  requisite  for  their  production 
could  have  been  more  profitably  directed. 
The  constant  study  of  canon-writing  is  much 
to  be  deprecated,  as  it  checks  the  inventive 
faculty,  and  at  most  only  teaches  the  student 
how  to  force  themes  into  cohesion.  It  is 
probable  that  much  of  the  ugly  and  crabbed 
part-writing  of  the  17th  and  early  part  of 
the  i8th  century  is  due  to  the  over  estimation 
of  canons.  Canonical  imitation  with  free 
accompaniment  is,  however,  capable  of  very 
beautii^ul  effects.  Specimens  of  this  style  have 
already  been  given  in  Ex.  4  and  5,  and  the 
fine  example  in  Mendelssohn's  95th  Psalm 
may  be  studied  with  advantage.  The  highly 
dramatic  effect  of  the  canon  in  two  parts, 
afterwards  breaking  into  four,  at  the  words, 
"  And  the  sea  was  upheaved,"  in  No.  34  of 
Mendelssohn's  "  Elijah,"  is  so  well-known 
that  it  need  not  be  quoted  here. 

Canone  al  sospiro  {It.)  A  canon,  the 
subject  of  which  is  answered  at  the  half- 
beat  : 


The  answer  to  any  subject  is  said  to  be 
close  when  it  enters  shortly  after  the  subject. 
A  canon  al  sospiro  is  therefore  the  most  close 
of  all  canons,  as  it  is  impossible  to  answer 
at  less  time  than  the  beat. 

Canone  aperto  [It.)  A  canon  written  out 
in  full. 

Canon  cancrizans.  A  canon  by  retro- 
gression. A  canon  practically  consisting  of 
two  parts  in  double  counterpoint,  that  is,  parts 
which  are  grammatically  interchangeable,  so 
constructed  that  they  may  read  actually  back- 
wards, hence  probably  the  derivation  of  can- 
crizans, walking  backward  like  a  crab.  The 
following  example  will  be  found  to  consist 
only  of  four  bars,  at  the  close  of  which,  hav- 
ing exchanged  lines,  the  parts  proceed  back- 
wards. A  canon  cancrizans  may  of  course 
be  accompanied  by  free  parts  : 


(  71  ) 


CANONE  CHIUSO  CANTO  A  CAPPELLA. 


From  AndrE's  "Lehrbuch  der  Tonkunst,"  1832. 


The  following  is  a  canon  cancrizans  with  a 
bass  part  per  recte  et  retro  : 


Productions  of  this  class  are  utterly  value- 
less as  contributions  to  art. 

Canone  chiuso  {It.)  A  close  canon. 
[Canon.] 

Canone  infinite  or  perpetuo  (It.)  Never 
ending  canon.    Infinite  canon. 

Canone  sciolto  (It.)  A  free  canon,  not 
strict. 

Canonici.  A  name  given  to  followers  of 
the  Pythagorean  system  of  music,  as  opposed 
to  Musici,  the  followers  of  the  Aristoxenian 
system.  [Pythagoreans.] 

Cantabile  (It.)    In  a  singing  style. 

Cantamento  {It.)  The  air  or  melody  of 
a  phrase. 

Cantando  {It.)  [Cantabile.] 

Cantadour  {OldFr.)^  A  street  singer. 

Cantambanco  {It.)  J  A  mountebank. 

Cantante  {It.)    A  singer. 

Cantare  {It.)    To  sing. 

Cantare  a  aria  {It.)  To  sing  with  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  improvisation.  [Penillion 
singing.] 

Cantare  a  orecchio  (It.)  To  sing  by  ear. 


Cantare  di  maniera  (It.) 
Cantara  di  manierata(/<.) 


To  sing  in 
florid  or  orna- 


mental style. 
Cantata  {It.)  A  cantata  consisted  origin- 
ally of  a  mixture  of  recitative  and  melody,  and 
was  given  to  a  single  voice,  but  the  introduc- 
tion of  choruses  altered  the  first  character  of 
the  cantata,  and  gave  rise  to  some  confusion 
in  the  manner  of  describing  it.  So  that  it  has 
been  variously  defined  as  "  an  elegant  and 
passionate  species  of  vocal  composition  for  a 
single  voice,"  "  a  long  vocal  composition,  the 


text  of  which  is  Italian,"  "  a  kind  of  short 
oratorio,  or  opera  not  intended  for  the  stage," 
"  a  short  piece  of  vocal  music  of  a  pathetic 
character,"  "  one  of  the  Psalms  or  portions 
of  Scripture  set  to  music  for  voices  and  in- 
struments," according  to  the  work  the  de- 
scriber  had  in  his  mind  at  the  time,  but  a 
cantata  is  now  understood  as  a  short  work  in 
the  musical  form  of  an  oratorio,  but  without 
dramatis  personce. 

Cantatilla  ,t..  }   The  diminutive  of  Can- 

Cantatina  '  Jtata. 

Cantatore  {It.)    A  male  singer. 

Cantatrice  {It.)    A  female  singer.  ' 

Cantatorium.    A  music  book. 

Cantellerando  (It.)  Singing  in  a  sub- 
dued voice,  trilling. 

can.,  car„a,cialesci  (;,,  L^'^f  Th! 

Cant,  carnival!  I  '[eami^al. 

Cantici  {It.)  Another  name  for  the  Laudes 
spirituali,  or  songs  sung  in  the  old  Romish 
church  in  praise  of  God,  the  Blessed  Virgin 
and  Saints,  and  Martyrs. 

Canticle  (i)  A  song  or  hymn  in  honour  of 
God,  or  of  some  special  sacred  event. 

(2)  The  word  is  also  applied  to  certain  de- 
tached psalms  and  hymns  used  in  the  service 
of  the  Anglican  Church,,  such  as  the  Venite 
exultetiins,  Te  Deiiin  laudaiinis,  Denedicite 
oinn  a  opera,  Beucdictns,  jfubilate  Deo,  Mag- 
nificat, Caiitnte  Domino,  Nunc  dimittis,  Deus 
viisereaticr,  and  the  verses  used  instead  of  the 
Venite  on  Easter-day. 

Canticum  (Lat.)  (i)  A  song.  (2)  A  song 
in  the  Roman  comedy  accompanied  by  music 
and  dancing.  Sometimes  one  person  sang 
the  song  while  another  went  through  the  ap- 
propriate gesticulation. 

Cantilena  (Lat.)  (i)  An  oft-repeated,  old 
song.  (2)  In  mediaeval  music,  singing  exer- 
cises, in  which  were  introduced  all  the  inter- 
vals of  the  scale,  &c.  (3)  In  old  church-song 
the  plain-song  or  canto-fermo  sung  in  unison 
by  one  or  more  persons  to  an  organ  accom- 
paniment.   (4)  A  ballad. 

Cantilenare  {It.)  To  sing  without  ac- 
companiment. 

Cantilenaccia  {It.)    Bad  singing. 

Cantillatio  {Lat.)  Declamation  in  a  sing- 
ing style,  applied  to  a  method  of  reading  the 
Epistles  and  Gospels  in  the  church.  [Ac- 
centus  Ecclesiasticus.] 

Cantino  {It.)  The  smallest  string  upon  the 
violin.    The  E  string.    {Fr.)  chanterelle. 

Cantique  {Fr.)  A  sacred  song  or  melody, 
a  canticle. 

Canto  {It.)  The  upper  voice-part  in  con- 
certed music,  so  called  because  it  has  the 
melody  or  air.  [Air.] 

Canto  a  cappella  {It.)  Sacred  music; 
cantare  di  cappella,  the  praEcentor. 


(  72  ) 


CANTO  ARMONICO 


I  CANTUS  MENSURABILIS. 


Canto  armonico  {It.)    A  part-song. 

Canto  cromatico  (It.)  A  scale  or  song 
in  chromatic  style. 

Canto  fermo  (It.)    [Cantus  firmus.] 

Canto  figurato  {It.)  Florid  melody,  or 
melody  varied.    [Cantus  figuratus.] 

Canto  Gregoriano  {It.)  Gregorian  chant. 

Cantollano  {Sp.)    Plain  chant. 

Canto  piano  {It.)    Plain  chant. 

Canto  primo  {It.)    First  soprano. 

Canto  recitativo  (7^.)  Declamatory  sing- 
ing, recitative. 

Canto  ripieno  (It.)  Additional  soprano 
chorus-parts.  [Ripieno.] 

Canto  secondo  {It.)    Second  soprano. 

Cantor.  [Precentor.] 

Cantor  choralis  {Lat.)    Chorus  master. 

Cantore  {It.)   A  general  name  for  a  singer. 

Cantoris  {Lat.).  (From  the  word  Cantor.) 
The  cantoris  side  in  a  cathedral  choir  is  the 
side  upon  which  the  Precentor  sits,  usually 
the  north  side,  opposite  to  Decani. 

Cantus  Ambrosianus  {Lat.)  Ambrosian 
chant.  [Plain-song.] 

Cantus  coronatus.    [Cantus  fractus.] 

Cantus  durus  {Lat.)  Music  which  modu- 
lated into  a  key  having  one  or  more  sharps  in 
its  scale.  Such  keys  were  at  one  period 
strictly  proscribed  by  church-musicians. 

Cantus  ecclesiasticus  {Lat.)  (i)  In  a 
general  sense,  plain-song  and  other  early 
church-melodies.  (2)  The  method  of  singing 
as  opposed  to  saying  Lections,  Collects,  Gos- 
pels, and  special  offices,  such  as  the  Impro- 
■peria,  &c.  See  Accentus  ecclesiasticus  under 
Accent  §  4,  and  "Passion  Music." 

Cantus  figuratus  {Lat.)  Florid  church 
song,  that  is,  in  which  more  than  one  note  of 
music  was  sung  to  a  syllable.  The  purest 
system  of  ancient  church-song  prescribed  only 
one  note  to  each  syllable.    [Plain  song.] 

Cantus  firmus  {Lat.)  (i)  The  tenor  or 
chief  melody,  originally  sung  by  the  tenor- 
voices,  afterwards  transferred  to  the  treble- 
part,  hence  called  Canto.  (2)  A  fragment  of 
plain-song,  to  which  counterpoint  has  been 
added.  (3)  Any  subject  chosen  for  con- 
trapuntal treatment,  generally  a  short  dia- 
tonic passage  of  semibreves  or  other  long 
notes. 

Cantus  fractus  {Lat.)  A  broken  melody, 
a  term  applied  to  a  tune  which  proceeded 
either  by  perfect  or  imperfect  consonances. 
When  accompanied  by  a  Faburden,  or  Faux- 
bourdon,  it  was  called  Cantus  coronatus. 

Cantus  Gregorianus  {Lat.)  The  Gre- 
gorian system  of  chuich  song.    [Plain  song.] 


Cantus  mensurabilis  {Lat.)  Mensurable- 
song.    The  very  name  of  this  art  explains  at 
once  its  scope  and  the  probable  date  of  its 
birth.    The  indissoluble  association  of  music 
and  poetry,  or  of  music,  poetry,  and  dancing, 
in  ancient  times,  rendered  a  system  of  nota- 
tion, by  which  the  comparative  duration  of 
sounds  could  be  exhibited  to  the  eye,  un- 
necessary.   If  the  metre  of  the  poetry  were 
duly  appreciated,  the  length  of  the  musical 
notes  to  which  the  poetry  was  set  would  be 
undoubted.    If  dancing  accompanied  the  mu- 
sic and  poetry,  it  would  be,  of  course,  impos- 
sible to  sing  to  any  other  rhythm  than  that 
prescribed  by  the  movement  of  the.  feet.  As 
long  as  music  of  this  kind  was  unisonous,  or, 
at  most,  consisted  of  a  series  of  chords,  the 
component   parts  of  which  were  of  equal 
length,  no  difficulty  or  doubt  as  to  the  length 
j  of  notes  could  occur.    But  when  prose-writ- 
ing was  set  to  music,  and  still  more  when,  in 
polyphonous  compositions,  it  was  desired  that 
a  particular  voice  should  sing  two  or  more 
notes  to  one  note  of  another,  it  became  an 
absolute  necessity  that  the  signs  used  should 
be  so  formed  as  to  direct  the  performer,  with- 
out a  chance  of  doubt,  as  to  how  long  he 
should  hold  any  note  with  reference  to  th:.t 
held  in  another  part.    Hence,  the  formation 
of  Cantus  mensurabilis.    As  to  the  date  of  its 
invention,  learned  and  reliable  authors  differ 
much  in  their  opinion.  Having  been  ascribed 
to  Johannes  de  Muris  (circ.  1330)  for  many 
centuries  by  writers  who  have  been  but  too 
ready  to  copy  from  each  other,  asking  no 
questions,  it  seems  that  the  laurel  must  be 
taken  from  his  brow,  and  that  the  credit  is 
due  to  authors  who  lived — some  say  a  few 
j  years,   others   two   centuries  at  least  —  be- 
fore him.    It  is,  however,  certain  that  Robert 
!  de  Handlo  wrote  on  the  subject  before  Jo- 
I  hannes  de  Muris,  and  equally  certain  that 
!  Robert  de  Handlo  had  the  benefit  of  the  labours 
j  of  Franco.    But  here  a  new  difficulty  arises  : 
I  not  only  was  Franco  so  common  a  name  that 
j  many  learned  Francos  existed  at  the  same 
i  date,  but  at  least  three  of  this  name  were 
I  musicians — Franco  of  Paris,  Franco  of  Co- 
logne, Franco  of  Liege.    Nor  is  this  all — two 
j  distinct  dates  are  attributed  to  the  Franco 
I  who  wrote  on  Cantus  mensurabilis,  which 
I  differ  by  about  200  years  !    The  reader  who 
cares  to  enter  deeply  into  this  question  may 
'  refer  to  Fetis,  Kiesewetter,  Hawkins,  Burney, 
j  Forkel,    and    Coussemaker,    all    of  whom 
I  have  bestov^ed  much  thought  on  the  subject , 
having  done  so,  he  will  find  that  he  is  still  in 
j  ignorance.     The  truth  is,  that  mensurable 
music,  like  many  other  highly  important  in- 
gredients of  our  intellectual  life,  was  a.  growth, 
not  a  sudden  invention.    There  are  evidences 
,  that  in  the  twelfth  century  a  proportionate 


(  73  ) 


CANTUS  PLANUS  CANZONCINA. 


subdivision  of  the  length  of  sounds  was 
reached  after,  and  naturally  enough,  the  first 
step  was,  that  two  sounds  might  be  sung  to 
one,  hence  the  long  and  short,  or  long  and 
breve,  as  they  were  called.  The  shortest  note 
or  minim  found  its  way  into  use,  probably,  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  was  in  time  fol- 
lowed by  other  subdivisions.  Then  followed 
the  triple  division  of  notes,  a  threefold  division 
being  called  perfect  on  theological  grounds  ; 
then  rapidly  followed,  in  the  14th  and  15th 
centuries,  a  complication  of  mensurable  signs, 
which  now  baffles  the  most  enthusiastic 
interpreter  of  music  of  that  period,  —  the 
value  of  notes  varying  according  to  their 
position  with  regard  to  other  notes ;  or,  ac- 
cording to  the  position  of  the  tails,  if  up  or 
down,  or  on  the  right  or  left  sides  ;  or,  as  to 
the  complete  blackness  or  open  outline  (evacM- 
atio)  of  the  notes  ;  or  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
consecutive  sounds  to  one  syllable  were  writ- 
ten in  continuous  lines,  forming  ligatures. 
Happily,  from  the  i6th  century  a  genuine 
taste  for  part-music  led  to  an  unremarked  dis- 
use of  these  utterly  useless  conceits,  a  full 
account  of  which  can  only  be  found  in  ancient 
learned  treatises,  where  any  one  having  more 
taste  for  music  than  antiquities,  will  do  well 
to  leave  them. 

Cantus  planus  (Lat.)    Plain  song. 

Cantus  Romanus  (Lat.)  Roman  chant 
or  song,  (i)  The  Gregorian  system  of  music. 
(2)  The  early  attempts  at  harmonizing  a 
melody  known  as  the  organum. 

Canun  or  Kanoon  {Turkish).  An  instru- 
ment strung  with  cat-gut,  in  form  like  a 
dulcimer,  with  which  the  women  in  the 
harems  accompany  their  singing.  The  sound 
is  brought  out  by  means  of  plectra — thimbles 
made  of  tortoiseshell  pointed  with  cocoa- 
nut  wood,  and  worn  upon  the  ends  of  the 
fingers. 

Canzona  {It.)  (i)  A  short  song,  in  which 
the  music  is  of  much  more  importance  than 
the  words.  It  is  one  of  the  ancient  forms 
of  measured  melody,  and  when  the  older 
writers  employed  it,  it  was  usually  made  the 
vehicle  for  the  display  of  skill  and  contrivance 
in  the  treatment  of  the  phrases  in  fugal  imi- 
tation. A  secondary  meaning  of  the  word, 
scoffing  or  banter,  perhaps  accounts  for  the 
use  of  a  /om  in  which  a  musical  imitation 
or  mocking  was  shown. 

(2)  In  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  the 
word  was  used  to  describe  an  instrumental 
composition,  similar  to  the  sonata  as  then 
known. 

(3)  It  was  also  understood  to  mean  the  same 
as  allegro,  "  for  it  denotes  that  the  movement 
of  the  part  co  which  it  is  fixed  ought  to  be 
after  a  lively,  brisk,  or  gay  manner." 


Canzonaccia  {It.)  A  crmmonplace  song. 
Canzoncina  {It.)    A  short  poem  or  air. 


•  From  "  II  secondo  libro  di  Toccate,  Canzone  versi 
d'Minni  Maenificat,  Gagliarde,  Correnti,  ct  Altri  Par- 
tite,  di  Cembalo  et  Organo."    Rome,  1637 


(  7+  ) 


CANZONET  CARILLON. 


Canzonet,  Canzonetta  (7<.)  A  diminu- 
tive of  car.zona,  "  denoting  a  little  short  song, 
tune,  cantata,  or  suonata."  Originally  applied 
to  a  short  song  in  parts.  Luca  Marenzio, 
Giovanni  Ferreti,  and  Horatio  Vecchi  are  said 
to  have  excelled  in  this  species  of  compo- 
sition. The  title  was  also  employed  by  poets 
to  describe  verses  either  of  a  trifling  character 
or  subject ;  and  musicians,  when  they  set 
such  words,  repeated  the  poet's  title  without 
reference  to  the  musical  meaning  of  the  word. 
Brossard,  "  Dictionnaire  de  Musique,  1703," 
speaks  of  two  sorts  of  canzonets — the  Neapo- 
litan, with  two  phrases,  and  the  Sicilian,  a 
sort  of  jig  in  \-  or  f  time,  each  in  rondo 
form.  Thomas  Morley  (1597)  describes  a 
series  of  madrigals  as  "  Canzonets,  or  Little 
Short  Songs  to  Four  Voyces  ;  celected  out 
of  the  best  and  approued  Italian  Authors;" 
and  Haydn's  use  of  the  word  with  refer- 
ence to  his  well  -  known  examples  will  be 
familiar. 

Canzoniere  {It.)    A  lyric  poem  or  song. 

Caoinan  (/r/5/1.)  A  funeral  song  (Keeners). 

Capellmeister  (Ger.)  Maestro  di  Cappella 
(7^)  (i)  The  musical  director  of  a  church  or 
chapel.  A  post  of  considerable  honour,  espe- 
cially when  connected  with  a  royal  or  ducal 
chapel.  The  list  of  eminent  musicians,  from 
Palestrina  to  Mendelssohn,  who  have  held 
such  offices  is  very  large,  and  the  fact  that 
men  of  general  musical  ability  have  thus  been 
necessarily  brought  into  contact  with  sacred 
music,  has  probably  greatly  influenced  the 
character  of  the  compositions  of  the  i5th, 
17th,  and  i8th  centuries.  There  is  no  post 
in  the  English  Church  or  at  our  Court  which 
exactly  corresponds  to  that  of  Capellmeister, 
including  as  it  does  the  duties — as  circum- 
stances may  require — of  conductor,  accom- 
panist, choir-trainer,  and  composer.  The 
choir-master — an  office  lately  instituted  or  re- 
vived in  this  country — is  perhaps  the  nearest 
approach  to  the  Capellmeister.  By  the  com.- 
bination,  which  not  unfrequently  took  place, 
of  the  offices  of  "  Composer  to  his  (or  her) 
Majesty  "  and  "  Master  of  the  Children  of 
the  Royal  Chapel,"  a  veritable  Capell  meister 
was  created.  In  our  cathedrals  the  precentor 
and  organist  practically  divide  the  duties  of 
this  post. 

(2)  The  title  has  sometimes  been  applied 
to  a  conductor  of  a  band  or  an  opera. 

Capellmeister  Musik  (Ger.)  A  term  of 
contempt  for  music  made  and  not  inspired. 

Capiscolus  (Precentor)  Cabiscola. 

Capistrum  (Lat.)  A  muzzle.  A  sort  of 
bandage  wound  round  the  head  and  face  of 
the  ancient  trumpeters,  to  protect  the  cheeks 
while  playing  their  instruments,  on  account 


of  the  unusual  exertion  necessary  for  the 
proper  production  of  tone. 


Cappella,  alia  [It.)    In  the  ecclesiastical 

style.     In  duple  time.    [A  cappella.] 

Capo  (It.)    Head,  commencement. 

Capo,  da  (7^.)  A  direction  to  return  to  the 
first  or  other  indicated  movement. 

Capo  d'opera  (7^.)  The  principal  song  or 
piece  in  an  opera. 

Capo  tasto  (7^.)  (Lit.  head-stop.)  A  me- 
chanical arrangement  by  which  the  pitch  of 
the  whole  of  the  strings  of  a  guitar  is  raised 
at  once.  The  capo  tasto,  or  capodastro  as  it  is 
sometimes  called,  is  screwed  over  the  strings 
on  to  the  finger-board  and  forms  a  temporary 
nut,  e.g.  con  capo  tasto  sulla  3a  Poz. 

Capriccietto  [It.)  A  little  caprice,  or 
fancy. 

Capriccio  [It.)  A  freak,  whim,  fancy.  A 
composition  irregular  in  form. 

Caprice  {Fr.)  [Capriccio.] 

Capriccioso  (7^.)   Whimsical,  humorous. 

Caractferes  de  musique  [Fr.)  The  sigps 
used  in  music.  [Notation.] 

Caral  {old  Eng.)  Kyrriole  (Ang.-Sax.y 
[Carol.] 

Carattere  (7^.)  Character,  dignity,  quality. 

Carezzando  (7^)  \  Caressingly, singingor 

Carezzevole  (It.)  J  playingwith  a  frequent 
introduction  of  notes  of  anticipation  or  ap- 
pogiatura. 

Caricato  (7^.)    Loaded,  over  displayed. 

Carillon.  A  set  of  bells  so  arranged  ns  to 
be  played  by  hand  or  by  machinery.  The 
word  has  by  some  authors  been  connected' 
with  (Fr.)  clarine,  a  little  bell,  which  is  pro- 


(75) 


CARILLON. 


bably  connected  with  {Lat.)  clarisonus ;  but 
others  derive  it  from  the  word  quadrille,  or 
quudriglio,  on  the  ground  that  this  dance  was 
popular,  and  probably  "  set "  to  bells,  in  the 
i6th  century.  There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to 
the  antiquity  of  thus  using  small  bells.  They 
were  probably  graduated  in  size  so  as  to 
produce  a  diatonic  scale,  and  were  called  a 
Tintinnabulum. 


Fig. 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3- 


Fig.  I  is  given  by  M.  Coussemaker  as  being 
from  a  MS.  probably  of  the  gth  centurj-. 
Fig.  2  is  from  an  ancient  Psalter  in  the 
British  Museum.  Fig.  3  is  from  a  MS. 
in  the  Royal  Library  of  Brussels.  Five 
seems  to  have  been  the  number  of  bells 
usually  employed  in  earliest  times,  but  they 
were  afterwards  increased  to  six  or  seven.  It 
is  to  the  bell-founders  of  the  Low  Countries 
we  owe  the  perfecting  of  the  art  of  bell-found- 
ing and  the  construction  of  carillons,  during 
the  15th,  i6th,  17th,  and  i8th  centuries.  Pre- 
eminent among  them  stands  the  Van  den 
Gheyn  family,  whose  works  are  to  be  found 
in  almost  everj'  Belgian  belfry.  Originally  of 
Mechlin,  they  afterwards  removed  to  Louvain, 
where  Matthias  Van  den  Gheyn  (b.  1721) 
deservedly  attained  the  highest  fame,  as  or- 
ganist, composer,  carillon-maker,  and  caril- 
loneur.  The  brothers  Von  Aerscholdt,  the 
great  bell-founders,  now  living  in  Louvain, 
are  lineal  descendants  of  Matthias  Van  den 
Gheyn.  The  finest  carillons,  namely  those 
at  Antwerp,  Mechlin,  Bruges,  Ghent,  and 
Namur,  consist  of  about  forty  bells,  extending 
from  huge  specimens  of  several  tons  in  weight 
up  to  little  bells  weighing  only  a  few  pounds.* 


*  The  fine  chimes  in  Mechlin  consist  of  45  bells,  the 
largest  of  which  weighs  between  g  and  10  tons.  This 
rich-toned  bell  was  cast  by  Aerscholdt  in  1844.  At 
Ghent  there  are  48  bells  144  above  and  the  4  heaviest  in 
the  lower  storey  ,  the  largest  of  which  was  cast  by  Du 
Mery,  1744,  and  weighs  about  5J  tons.  At  Antwerp 
there  are  in  reality  two  carillons — one  connected  to  the 
machinery,  and  in  use,  the  other  disused.  That  in  use 
consists  of  48  bells,  the  largest  of  which  weighs  about 
7  tons.  At  Bruges  there  are  48  bells,  the  largest  nearly  ^ 
10  tons.  At  Namur  there  are  about  50  bells,  the  largest 
about  4  tons.  Many  of  the  bells  in  the  Belgian  chimes 
are  found  to  be  of  Dutch  make,  and  ;by  their  inscrip- 
tions) have  been  issued  from  old  foundries  in  Amsterdaiii, 
Rotterdam,  Zutphen,  and  elsewhere. 


(  76  ) 


CARILLON  CAROL. 


They  are  in  most  cases  arranged  as  follows  : 
the  smaller  bells  are  fixed  to  strong  timbers 
and  arranged  in  rows,  according  to  size,  the 
largest  being  nearest  to  the  floor — the  bells 
and  framework  thus  representing  the  outline 
of  a  pyramid.  Where  there  are  many  spe- 
cially large  bells,  these  are  generally  placed 
in  a  lower  storey,  not  uncommonly  below  the 
chiming  machinery.  To  each  bell  is  attached 
one  or  more  hammers  on  the  outer  side,  and 
a  clapper  in  the  inside.  To  the  lever-end  of 
the  hammers  thick  wires  are  attached,  which 
pass  down  to  long  iron  rods.  The  lever-end 
of  these  rest  on  the  tambour,  or  barrel,  on 
which  are  arranged  projecting  staples.  When 
the  barrel  is  turned  (which  is  done  by  ordinary 
clockwork)  the  staple  forces  up  the  end  of  the 
iron  rod,  the  other  end  at  the  same  time  pull- 
ing down  the  wire  and  raising  the  hammer. 
When  the  barrel  releases  the  iron-rod,  it  drops 
suddenly  and  causes  the  hammer  to  strike  the 
bell.  Some  time  is  of  course  required  for  the 
raising  of  the  larger  hammers,  hence  the 
necessity  of  having  several  hammers  to  some 
of  the  bells,  so  that  if  a  quick  repetition  of  the 
sound  is  required,  one  hammer  shall  be  ready 
to  strike  while  another  is  being  brought  into 
position.  There  are,  therefore,  always  a 
larger  number  of  staples  on  the  barrel  than 
there  are  bells  in  the  carillon.  The  clapper, 
before-mentioned  as  being  in  every  bell,  is 
held  by  a  wire-loop,  within  an  inch  or  two  of 
the  side  of  the  bell  ;  this  wire  passes  down 
to  the  clavier,  or  keyboard — a  series  of  small 
round  sticks,  arranged  in  an  order  similar  to 
that  of  the  black  and  white  keys  of  a  piano- 
forte, but  separated  from  each  other  by  a 
sufficient  distance  to  allow  each  one  to  be 
struck  with  the  Jist  without  fear  of  that  on 
either  side  of  it  being  also  struck.  The  clap- 
pers of  the  heaviest  bells  are,  owing  to  their 
weight,  generally  attached  to  a  pedal-board, 
and  the  carilloneur  usually  guards  his  hand 
with  a  thick  glove  when  playing. 

It  will  be  understood  from  this  short  de- 
scription that  the  mechanism  by  which  these 
beautiful  bells  are  chimed  and  played  is  of 
the  roughest  description.  Vast  improvements 
have,  however,  been  lately  made,  chiefly  in 
England  ;  and  Messrs.  Gillett  and  Bland  have 
invented  an  ingenious  piece  of  mechanism, 
by  which  the  hammers  are  held  up  constantly, 
and  only  have  to  be  released  by  the  action  of 
the  barrel.  This  insures  a  regularity  in  the 
striking  which  cannot  on  the  old  system  be 
attained,  and  does  away  with  the  necessity 
for  multiplying  hammers  to  a  single  bell. 

The  higher  octaves  contain  generally  a  com- 
plete chromatic  ecale.  But  the  heavier  bells, 
owing  to  their  great  cost  and  the  large  amount 
of  room  they  occupy,  are  limited  to  such  import- 
ant fundamental  basses  as  tonic,  subdominant,  | 


and  dominant ;  or,  at  most,  to  the  first  five 
degrees  of  the  diatonic  scale.  A  short 
"  flourish  '  is  played  at  the  half-quarter,  a 
slightly  longer  phrase  at  each  quarter,  a  tune 
at  each  half  hour  and  hour.  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted t'-jat  we  in  England  are  but  just  begin- 
ning tr  appreciate  the  beauty  of  the  effect 
produced  by  carillon  -  music.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  nowhere  but  in  England  can 
genuine  change-ringing  be  heard,  in  which, 
the  tone  produced  by  the  bells  as  they  swing 
completely  round  is  totally  different  in  cha- 
racter from  that  obtained  by  the  dead  stroke  of 
a  hammer.  But  bells  can  be  easily  arranged 
so  as  to  do  the  double  duty  of  chiming  and 
change-ringing,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  they 
will  often  in  future  be  so  arranged. 

Carilloneur (Fr.)  Bell-player.  [Carillons.] 

Carita,  con  {It.)    With  tenderness. 

Carmagnole.  A  dance  accompanied  b}- 
singing,  named  from  Carmagnola  in  Pied- 
mont. Many  of  the  wildest  excesses  of  the 
French  revolution  of  1792  were  associated 
with  this  dance.  It  was  afterwards  applied 
to  the  bombastic  reports  of  the  French  suc- 
cesses in  battle.  The  song  commenced  with 
"  Madame  Veto  avait  promis,"  and  each  verse 
ended  with  the  burden  "  Dansons  la  car- 
magnole, vive  le  son  du  canon." 

Carol.  To  sing  or  warble,  to  celebrate  in 
song. 

Carol.    A  song  of  praise,  applied  to  a 
species  of  songs  sung  at  Christmas-tide.  It 
originally  meant  a  song  accompanied  with 
dancing,  in  which  sense  it  is  frequently  used 
by  the  old  poets  (perhaps   connected  with 
choraula).    It  appears  to  have  been  danced 
by  many  performers,  by  taking  hands,  form- 
ing a  ring,  and  singing  as  they  went  round. 
It  will  be  readily  imagined  that  a  dance  of 
this  character  would  lead  to  a  certain  wildness 
if  not  rudeness  of  behaviour,  so  that  the  warn- 
ing contained  in  the  following  verse  addressed 
to  those  of  gentle  blood  who  indulged  in  the 
exercise,  might  not  be  altogether  unnecessary  : 
"  Fille  quant  ferez  en  karolle 
Dancez  gentiment  par  mesure 
Car,  quant  fille  se  desmesure 
Tel  la  voit  qui  la  tient  par  folle." 

Bishop  Taylor  says  that  the  oldest  carol 
was  that  sung  by  the  heavenly  host  when 
the  birth  of  the  Saviour  was  announced  to 
the  Shepherds  on  the  plains  of  Bethlehem. 
It  is  probable  that  the  practice  of  singing 
carols  at  Christmas-tide  arose  in  imitation  of 
this,  as  the  majority  of  the  carols  declared 
the  good  tidings  of  great  joy;  and  the  title  of 
Noels,  nowells,  or  novelles,  applied  to  carols, 
would  seem  to  bear  out  this  idea. 

Carol  singing  is  of  great  antiquity  among 
Christian  communities,  as  the  carol  by  Aure- 
lius  Prudentius,  of  the  4th  century,  will  show. 


(  77  ) 


CAROLA  CATCH. 


This  poem  contains  twenty-nine  stanzas, 
commencing : — 

"  Quid  est  quod  arctuin  circulum 
Sol  jam  recurrens  deserit, 
Christusne  terris  nascitur, 
Qui  lucis  auget  tramitem  ?  " 

Carols  were  both  serious  and  humorous  in 
the  14th  and  15th  centuries.  Mr.  Chappell 
quotes  a  tune  that  might  be  sung  to  words  of 
either  character,  but  bearing  reference  to  the 
observances  of  the  season  of  Christmas. 
(Popular  Music,  i.  42.) 

In  later  times  carols  were  written  of  a  more 
sober  character,  and  we  find  in  1630  the  pub- 
lication of  "  Certaine  of  David's  Psalmes  in- 
tended for  Christmas  carols  fitted  to  the  most 
sollempne  tunes  everywhere  familiarlie  used, 
by  William  Slayter,  printed  by  Robert  Yong." 
Upon  a  copy  of  the  later  edition  {1642),  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum,  a  former 
possessor  has  written  the  names  of  some  of 
these  tunes;  for  example.  Psalm  6,  to  the  tune 
of  Jane  Shore,  Psalm  9  to  Bara  Forster's 
Dreame,  Psalm  43  to  Crimson  Velvet,  Psalm 
47  to  Garden  Greene,  &c.  Shakspeare  alludes 
to  the  Puritan  practice  of  adapting  religious 
words  to  secular  melody  in  his  "Winter's 
Tale :" 

"  There  is  but  one  puritan  among  them  and  he  sings 
psalms  to  hornpipes."' 

After  the  Restoration,  carols  of  the  old  kind 
became  again  popular,  and  from  that  time  to 
the  present  the  singing  of  carols  at  Christ- 
n  as  became  steadily  encouraged. 

Warton  supposes  the  religious  carol  to  have 
been  introduced  by  the  Puritans,  but  this  is  a 
mi.itake,  as  a  reference  to  Mr.  Wright's  col- 
lection, made  for  the  Percy  Society,  will  show. 

The  earliest  printed  collection  was  made  by 
Wynkyn  de  Words,  1521,  but  all  these  are  of 
a  convivial  character. 

Many  of  the  old  carols  had  scraps  of  Latin 
intermixed  with  English,  as — 

"  Puer  nobis  natus  est  de  Maria  Virgine 
Be  glad  lordynges,  be  the  more  or  lesse, 
I  bring  you  tydinges  of  gladnesse 
As  Gabriel  me  bereth  witnesse." 

Compare  also  "  In  dulci  jubilo,"  in  which 
Latin  and  German  were  used. 

Carola  (It.)  A  dance  accompanied  by 
singing,  which  grew  into  unenviable  notoriety 
during  the  Republic  of  1792  in  France,  c.f. 
carmagnole. 

Cartellone  [It.)  The  prospectus  of  an 
operatic  season. 

Carnyx  (Gk.)  An  ancient  Greek  trumpet 
of  a  shrill  tone,  known  afterwards  to  the 
Celts  and  Gauls.    Kopwi.  (Gk.)  c.f.  cornu. 

Cassa-grande  (//.)    The  big  drum. 

Cassatio.  [Suite.] 

Castagnette  (//.)    Castagnettes  (Fr.) 

Castanu  las  (S/.)  Castanets. 


Castanets.  A  musical  instrument  of  per- 
cussion introduced  into  Spain  by  the  Moors. 
The  castanets  were  originally  dried  chestnut 
husks,  from  whence  their  name  is  derived, 
but  were  afterwards  made  of  hard  wood,  by 
which  means  the  tone  was  rendered  more 
defined.  The  ancient  KporaXov,  was  a  species 
of  Castanet  (knicky-knackers).  [Bones.] 

Castrato  (It.)  A  male  singer  with  a 
peculiarity  of  voice,  produced  by  a  natural 
deprivation  procured  in  early  youth  for  the 
purpose  of  preserving  the  normal  tone. 

Catch.  A  species  of  canon  or  round  for 
three  or  four  voices,  in  which  the  words  are 
so  contrived  that  by  the  union  of  the  voices  a 
different  meaning  is  given  by  the  singers 
catching  at  each  other's  words.  Poems  of  a 
trivial  character,  similar  in  style  to  nursery- 
rhyme  doggrels,  were  also  called  catches. 
For  example,  there  is  a  poem  by  "  the  learned 
Clarke,  Lewis  Wager,"  printed  in  1567,"  be- 
ginning: 

"  I  have  a  pretty  titmouse 
Come  pecking  on  my  toe ;" 

and  one  of  John  Lyly's  songs  from  "  Endy- 
mion,"  1591,  is  distinguished  by  the  title  ot 
"a  catch."  The  musical  catch  originated 
about  the  early  part  of  the  17th  century,  the 
first  collection  of  catches  being  made  by 
Ravenscroft  in  1609,  under  the  title  of"  Pam- 
melia,  Musicks  miscellanie,  or  mixed  varieties 
of  pleasant  Roundelays  and  delightfull  Catches 
of  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10  parts  in  one  ;  none  so 
ordinarie  as  musicall  ;  none  so  musicall  as 
not  to  be  all  very  pleasing  and  acceptable." 
These,  and  others  contained  in  later  publica- 
tions are  little  else  than  rounds,  without  the 
humour,  so  called,  of  the  catch  as  it  was  after- 
wards accepted.  William  Jackson,  of  Exeter, 
says  that  "  they  are  three  parts  obscenity  and 
one  part  music.  If  they  are  not  indecent, 
they  are  nothing.  There  is  no  particular  ob- 
ject in  them,  but  they  are  a  species  of  musical 
false  wit."  Of  the  few  catches  which  may  be 
yet  sung  in  a  mixed  company,  "  Would  you 
know  my  Celia's  charms  ?"  by  S.  Webbe,  and 
"  Have  you  read  Sir  John  Hawkins's  History  ?" 
and  "  Ah  !  how  Sophia,"  by  Callcott,  are  the 
most  favourable  specimens.  The  words  of 
the  first  are  as  follows: 

"  Would  you  know  my  Celia's  charms, 
Which  now  excite  my  fierce  alarms  ? 
I'm  sure  she  has  fortitude  and  truth 
To  gain  the  heart  of  every  youth. 

She's  only  thirty  lovers  now, 
The  rest  are  gone  I  can't  tell  how; 
No  longer  Celia  ought  to  strive. 
For  certainly  she's  fifty-five." 

The  humour  of  this  catch  consists  in  the 
emphasis  placed  upon  the  words  fortitude, 
thirty,  and  fifty -five,  by  which  it  appears  to 
the  hearers  that  each  singer  is  contending  in 


(  78  ) 


CATENA  DI  TRILLI  CATHEDRAL  MUSIC. 


turn  to  uphold  his  notion  of  the  age  of  the 
lady.  In  the  second,  the  words  "  Barney's 
History"  are  made  to  sound  like  "burn  his 
history,"  and  in  the  third,  one  voice  cries,  "  a 
house  a  fire,"  another,  "go  fetch  the  engines," 
while  one  apparently  indifferent  exclaims, 
"  I'm  but  a  lodger,"  from  the  following  words  : 

'  Ah  !  how,  Sophia,  could  you  leave 
Your  lover,  and  of  hope  bereave, 
Go  fetch  the  Indian's  borrowed  plume, 
But  richer  far  than  that  you  bloom. 
I'm  but  a  lodger  in  her  heart, 
Where  more  than  me  I  fear  have  part." 

There  were  formerly  a  number  of  clubs  sup- 
ported for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  the 
production  and  performance  of  this  species  of 
musical  trifle,  only  one  or  two  of  which  are  at 
present  in  existence,  a  better  feeling  having 
diverted  the  main  object  of  these  societies  into 
the  encouragement  and  execution  of  glees, 
part-songs,  &c.    [Round,  canon.] 

Catena  di  trilli  {It).  A  chain,  or  succes- 
sion, of  short  vocal  or  instrumental  shakes. 

Catgut.  Boyau  (Fr.),  Minugia  (It.),  Darm 
(Ger.)  The  name  given  to  the  material  of 
which  the  strings  of  many  musical  instru- 
ments are  formed ;  it  is  made  from  the  intestines 
of  the  sheep,  and  sometimes  from  those  of  the 
horse,  but  never  from  those  of  the  cat. 

Cathedral  Music.  A  term  applied  to 
that  music  which  has  been  composed  to  suit 
the  form  of  service  used  in  our  cathedrals 
since  the  Reformation.  It  includes  settings 
of  canticles  and  also  of  anthems.  The  first 
writers  of  this  class  of  music  were  Marbecke, 
Tallis,  Tye,  and  Byrd,  and  the  works  of  the 
two  last  named  especially  illustrate  the  state 
of  cathedral  music  at  the  period  in  which 
they  lived,  for  they  employed  Latin  and 
English  words  to  the  same  music,  so  that  it 
might  be  available  whether  the  service  was 
according  to  the  ancient  or  reformed  usage. 
The  style  of  the  earliest  cathedral  music  was 
formed  on  the  model  of  the  Italian  motets 
and  other  sacred  compositions,  and  with  the 
exception  of  a  difference  in  the  words  was 
identical  with  the  secular  music  of  the  period. 

It  was  feared  that  the  Commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  the  Statute  27  Henry  "VIII.  to 
compile  a  body  of  ecclesiastical  laws  "  as 
should  in  future  be  observed  throughout  the 
realm,"  taking  into  consideration  the  abuse  of 
music  in  the  Church,  would  forbid  its  use 
altogether.  As  the  King  was  fond  of  music 
they  deemed  it  politic  to  retain  it  for  the  service 
of  the  Church,  but  they  implied  a  return  to 
simple  forms,  in  directing  certain  parts  of  the 
service  to  be  sung  by  the  "ministers  and 
clarkes  "  in  a  plain,  distinct,  and  audible 
manner.  The  rubric  of  the  First  Book  of 
Edward  VI.  prescribes  the  saying  or  singing 
of  "  mattens  and  evensong ;  "  and  in  the  minis- 


tration of  the  Communion  that  the  clerk?  shall 
sing  in  English  for  the  office  or  "Introile  as 
it  is  called,"  a  psalm  appointed  for  that  day. 
And  again  it  directs  that  the  clerks  shall  sing 
one  or  many  ofthe  sentences  therein  mentioned, 
according  to  the  length  and  shortness  of  the 
time  that  the  people  be  offering.  In  John 
Marbecke's  "  Booke  of  Common  Praier  noted  " 
1550,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  whole  of  the 
service  was  sung  either  to  some  general  kind 
of  recitation  or  intonation  with  small  inflec- 
tions, to  an  adaptation  of  the  ancient  cantus  or 
accentiis  ecclesiasticus,  or  to  some  modification 
of  the  old  use  by  Marbecke  himself.  Queen 
Elizabeth  in  her  injunctions  concerning  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  this  realm,  published  in 
the  first  year  of  her  reign,  1559,  desired  the 
"  continuance  of  syngynge  in  the  Churche  " 
and  "  that  there  bee  a  modeste  and  destyn  te 
song  so  used  in  all  parts  of  the  Common 
Prayers  in  the  Churche,  that  the  same  may 
be  as  playnely  understanded  as  if  it  were 
read  without  syngynge." 

Notwithstanding  this  injunction  the  use  of 
singing  and  of  organs  in  the  Church  was 
only  maintained  by  a  majority  of  one  in  the 
Lower  House  of  Convocation,  a  strong  objec- 
tion to  Cathedral  music  existing  even  in  that 
early  period.  After  Marbecke's  book,  which 
has  music  in  one  part  only,  John  Day  (1560) 
published  a  service  in  four  parts,  adding  five 
years  later,  those  "  offices  "  which  had  been 
omitted  in  the  former  collection.  These  pre- 
served to  a  certain  extent  the  prescribed  of 
adopted  "  use  "  in  those  parts  of  the  service 
which  were  always  intended  to  be  performed 
simply,  the  publication  also  indicated  the 
places  where  a  more  elaborate  musical  setting 
might  be  allowed,  and  composers  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  licence  wrote  original  music 
forthe  Venite,  Te  Deum,  Benedictus,  Jubilate, 
Communion  Service,  the  Canticles  used  at 
evensong,  and  "  such  godly  praiers  and  psalmes 
in  the  like  form  to  the  honor  and  praise  of 
God," — "  so  they  may  be  songe  as  anthems." 
The  use  of  organs  and  singing  in  the  Church 
was  nevertheless  a  sore  grievance  to  the 
Puritans ;  they  did  not,  however,  object  to 
metrical  psalms,  and  employed  them  when- 
ever and  wherever  possible ;  but  the  cathedrals 
always  objected  to  their  introduction,  as  not 
being  cathedral  music  properly  so  called ;  it 
is  within  the  last  ten  years  only  that  hymns 
or  psalm  tunes  have  been  sung  in  cathedrals 
as  an  integral  part  of  the  ordinary  service. 
In  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  metrical 
psalms  were  the  only  things  sung  in  the 
churches,  but  they  were  also  sung  at  other 
times,  and  it  was  not  until  the  Restoration  of 
Charles  II.  that  Cathedral  service  was  re- 
sumed, this  time  in  a  considerably  altered 
form.    The  Communion  Service  or  Mass,  in 


(  79  ) 


CATHEDRAL  MUSIC  CAVATINA. 


times  past  held  to  be  the  most  important  act 
of  worship,  was  placed  in  the  back  -  ground, 
and  was,  when  celebrated,  given  without  tha 
aid  of  music.  Church  composers  did  not 
take  the  trouble  to  set  those  parts  of  the 
service  which  were  never  performed,  and  con- 
sequently there  is  not  a  single  "  Gloria  in 
excelsis "  produced  by  any  cathedral  writer 
between  1660  and  1840,  other  than  as  an 
anthem.  When  so  set,  it  was  considered 
allowable  to  omit  some  sentences  and  add 
others  at  discretion,  so  that  it  would  be 
scarcely  available  for  the  Communion  Ser- 
vice. The  "  Sanctus  "  was  set  to  music, 
as  it  became  the  habit  to  sing  it  in  the 
place  of  the  Introit,  a  fashion  not  yet  dead 
in  many  cathedrals.  When  the  Communion 
Service  was  restored  to  its  true  importance 
about  twenty-five  years  since,  adaptations  of 
Marbecke's  arrangements  were  freely  and 
properly  used,  until  a  new  generation  of  com- 
posers employed  their  talents  to  supply  the 
deficiency.  At  the  time  of  the  Restoration, 
the  character  of  cathedral  music  also  under- 
went a  change.  The  influence  of  the  French 
school  may  be  traced  in  the  writings  of  Purcell, 
Humphries,  Blow,  Wise,  Weldon,  and  others. 
It  is  not  a  little  strange  that  while  most  tem- 
porary influences  can  be  seen  in  the  various 
periods  of  cathedral  music,  there  are  few  in- 
stances of  any  church  composers  copying 
Handel's  style,  and  none  in  which  it  was  done 
with  success.  Dr.  Greene,  his  contemporary, 
has  a  special  character  of  his  own,  Dr.  Boyce 
has  also  his  individuality,  and  the  elder  Hayes 
shows  no  leaning  towards  the  great  oratorio 
writer.  Handel's  oratorios,  though  not  writ- 
ten for  the  cathedral,  are  often  laid  under  con- 
tribution, whereas  the  anthems  composed  by 
him  for  the  service  of  the  Church  are  com- 
paratively neglected  and  unknown. 

At  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  and 
the  beginning  of  the  present,  cathedral  music 
was  at  its  weakest  point ;  adaptations,  arrange- 
ments, florid  melodies,  with  paltry  accompani- 
ments, chants  of  a  gay  and  undignified  style, 
and  all  music  used  in  the  service,  showing 
the  influence  of  a  general  indifference  and 
carelessness,  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  still 
exists,  though  happily  in  no  strong  degree, 
for  a  more  reverent  feeling  abounds  and  is 
nourished.  Cathedral  music,  like  every  other 
branch  of  art,  should  increase  and  be  pro- 
gressive, should  take  advantage  of  every  new 
discovery  or  admitted  truth  in  music.  All 
styles  should  be  fairly  represented,  and  no 
one  style  should  be  considered  as  indicative 
of  special  doctrinal  views.  There  are  few 
who  seriously  object  to  a  building  in  which 
successive  styles  are  seen,  but  on  the  con-, 
trary  think  that  all  that  is  good  should  be 
retained.    The  many  who  have  spoken  in 


music  in  past  ages  should  have  their  sayings 
preserved  when  they  are  worthy  of  being 
kept,  but  it  would  be  folly  to  insist  upon  the 
retention  of  all  that  could  be  gathered  of  the 
works  of  a  writer,  because  he  has  said  one 
happy  and  lasting  thing.  It  is  not  given  to 
men  to  be  wise  at  all  times,  and  the  best  of 
cathedral  musicians  have  written  unworthy 
stuff.  Taste  and  good  sense,  free  from  pre- 
judice, will  guide  to  a  proper  and  useful 
selection,  so  that  cathedral  music  for  ordinary 
purposes  may  include  the  thoughts  uttered 
under  all  influences  in  many  ages. 

The  small  number  of  voices  considered  suf- 
ficient for  the  usual  services  of  our  cathedrals 
is  a  bar  to  grand  effects.  This  has  been  felt 
by  composers,  who  have  been  compelled  so  to 
arrange  their  music  that  it  may  produce  ade- 
quate effects  from  the  usual  small  choirs. 
Probably  with  a  prophetic  view  of  the  future 
augmentation  of  the  musical  staff  of  a  cathe- 
dral, many  modern  composers  have  so  con- 
structed their  works,  that  while  they  are  not 
ineff"ective  with  a  small  body,  they  are  nobly 
grand  when  given  by  increased  numbers.  So 
that  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  days 
of  the  future,  when  cathedral  choirs  shall  be 
in  numbers  and  skill  worthy  of  the  service  to 
which  they  minister,  cathedral  composers  will 
be  equal  to  the  task  of  writing  music  suitable 
to  the  time  and  place.  The  grand  effect  pro- 
duced by  a  large  body  of  voices  in  a  cathedral 
during  the  performance  of  an  oratorio  upon 
the  occasion  of  a  festival  is  never  without 
some  influence  in  turning  men's  minds  to 
higher  things.  Music  is  the  handmaid  of  re- 
ligion, and  there  can  be  no  reasonable  objec- 
tion to  the  introduction  of  oratorios  and  other 
extensive  sacred  compositions,  with  all  the 
effects  that  a  trained  choir  and  orchestra  can 
produce,  provided  always,  that  such  perform- 
ances are  made  an  integral  part  of  an  act  of 
worship.  In  the  metropolis  such  perform- 
ances have  been  given  with  the  most  satis- 
factory results  at  stated  times,  and  the  day 
may  not  be  very  far  distant,  when  they  may  be 
made  of  more  frequent  occurrence,  and  so,  our 
cathedrals,  by  calling  into  requisition  all  musi- 
cal talent,  inventive  or  executive,  will  become 
again  what  they  once  were,  the  nurseries  and 
centres  of  musical  culture  and  knowledge. 

Catlings.   The  smallest  sized  lute-strings 

Cauda  (Lat.)    The  tail  of  a  note. 

Cavaletta  (It.)  [Cabaletta.] 

Cavaletto  (It.)  (1)  A  little  bridge.  {2) 
The  break  in  the  voice. 

Cavalquet  (Fr.)  A  trumpet-signal  to 
cavalry. 

Cavata  (It.)  fCavatina.] 

Cavatina  (It.)  A  melody  of  a  more  sim- 
ple form  than  the  aria,  A  song  without  a 
second  part  and  a  "  Da  capo."    The  term  is, 


(  80  ) 


C.B.  CELERITA,  CON. 


however,  applied  with  less  strictness  to  airs 
of  other  kinds.  (See  "  Be  thou  faithful,"  in 
Mendelssohn's  "  St.  Paul,"  and  "  Salve  di- 
mora,"  in  Gounod's  "  Faust,"  &c.) 

C.B.    Abbreviation  for  Contra-basso. 

C  barre  (Fr.)  The  term  for  the  time  indi- 
cator.   C  with  a  dash  through  it. 

C  clef.  The  clef  showing  the  position  of 
middle  C,  in  which  are  written  the  alto,  tenor, 
and  (in  old  music)  other  parts. 

Soprano  Clef.  Mezzo-Soprano       Alto  Clef      Tenor  Clef. 
Clef. 

[Clef.] 

I        C  dur  {Ger.)    C  major. 

Cebell.  The  name  of  an  air  or  theme  in 
common  time  of  four  bar  phrases,  forming  a 
subject  upon  which  to  execute  "  divisions " 
upon  the  lute  or  violin.  This  style  of  air, 
although  frequently  found  in  books  for  the 
violin  in  the  17th  century,  is  now  obsolete; 
its  principal  feature  was  the  alternation  of 
grave  and  acute  notes  which  formed  the 
several  strains.    The  following  are  examples  : 


Celere  (It.)    Quick,  swift. 
Celerita,  con  {It.)    With  speed,  hasle. 
Quickly. 


(  81  ) 


F 


CELESTE- 


;  CHAMBER  MUSIC. 


Celeste  (Fr.)  A  direction  for  the  use  of 
the  soft  pedal. 

Celeste,  voix  (Fr.)  A  stop  on  the  organ 
or  harmonium.    [Vox  AngeHca.] 

Celeusma  {Gk.)  KiXevapa,  or  KiXtvfxa  (from 
KE\tv<u,  to  urge  on,  to  command).  The  word 
or  sing-song  of  the  kekeva-iiQ  (fugle-man  or 
leader),  by  which  oarsman  were  encouraged 
to  row  rhythmically,  and  by  which,  to  this 
day,  sailors  pull  uniformly  and  simultaneously 
at  a  rope. 

Celli.    Abh.  of  violoncelli. 

Cello.    Abb.  of  violoncello. 

Cembalista  {It.)    A  pianoforte  player. 

Cembalo.  Clave  -  cembalo,  cimbalo.  A 
harpsichord.  [Pianoforte.] 

Cembanella  (It.)  [Cennamella.] 

Cennamella  (//.)    A  pipe,  or  flute. 

Cento  [Lat.)  ]     (In  Greek  Ktvrpuiv.) 

Centone  {It.)  f  Patch-work.  A  musical  work 
made  up  of  extracts  from  an  author's  compo- 
sitions, as  a  cento  was  from  an  author's  poems. 
c.f.  pasticcio. 

Cercar  la  nota  {It.)  To  feel  for  a  note, 
to  reach  it  by  slurring. 

Cervalet  or  Cervelat  (perhaps  dim.  of 
cervus,  signifying  a  little  stag-horn).  An  an- 
cient wind-instrument  of  a  small  size,  from 
which,  by  means  of  a  reed,  tones  similar  in 
character  to  those  of  the  bassoon  could  be 
produced. 

Ces  {Ger.)    C  flat. 

Cetera  (//.)    A  citarra  or  guitar. 

Chacona  (5/).)  ^     A  slow  dance  in  |  time, 

Ciaconna  {It.)  i-frequently  constructed 

Chaconne  {Fr.)  J  upon  a  ground  bass,  and 
sometimes  formerly  introduced  as  a  move- 
ment of  a  sonata.  [Chica.] 

It  is  usually  stated  that  the  chaconne  is  in 
Jhe  major  mode,  and  that  passacaille  which  is 
somewhat  similar  to  it  in  rhj'thm  is  in  the 
minor.  This  is  not  the  case,  as  the  following 
theme  on  which  Bach's  celebrated  ciaccona 
for  violin  solo  is  founded,  will  show  : 

^^^^^^^^^^ 

Chair  organ.  A  name  given  to  the  Pre- 
stant  or  choir-organ,  from  a  notion  that  it 
formed  the  seat  of  the  organist,  when  placed 
behind  him. 

Chalameau  {Fr.)  Stem,  or  straw-pipe, 
from  the  Latin  calamus,  a  reed.  The  lower 
register  of  the  clarinet  and  the  basset-horn  is 
called  the  chalameau  tone,  from  the  obsolete 
instrument  shaiom,  schalmey,  precursor  of  the 
oboe  and  clarinet. 

Chamber  music.  Kammermusik  (Ger.) 
Musica  da  camera  {It.)  Vocal  or  instru- 
mental compositions  suitable  for  perform- 
ance in  a  chamber,  as  opposed  to  a  concert- 


room.  The  performance  in  private  upon  single 
instruments  of  any  class  constituted  the  first 
chamber  music  properly  so-called.  Strictly 
speaking,  any  music  vocal  or  instrumental 
played  in  private  is  chamber  music  ;  but  the 
term  is  now  applied  not  only  to  perform- 
ances upon  a  single  instrument,  with  or 
without  accompaniment,  but  also  to  any 
i  combination  of  different  instruments,  with 
only  one  player  to  each  part — duets,  trios, 
quartetts,  &c.,  for  voices  or  instruments.  It 
is  probable  that  the  first  chamber  music  con- 
structed as  such  was  entirely  vocal,  and  not 
of  much  earlier  date  than  the  end  of  the  15th 
or  the  beginning  of  the  i6th  centuries — the 
Scolia  of  the  Greeks,  the  music  of  the  min- 
strels, and  of  public  and  private  musicians  of 
later  date,  including  among  the  former  "  the 
waits,"  "  noises,"  and  other  private  bands, 
not  being  of  a  character  that  could  fairly  be 
called  by  the  title  chamber  music.  Therefore 
the  Madrigal  will  be  regarded  as  among  the 
first  specimens  of  chamber  music.  The  titles 
of  more  than  one  collection,  for  example. 
"  Madrigali  di  Tavolina,"  "  Madrigali  di 
Camera,"  "  Madrigali  Concertati,"  "  Madri- 
gali et  Arie  per  sonare  et  cantare,"  and  so 
forth,  together  with  the  peculiar  style  in  which 
many  of  the  early  books  are  printed, — two 
parts  on  one  page  intended  to  be  read  by  two 
persons  seated  opposite  to  each  other  at  the 
same  table — would  show  conclusively  that 
they  were  intended  as  chamber  music. 

The  addition  of  instrumental  accompani- 
ments to  madrigals  probably  arose  out  of  a 
I  desire  to  support  the  voices  and  keep  them  in 
tune,  as  well  as  to  give  employment  to  those 
who  could  play  and  not  sing,  but  who  were 
desirous  of  taking  part  in  that  which  was 
going  on.     This  practice — at  first  a  mere 
conciliation   to  the   instrumentalists  —  sug- 
gested the  use  of  instruments  alone  for  the 
purposes  of  concert.    Thus  we  find  attached 
to  the  early  productions,  instructions  to  the 
effect  that  they  are  "  apt  for  Instrumentes 
and  Voyces,"  as  in  Alison's  "  An  Howres 
Recreation  in  Musicice,"  or  as  in  Bonai^ino's 
"  Madrigali,"  that  they  are  available  "  per 
cantar  e  sonar  nel  Clave  cimbalo,  Chitarrone  6 
altro  simile  Instrumento,"  or  as  in  the  later 
editions  of  Byrd's  Psalmes,  Songs,  and  Son- 
nets, framed  to  be  "  fit  for  Voyces  or  Viols." 
Doubtless  from  such  small  beginnings  the 
I  writers  of  the  time  were  induced  to  compose 
"Consort    lessons,"    "  Ayres,"  "Fancies," 
"  Canzone  da  Sonare,"  and  the  like,  often 
written  in  six  parts,  the  number  of  viols  in  a 
"  chest."    These  compositions  at  first  differed 
verj'  little  in  point  of  form  and  treatment  from 
I  the  madrigals  from  whence  they  weie  derived 
:  until  the  demand  arose  for  pieces  of  less  dig- 
i  nity,  in  obedience  to  which  demand  we  find 


(82) 


CHANGEABLE  CHANT  CHANT. 


dance  tunes,  "  Almaines,  Ayres,  Corants, 
Sarabands,  Moriscoes,  Jiggs,  &c,,"  hitherto 
only  set  for  a  single  instrument,  arranged  in 
parts  for  "Viols  or  Violins;"  and  these  and 
other  dance-tunes  issued  in  sztites  made  into 
the  first  sonatas,  and  the  symmetrical  shape 
in  which  each  was  necessarily  written  for  the 
purposes  of  the  dance  gave  rise  to  that  which 
is  known  as  Form.  The  word  Sonata,  at 
first  applied  to  pieces  for  a  solo  instrument, 
as  well  as  to  those  for  several,  became  gradu- 
ally to  be  used  as  a  term  for  compositions 
of  a  certain  character  for  a  single  compound 
instrument,  as  the  organ,  harpsichord,  or 
pianoforte. 

The  most  important  era  in  the  history  of 
chamber  music  was  the  final  quarter  of  the 
last  and  the  first  of  the  present  centuries  ; 
the  labours  of  Boccherini,  whose  trios,  quar- 
tetts,  and  quintetts  are  form-like,  easy,  and 
graceful,  as  well  as  those  of  Fiorillo,  Giardini, 
Pugnani,  and  Viotti,  leading  to  the  foundation 
of  the  school  in  which  Pleyel,  Haydn,  Mozart, 
and  Beethoven  were  such  apt  pupils  and 
masters. 

Changeable  chant.  A  single  or  double 
chant  which  can  be  sung  either  in  the  major 
or  minor  mode  without  other  alteration  than 
the  substitution  of  the  minor  third  and  sixth 
of  the  scale  for  those  of  the  corresponding 
major. 


Change  of  voice.  [Larynx.] 

Change  ringing.  [Bells.] 

Changer  de  jeu  (Fr.)  To  alter  the  stops 
on  an  organ  or  harmonium. 

Changes.  The  altered  melodies  produced 
by  varying  the  sounds  of  a  peal  of  bells. 
[Bells.] 

Changing  notes.  Passing  notes  or  dis- 
cords which  occur  on  the  accented  parts  of  a 
bar. 

Chanson  (Fr.)  (i)  A  song.  (2)  A  national 
melody.    (3)  A  part-song. 

Chansonnette  {Fr.)    A  little  song. 

Chant.  A  short  musical  composition  to 
which  the  Canticles  and  the  prose  version  of 
the  Psalms  are  sung,  either  in  unison  or  in 
four-part  harmony.  There  are  two  kinds  of 
chant  in  common  use — the  Anglican  and  the 
Gregoiian. 


(i)  A  Gregorian  chant  consists  of  five  parts; 
the  intonation;  the  first  reciting  note  or  domi- 
nant ;  the  mediation ;  the  second  reciting 
note  or  dominant ;  the  ending,  e.g. : 


Intonation.     ist        Mediation.        2nd  Ending. 
Dominant.  Dominant. 

The  intonation  is  used  generally  to  every 
verse  of  a  canticle,  but  only  to  the  first  verse 
of  a  psalm,  unless  a  special  psalm  be  used  on 
a  solemn  occasion,  as  for  instance  the  Mise- 
rere (Psalm  li.)  during  Lent. 

With  regard  to  the  pointing  of  the  Prayer- 
book  version  of  the  Psalms,  several  important 
facts  have  to  be  considered.  The  undoubted 
object  of  the  chants  as  originally  used  in  the 
Roman  Church  was  to  enable,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, a  pure  syllabic  recitation  of  the  words, 
so  many  of  the  words  of  a  verse  being  recited 
on  the  dominants  as  would  leave  one  syllable 
only  to  each  note  of  the  mediation  and  end- 
ing. As  these  chants  were  in  use  many 
centuries  before  the  invention  of  cnntits  men- 
S2irabilis,  it  is  quite  impossible  that  they  were 
ever  sung  rhythmically  at  the  close  of  each 
recitation.  But  there  is  a  growing  tendency 
to  treat  the  Gregorian  chants  Anglican-wise, 
and  either  by  accents  or  bars,  to  definitely 
shape  out  their  rhythm.  If  any  proof  were 
wanting  of  this  fact,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
give  the  following : 


Ex.  t.  a.  4th  Tone. 


The  ending  of  the  first  of  these  is  evidently 
intended  to  be  in  triple  measure,  that  of  the 
second  in  duple.  But  to  force  the  ending  into 
either  one  of  these  measures  is  to  wilfully 
cast  aside  the  invaluable  property  it  possesses 
of  bearing  an  accent  on  any  note,  as  the  words 
require.  A  like  desire  for  modern  chant-form 
has  led  to  the  following  differences  of  accent : 


Ex.  2.  a.  From  Sargent's  Psalter. 


It  will  be  seen  from  the  above,  that  in  pro 


(83) 


CHANT. 


portion  to  the  adoption  of  strict  time  in  the 
ending,  the  true  use  of  chants  for  syllabic 
treatment  becomes  lost.  In  short,  "  Gre- 
gorians,"  as  used  for  the  most  part  in  England 
at  the  present  time,  are  nothing  more  than 
ordinary  chants,  not,  however,  having  an 
uniform  number  of  bars  of  music.  Hence 
the  same  difficulties  present  themselves  which 
will  be  explained  below  in  the  account  of 
Anglican  pointing,  e.g. : 


at  the  presence  of  the  |  God      of         Ja    -  cob. 

It  is  generally  understood  that  when  the 
number  of  notes  exceeds  the  number  of  syl- 
lables, the  notes  not  required  may  be  omitted, 


^theTatVerl  ^nd'ot^eSon  and  to  the  Ho.ly  Ghost. 

This  is  a  negative  proof  of  the  original 
syllabic  tendency  of  Gregorian  pointing,  it 
being  merely  a  corollary  of  the  law  that  there 
should  be  "  one  syllable  to  one  note,"  to  say, 
"  if  only  a  few  syllables  are  left,  let  the  notes 
not  wanted  be  omitted."  This  rule  is  now 
generally  neglected  ;  and,  even  in  canticles 
with  such  short  verses  as  the  Te  Deum,  the 
syllables  are  slurred  to  the  superfluous  notes, 
lest  the  hearers'  notion  of  "  the  tune  "  should 
be  disturbed. 

In  1843,  the  Rev.  F.  Oakeley  published  his 
Gregorian  Psalter,  carrying  out,  in  its  integrity, 
the  principle  of  the  syllabic  system,  e.g.  : 


number.  It  is  out  of  the  question  that  new 
Gregorian  chants  should  be  "  expressly  com- 
posed "  for  Psalters,  but  it  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  provide  a  variety  of  chants  to  avoid 
the  monotony  of  over-repetition.    Hence  it  is, 

(1)  that  endings  heard  on  the  Continent,  what  - 
ever be  their  modern  growth  or  their  incom- 
patibility with  the  Gregorian  scale,  are  greedily 
seized  and  made  use  of  in  this  country  ;  ana 

(2)  that  foliations  or  the  vicious  introduction 
of  auxiliary  notes,  above  or  below  the  genuine 
notes  of  the  chant,  are  as  readily  welcomed 
by  Gregorian  editors,  e.g. : 


Ex.  8  is  called  a  form  of  the  5th  tone.  No. 
9  a  form  of  the  4th. 

Ex.  10  shows  a  foliated  form  of  the  media- 
tion of  the  1st  tone.  The  division  of  the  plain 
tones  and  foliated  tones  into  ferial  and  fes- 
tival does  credit  to  the  ingenuity,  but  not  to 
the  historical  integrity,  of  Psalm-pointers. 

The  French  and  Belgians  have  ever  been 
celebrated  as  clever  adulterators  of  plain-song  ; 
and  as  their  manuals  now  form  the  chief  text- 
books of  English  Gregorianizers,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  prophecy  a  general  decadence  of 
the  art  of  Gregorian  chanting  in  this  country. 

(2)  An  Anglican  chant  is  of  two  sorts,  single 
and  double.  A  single  chant  is  in  two  strains, 
the  first  of  three,  and  the  second  of  four  bars 
in  length  : 


Pelham  Humphrey 


and  the  tongue         that  speak  -  eth  proud  things. 

Notwithstanding  its  merits,  this  Psalter 
seems  not  to  have  been  largely  used,  and 
where  used  has  been  superseded  by  others 
in  which  the  tones  have  been  "  anglicanized  " 
and  made  more  palatable  by  the  unjustifiable 
introduction  of  fixed  accent  and  rhythm. 

Another  danger  which  presents  itself  to  the 
advocates  of  Gregorian  chants  is  their  limited 


•  It  has  been  stated,  and  the  statement  is  often  re- 
peated, that  the  double  chant  was  suggested  by  the 
accidental  performance  of  two  single  chants  in  succes- 
sion by  a  nameless  pupil  of  Hine,  who  was  organist  of 
Gloucester  Cathedral  between  the  years  1710  and  1730. 
In  "  Boyce's  Cathedral  Music,"  published  1760—1778, 
is  a  double-chant  by  John  Robinson,  who  was  organist 
of  Westminster  Abbey  from  1727  to  1762,  dying  at  the 
ripe  age  of  eighty  ;  and  as  there  exists  a  MS.  copy  of 
the  same  chant  in  the  handwriting  of  Dr.  Turner,  the 
father-in-law  of  Robinson,  with  the  date  1706,  in  one 
of  the  old  MS.  service-books  belonging  to  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  there  is  reason  for  questioning  the  story 
concerning  the  accepted  origin  of  the  doub"e  chant. 


(  84  ) 


CHANT. 


The  two  strains  are  also  called  halves;  one 
.half  is  sung  to  that  part  of  a  verse  of  the 
Prayer-book  version  of  the  Psalms  on  each 
side  of  the  colon,  whethei  the  number  of  words 
be  many  or  few,  whether  the  sentence  is  com- 
plete or  not ;  as : 


When  the  company  of  thespeanr.enand  mul-'v 
titude  ol  the  mighty  are  scattered  abroad  I 
among  the  beasts  of  the  people,  so  that  j  P'^*-"^ 
they  humbly  bring      -       -       -       -  -/ 


My  tongue 

The  Opening  chord  of  a  chant,  and  also  the 
first  chord  after  each  double  bar,  may  be  sus- 
tained at  will,  to  accommodate  the  number  of 
syllables  contained  in  each  part  of  the  verse. 
These  chords  are  called  reciting  notes,  those 
which  follow  are  called  the  inflections;  or, 
according  to  some,  the  first  half  of  the  chant 
is  the  mediation,  and  the  second  the  ca- 
dence.  The  fitting  of  the  words  to  the  music 
is  called  pointing.  The  pointing  of  the 
Psalms  and  Canticles  is  a  matter  concern- 
ing which  there  are  diversities  of  opinion. 
The  principal  object  to  be  aimed  at  in 
pointing  is  "  the  apportioning  out  of  the 
emphasis  of  the  words  to  be  sung,  after  the 
manner  that  an  eloquent  speaker  would  recite 
them  ;"  but  as  sentences  are  capable  of  as 
many  accents  more  or  less  sensible  as  there 
are  words,  the  diversity  of  opinion  on  the  sub- 
ject is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  The  words  are 
divided  in  the  Prayer-book  not  always  in  the 
best  manner  as  regards  their  complete  gram- 
matical sense  ;  and  as  it  is  at  present  deemed 
unwise  to  adopt  any  plan  but  the  one  therein 
suggested,  difference  of  opinion  will  exist  until 
a  change  is  made  in  its  system  of  stops.  The 
varieties  of  pointing  arise  from  the  desire  to 
unite  an  oratorical  with  a  musical  accent ;  and 
the  many  ways  in  which  this  is  attempted 
will  be  best  seen  by  the  following  quotations 
from  pointed  Psalters  in  frequent  use. 

[The  lines  after  each  set  of  words  indicate  the  place 
of  the  bar  in  the  chant  ] 

Psalm  cxxxvii. 
No.  I.  Dr.  WESLEy's  Psalter. 
For  they  that  led  us  I  | 
away  captive  required 

of  us-  then  a  song  and  |  melody  in  our  |  heaviness. 

No.  2.  The  Cathedral  Psalter. 
[•"or  they  that  led  us 
away  captive  required 
of  us  then  a  song  and 

melody  |  in  our  heaviness. 


No.  3.  The  Congregational  Psalter. 
For  they  that  led  us 
away  captive  required 
of  us  then  a  song  and 

melody  in  |  our  heaviness. 

No  4.  Monk  and  Ouselet's  Ps41.tu. 
For  they  that  led  us 
away  captive  required 
of  us  then  a  song  and 
melody  in  our 


heavi- 


The  form  of  the  chant  has  been  the  reaJ 
cause  of  the  difficulties  of  pointing.  An 
ordinary  melodic  sentence  consists  of  two, 
four,  or  eignt  bars,  but  the  chant  has  first 
three,  then  four  bars.  This  peculiarity  does 
not,  however,  offend  the  ear  so  much  as 
the  eye,  for  in  reciting,  the  rhythmical 
cadence  is  to  a  certain  extent  completed. 

Various  theories  have  been  put  forth  to  ac- 
count for  the  7-bar  or  twice  7-bar  form  of  the 
Anglican  Chant,  all  writers  being  agreed  that  a 
7-bar  phrase  is  not  actually  presented  to  the 
ear  in  the  process  of  chanting.  The  theorists 
may  be  divided  into  two  classes— those  who 
would  add  a  bar  to  the  commencement  of  the 
chant,  that  is,  to  the  reciting  note  ;  and  those 
who  would  add  a  bar  at  the  half  cadence  and 
whole  cadence.  The  following  is  the  method 
in  which  the  former  would  write  out  Robin- 
son's Chant  : 


Those  who  lean  to  the  latter  opinion  would 
write  it  thus : 


In  opposition  to  the  first  view  taken,  it  may 
be  urged  that  in  music  the  chords  of  cadence 
precede  the  final  chord,  and  in  Ex.  i,  they  fall 
on  the  final  accent,  as  is  shown  by  doubling 
the  bars,  e.g.  : 


Except  in  rare  forms  of  dance-tunes  the 
above  rhythm  would  be  unbearable.  In  favour 
of  the  second  form  (Ex.  2),  it  may  be  stated 
that  in  all  the  best  pointed  Psalters  an  accent, 
a  larger  fount  of  type,  or  a  bar,  marks  the 
close  of  the  Recitation  and  commencement  of 
the  musical  rhythm,  and  that  the  syllable  or 
syllables  so  made  prominent  only  occupy  one 
bar  of  time.    In  opposition  to  the  second 


(  85  ) 


CHANT. 


form,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  final  bar  of 
both  halves  of  a  double  chant  is  not  in  prac- 
tice held  out  for  the  length  of  two  bars.  One 
or  the  other  of  these  theories  may  be  true, 
and  the  reader  is  left  to  decide  on  their  re- 
spective merits. 

Certain  writers  have  assumed  that  the 
Anglican  Chant  is  a  highly  tractable  collection 
of  sounds,  bound  by  no  laws  of  rhythm  ;  and 
acting  on  this  notion,  have  attempted  to  unbar 
some  modern  chants.  This  view  has  led 
to  a  system  of  pointing  by  which  as  many 
words  as  possible  are  collected  on  the  reciting 
note,  e.o-.  : 


"the  well^unedl  " ' ''^'^  H  " upon  the'"  | 

The  above  system  (known  as  the  "  Sud- 
bury ")  is  said  to  be  smooth,  but  the  number 
of  slurs  involved  would  produce  this  effect, 
although  opposed  to  the  true  principles  of 
chanting. 

It  has  been  said  "  that  the  best  practical 
solution  of  the  difficulty  of  chanting  would  be 
offered  by  selecting  a  set  of  the  most  appro- 
priate chants,  whose  melodies,  within  the 
range  of  all  voices,  would  not  suffer  by  being 
sung  by  a  whole  congregation,  and  to  have 
every  word  set  to  a  note  of  relative  length,  so 
as  to  ensure  evenness  of  tone  and  accuracy 
of  accent."  Some  of  the  early  church  com- 
posers have  left  examples  of  the  Venite  set 
to  distinct  music,  often  chant-like,  so  that 
the  thing  here  suggested  would  not  be  so  great 
a  novelty.  But  it  would  be  difficult  to  make 
such  a  plan  general,  for,  leaving  out  of  the 
question  the  additional  time  such  a  service 
would  occupy,  none  but  educated  choirs  could 
perform  it,  and  the  ordinary  chant  is  so  easy 
that  there  is  little  if  any  trouble  needed  to 
teach  It  to  unskilful  choristers.  The  chant  at 
present  in  use  might  be  retained,  and  if  elocu- 
tion is  the  main  object  of  chanting,  a  different 
system  of  pointing  might  be  devised,  by  em- 
ploying the  present  authorised  division  of  the 
verses  only  when  convenient.  Alterations 
might  be  made  in  a  verse  (i)  when  the  sense 
is  incomplete  in  it,  (2)  when  a  verse  contains 
two  distinct  subjects,  (3)  when  the  present 
colon  interrupts  the  logical  sequence,  e.g. : 
(i)  Psalm  xvii. 
8.  Keep  me  as  the  apple  of  an  eye:  hide  me  under 
the  shadow  of  thy  wings,  (9)  from  the  ungodly  that 
trouble  me. 


(2)  Psalm  Ixxxix. 
49.  Remember  Lord  the  rebukes  that  thy  servantt 

have  :  and  how  I  do  bear  in  my  bosom  the  rebukes  of 
many  people;  150)  wherewith  thine  enemies  have  blas- 
phemed thee,  and  slandered  the  footsteps  of  thine 
anointed. 

Praised  be  the  Lord  for  evermore :  Amen  and 
Amen. 

(3)  Psalm  xiv. 
II.  Who  shall  give  salvation  unto  Israel  out  of 
Sion  ?  (:)  when  the  Lord  turneth  the  captivity  of  his 
people,  then  shall  Jacob  rejoice,  and  Israel  shall  be 
glad. 

In  some  of  the  numerous  editions  (issued 
between  the  years  1655  and  1730)  of  Play- 
ford's  "Introduction  to  the  Skill  of Musick," 
there  is  an  appendix  containing  the  "  order  of 
singing  the  Divine  Service  in  Cathedrals." 
In  these  it  is  said  that  "  the  Venite  is  begun 
by  one  of  the  choir,  then  sung  by  sides,  ob- 
serving to  make  the  like  break  or  close  in  the 
middle  of  every  verse,  according  as  it  is 
shorter  or  longer."  The  use  or  tune  for  each 
day  in  the  week  is  given  to  the  first  verse  of 
the  Venite,  and  these  tunes  are  such  as  are 
now  called  Gregorian.  There  are  two  others 
— "  Canterbury  tune  "  and  "  Imperial  tune  " 
— "  proper  for  Choir ;  to  sing  the  Psalms,  Te 
Deum,  Benedictus,  or  Jubilate,  to  the  organ 
or  sometime  without  it."  The  manner  in 
which  the  words  are  disposed  will  be  seen  by 
the  following  copy  of  the  first-named  of  these 
tunes : 


strength  of  our  sal  - 


Dr.  Turner,  1706,  gives  the  pointing  of  the 
same  verse  as  follows  : 


It  will  be  seen  that  this  chant  contains  only 
five  complete  bars  of  four  crotchets  each. 
The  bars  in  it  do  not  indicate  the  place  of 
accent,  or  even  the  best  division  of  the  chant 
for  the  purpose  of  pointing.  The  earliest 
printed  copy  of  a  now  well-known  chant  by 
the  same  author,  is  given  in  the  following 
form  (from  "  Fifty  double  and  single  chants 
being  the  most  Favourite  as  performed  at  St. 
Pauls,  Westminster,  and  most  of  the  Cathe- 
drals in  England.  London  :  Printed  for  C. 
and  S.  Thompson,  at  No.  75,  St.  Paul's 
Churchyard"). 


(86) 


CHANT  CHANTERRES. 


In  the  following  example  (from  the  "  Har- 
mony of  Sion  ")  the  chant  is  compressed  into 
four  bars. 


And  Dr.  Boyce,  in  his  "  Cathedral  Music," 
writes  the  Venite  to  the  chant  ascribed  to 
Tallis  thus  : 

~   O  come!  let  us  sing  un       to        the  Lord, 


Let  us  heartily  rejoice  in  the  strength  of  our  sal  -  va   -  tion. 


The  method  of  chanting  the  Psalms  adopted 
in  the  present  day  is  for  each  of  the  two  di- 
visions of  the  choir  to  sing  a  verse  alternately. 
In  some  places  where  a  double  chant  is  used 
the  whole  of  the  chant  is  sung  to  two  verses 
by  each  side  in  turn.  In  one  cathedral  (Ox- 
ford) each  side  sings  one  half  of  a  verse  only. 
In  consequence  of  this  custom  of  the  alternate 
chanting  of  the  Psalms,  it  is  supposed  that 
wherever  alternate  singing  is  mentioned  in 
ancient  records,  chanting  is  meant.  The  ob- 
jections entertained  against  chanting  by  the 
followers  of  Wickliffe,  and  in  later  time  by 
those  of  Calvin,  were  expressed  in  violent  terms, 
not  altogether  necessary  to  repeat  here.  It  is 
true  these  reformers  approved  of  the  people 
joining  "with  one  voice  in  a  plain  tune,  but 
not  of  tossing  the  Psalms  from  one  side  to 
the  other  with  intermingling  of  organs."  Less 
moderate  in  their  deeds  than  in  their  words, 
the  Puritans,  when  in  power  during  the  Com- 
monwealth, destroyed  all  organs  and  every 
music-book  they  could  lay  their  hands  upon. 
Metrical  psalmody  supplied  the  place  of  chant- 
ing, the  Psalms  were  rarely  if  ever  sung,  and 
so,  in  contradistinction  to  Sternhold  and  Hop- 
kins, or  Tate  and  Brady,  were  called  the 
"  Reading  Psalms,"  a  practice  continued  as 
lately  as  the  year  1873,  when  the  Psalms  for 
the  day  sung  at  the  meeting  of  the  Charity 
Children  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  were  so  called. 
Chanting  was  regarded  as  essentially  Popish, 
and  alternate  singing  an  abomination  even 
among  church  people.    It  was  never  heard  in 


parish  churches  in  the  last  century,  the  ca- 
thedrals alone  retaining  the  traditional  use. 
By  degrees  a  change  was  effected  ;  the  un- 
clean thing  was  handled  without  any  alarming 
effect,  and  even  Dissenters  changed  their 
opinions  upon  the  subject.  Instead  of  con- 
demning chanting,  they  adopted  it.  Dr.  Chan- 
ning  thought  it  "  the  most  purely  Protestant 
music  ;"  Mr.  Newman  Hall  considered  it  "  a 
homage  to  the  Bible,  calculated  to  make  the 
Word  of  God  better  known,  appreciated,  and 
loved  ;"  others  would  "  by  no  means  have 
it  banished  ;"  and  the  preface  to  the  fourth 
edition  of  a  little  book  called  "  Eunhonia  " 
(1870),  designed  to  familiarise  Non-conform- 
ists with  the  principles  of  chanting,  states 
that  "  the  objections  entertained  by  many  to 
the  ancient  practice  of  chanting  having  been 
much  diminished,  there  is  now  a  growing 
feeling  in  favour  of  singing  portions  of  the 
Bible  in  the  very  words  of  Scripture,  rather 
than  through  the  medium  of  metrical  versions 
exclusively."  This  book,  which  is  historically 
valuable,  contains  one  hundred  portions  of 
Scripture  pointed  for  chanting,  together  with 
a  selection  of  familiar,  if  not  good,  Anglican 
chants  ;  the  principle  guiding  the  choice  being 
liveliness  of  melody  and  general  tunefulness. 
These  facts  tend  to  show  that  the  usefulness 
of  chanting  is  in  process  of  general  recog- 
nition by  "  all  who  profess  and  call  themselves 
Christians  ;"  that  it  is  no  longer  held  to  be 
the  type  of  a  peculiarity  of  religious  opinion  ; 
that  there  is  a  mutual  interchange  of  means 
towards  a  spiritual  end ;  that  whereas  one 
side  does  not  disdain  to  encourage  the  use  of 
metrical  psalmody  in  its  services,  the  other 
borrows  chanting,  defending  it  as  "  a  simple 
but  impressive  mode  of  worship." 

Chants  have  been  found  convenient  means 
of  rendering  hymns  of  irregular  metre,  or  any 
hymn  of  which  a  simple  musical  treatment 
is  required. 

Chant  (Fr.)  (i)  Song,  tune.  (2)  The  voice 
part  or  melody. 

Chantant  (Fr.)  Singing,  musical,  as  ca/e 
chantant,  a  musical  coffee-house. 

Chant  en  ison,  or  chant  egal  {Fr.)  (i) 
The  name  of  a  species  of  chant,  consisting  of 
two  sounds  only,  which  was  adopted  by  many 
of  the  old  religious  orders.    (2)  Monotone. 

Chanter.  A  name  given  to  the  singing 
priest  on  duty. 

Chanter  £i  livre  ouvert  (Fr.)  To  sing  at 
sight. 

Chanterelle  {Fr.)  (i)  The  first  or  highest 
string  upon  instruments  played  with  a  bow. 
The  E  string  of  the  violin,  and  the  A  of  the 
viola  and  violoncello.  (2)  The  highest  string 
of  a  guitar  or  lute. 

Chanterres  {Fr.)    A  name  given  to  ballad 


f  87  ) 


CHANTEUR  CHEF  D'ORCHESTRE. 


or  poem  singers  in  mediasval  times,  originally 
applied  to  the  Proven9al  Cantadours. 

Chanteur    ,p  ^)  A  male  singer. 

Chanteuse     '^''^f  A  female  singer. 

Chant  gregorien  {Fr.)    Plain  song. 

Chant  pastoral  {Fr.)  A  shepherd's  song, 
or  melody  in  imitation  of  one. 

Chantries.  Endowed  foundations  in  the 
Romish  Church,  instituted  for  the  due  per- 
formances of  requiem  masses  for  the  repose 
of  the  soul  of  the  founder  and  his  family. 
Chantries  were  attached  to  existing  parish 
churches,  or  more  frequently  to  monastic 
establishments  and  cathedrals.  At  the  Refor- 
mation the  practice  of  soul-masses  and  the 
chantries  became  disused,  and  their  revenues 
absorbed. 

Chant-royal  (Fr.)  A  certain  form  of  early 
French  poetry  set  to  music.  Pasquier  de- 
scribes it  as  a  song  in  honour  of  God,  the 
Virgin,  or  the  saints,  or  any  other  "  argument 
of  dignity,  especially  if  coupled  with  distress.'' 
The  chant-royal  was  written  in  heroic  stanzas, 
and  closed  with  a  L'envoy  or  stanza  containing 
a  dedication,  recapitulation,  or  moral. 

Chantry  priest.  A  chaplain  or  singing 
parson  attached  to  a  chantry.  One  whose 
duty  it  was  to  sing  masses  for  the  speedy 
deliverance  of  the  soul  of  a  founder  or  bene- 
factor from  purgatory. 

Chant  sur  le  livre  (Fr.)  A  system  of 
descant  by  which  the  part  sung  by  one  voice, 
as  written  in  the  open  book,  could  be  accom- 
panied by  another  voice  in  counterpoint,  more 
or  less  free,  according  to  the  movement  of 
the  cauto  fenrio,  which  was  sung  generally  by 
a  bass  voice,  the  dechant  being  taken  by  a 
tenor  or  other  high  voice.  It  was  necessary 
that  the  singer  of  the  canto  fertno  or  plain- 
song  should  render  it  a  la  rigueur,  that  is, 
should  not  make  those  slight  changes  of  the 
length  of  the  notes  which  would  be  justifiable 
and  usual  when  singing  alone  ;  nor  could  he 
hold  out  the  rests  {tenere  piinctum)  as  he  other- 
wise would,  lest  the  dechanteur  should  be 
upset  in  his  calculations.  The  full  rules  of 
this  system  are  to  be  found  in  early  treatises. 
It  was  called  in  Italy  contrapunto  di  mente,  or 
alia  mente. 

Chapeau  Chinois  (Fr.)  A  set  of  small 
bells  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  Chinese  hat. 
Pavilion  chinois. 

CharacteristischerTon  {Ger.)  The  lead- 
ing note.    {Fr.)  sensible. 

Characters.  A  general  name  for  the  signs 
employed  in  music,  such  as  brace,  bind,  bar,' 
sharp,  flat,  natural,  clef,  stave,  shake,  turn, 
beat,  and  the  signs  of  words  indicating  time 
and  expression,  e.g.  <       C  C' 


Characterstucke  {Ger.)  Pieces  of  music 
written  with  the  intention  of  describing  cer- 
tain impressions  by  means  of  sound.  Beet- 
hoven's Pastoral  Symphony,  Mendelssohn's 
Reformation  Symphony,  and  the  overture  and 
music  to  "  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream," 
are  specimens  of  this  style  of  composition. 

Charivari  {Fr.)    Mock  music,  clatter. 

Chasse  {Fr.)  Hunting ;  a  la  chasse,  in 
the  hunting  style. 

Chatzozerah  {heb.)  The  chatzozerah  is 
generally  thought  to  have  been  a  straight 
trumpet,  with  a  bell  or  "pavilion"  as  it  is 
termed.  Moses  received  specific  directions 
as  to  making  them.  "  Make  thee  two  trum 
pets  of  silver  ;  of  a  whole  piece  shalt  thou 
make  them  :  that  thou  mayest  use  them  U;r 
the  calling  of  the  assembly,  and  for  the  jour- 
neying of  the  camps."  In  Ps.  xcviii.  6,  the 
chatzozerah  and  shophar  are  brought  into 
juxtaposition  :  "  With  chatzozerah  and  sound 
oi shophar  make  a  joyful  noise  before  the  Lord 
the  King  ;"  or,  as  it  incorrectly  stands  in  the 
Prayer-book  version,  "  With  trumpets  also 
and  shawms,  &c."  In  this  passage  the  Sep- 
tuagint  has  it,  'Ei'  rraXviyltv  IXutu'ic,  Km  <pw>p 
aaXiriyyoc  KtpaTiyrjc.  "  With  ductile  trumpets, 
and  the  sound  of  horn-trumpets."  So,  too, 
the  Vulgate  :  "  In  tubis  ductilibus  et  voce 
tubas  cornese."  The  word  miksJiah,  which  is 
applied  to  the  description  of  the  chatzozerah 
in  Num.  x.  2,  which  means  "rounded"  or 
"  turned,"  may  either  apply  to  a  complete 
twist  in  the  tube  of  the  instrument,  or,  what 
j  is  more  probable,  to  the  rounded  outline  of 
the  bell.  But  if  the  former  is  the  real  inter- 
pretation of  the  epithet,  it  would  make  it  more 
like  a  trombone,  and  similar  in  form  to  that 
depicted  on  the  Arch  of  Titus.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  account  given  by  Josephus 
points  out  the  latter  characteristic  of  shape. 
He  says,  "  Moses  invented  a  kind  of  trum- 
pet of  silver;  in  length  it  was  little  less  than 
1  a  cubit,  and  it  was  somewhat  thicker  than  a 
pipe  ;  its  opening  was  oblong,  so  as  to  permit 
blowing  on  it  with  the  mouth  ;  at  the  lower 
end  it  had  the  form  of  a  bell,  like  a  horn." 
It  seems  chiefly  to  have  been  brought  into 
use  in  the  Hebrew  ritual,  but  was  also  occa- 
sionally a  battle-call,  and  blown  on  other 
warlike  occasions. 

Check-action.  [Pianoforte.] 

Check-spring.  A  small  spring  added  for 
the  assistance  of  any  weakness  in  the  return 
of  action  in  the  mechanism  of  an  organ. 

Chef  d'attaque  {Fr.)  The  leader  of  an 
i  orchestra,  or  chorus. 

Chef  d'oeuvre  {Fr.)  The  master-work  of 
any  composer. 

Chef  d'orchestre  {Fr.)  (i)  The  leader. 
(2J  Conductor  of  an  orchestra. 


(  88  ) 


CHELIDONIZING 


CHICA. 


Chelidonizing  (from  the  Gk.  ^iXtcoriCw,  to 
twitter  like  a  swallow).  Singing  the  swallow- 
song  (xjXi^di  t(T/jfi),  a  popular  song  sung  by 
Rhodian  boys  in  the  month  Boedromian,  on 
the  return  of  the  swallows,  and  made  into  an 
opportunity  of  begging.  A  similar  song  sur- 
vives in  modern  Greece.  A  crow  was  also 
carried  about  by  begging  boys  who  sang ; 
whence  Gk.  Kopuirii^tx).  Examples  of  both  songs 
are  given  by  Athenasus.  Pamphilicus  of  Alex- 
andria, in  his  chapter  on  names,  calls  the  men 
making  collections  for  the  crow,  coronistce, 
and  their  songs,  coronismata.  There  was  a 
similar  custom,  in  Ireland  on  St.  Stephen's 
day.  A  number  of  3'oung  men  carried  a  furze- 
bush  on  which  a  wren  was  tied,  and  stopping 
before  the  houses  of  the  gentry,  repeated  the 
following  lines : 

"  The  wren,  the  wren  is  the  king  of  all  birds, 
Was  caught  on  St.  Stephen's  day  in  the  furze. 
Although  he's  little,  his  family's  great. 
Then  pray,  kind  gentle  folks,  give  him  a  treat." 

In  England  and  Scotland  there  are  many 
customs  of  a  like  character,  as  for  example, 
"going  a  gooding"  on  St.  Thomas's  day; 
singing  the  Haginena  on  the  three  days  pre- 
ceding Christmas  day  ;  the  children's  May-day 
march,  when  they  carry  garlands  of  spring- 
flowers  and  boughs,  and  stopping  at  the  doors 
of  people  of  the  better  sort,  sing  a  long  song, 
one  verse  of  which  runs  : 


A    branch  of   May     we   have  brought  you,  And 


at  your  door    it   stands;    It      is   but  a  sprout,  but  it's 


well  bud-ded  out,  The  works  of      our  Lord  s  hands. 


Chelys.  (Gk.)  x^^ve,  lit.  a  tortoise  [Lat. 
testudo),  (i)  The  lyre  of  Mercury,  supposed 
to  have  been  formed  by  strings  stretched 
across  a  tortoiseshell.  (2)  In  the  i6th  and 
17th  centuries  a  bass-viol  and  division-viol 
were  each  called  chelys. 

Cheng.  The  Chinese  organ,  which  con- 
sists of  a  series  of  tubes  having  free  reeds.  It 
is  held  in  the  hand  and  blown  by  the  mouth. 
The  introduction  of  this  instrument  into  Eu- 
rope led  to  the  invention  of  the  accordion  and 
harmonium.  Kratzenstein,  an  organ-builder 
of  St.  Petersburg,  having  become  possessed 
of  one,  conceived  the  idea  of  applying  the 
principle  to  organ-stops.  The  tone  of  free 
reeds  is  enforced  by  tubes,  as  in  the  cheng 
and  in  certain  organ-stops,  but  the  tubes  can 


be  dispensed  with,  as  is  the  case  in  a  bar 

monium. 


Cherubical  hymn.  The  ter  sanctus,  or 
trisagion  in  the  service  of  the  Holy  Commu- 
nion, "  Holy,  holy,  holy,"  &c. 

Chest  of  viols.  An  expression  signifying 
a  set  of  instruments  necessary  for  a  "  consort 
of  viols."  They  were  six  in  number,  namely 
two  trebles,  two  tenors,  and  two  basses.  A 
chest  of  viols,  with  a  harpsichord  or  organ, 
with  an  occasional  hautboy  or  flageolet,  formed 
an  ordinary  orchestra  in  the  early  part  of  the 
17th  century. 

Chevalet  {Fr.)  The  bridge  of  a  stringed 
instrument. 

Cheville  (Fr.)  A  peg  for  a  violin,  guitar, 
lute,  &c. 

Chevroter  (Fr.)  To  skip,  quiver,  to  sing 
with  uncertain  tone,  after  the  manner  of  goats. 
Alia  vibrato. 

Chiara  (It.)  Clear,  distinct,  pure,  e.g., 
chiara  voce,  clear  voice  ;  chiara  quarta,  a  per- 
fect fourth. 

Chiaramente  {It.)  Clearly,  purely,  dis- 
tinctly. 

Chiarezza,  con  [It.)  With  brightness, 
clearness. 

Chiarina  (It.)    A  clarion  or  trumpet. 

Chiave  (/<.)  (i)  Key  or  clef.  (2)  A  failure. 
[Fiasco.] 

Chica.  The  name  of  a  dance  popular 
among  the  Spaniards  and  the  South  American 
settlers  descended  from  them.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  introduced  b}'  the  Moors,  and  to 
have  been  the  origin  of  the  Fandango,  which 
some  writers  declare  to  be  the  Chica  under 
a  more  decent  form.  It  is  of  a  similar  cha- 
racter with  the  dance  of  the  Angrismene  per- 
formed at  the  festivals  of  Venus,  and  still 
popular  among  the  modern  Greeks.  The 
English  jig  is  said  to  be  one  form  of  the  Chica. 
It  is  not  a  little  singular  that  the  word  came 
I  into  use  soon  after  a  free  intercourse  with 
I  Spain  was  opened.      The  words  Chaconnt 


(  89  ) 


CHIESA  CHORD-ffi:  ESSENTIALES. 


(Fr.),  Ciaccona  (It.),  Cachuca  (S/).),  Czardasch 
[Hungarian),  describe  modern  modifications 
of  the  Chica.    [Bolero.]    [Country  Dance.] 

Chiesa  (It.)  Church.  Sonata  di  Chiesa. 
A  sacred  sonata. 

Chiffres  [Fr.)  Figures,  basse  chiffree, 
figured  bass. 

Chime,  (i)  To  play  a  tune  on  bells, 
either  by  machinery  or  by  hand,  by  means  of 
hammers,  or  swinging  the  clappers,  the  bell 
remaining  unmoved.  It  is  opposed  to  ring- 
ing in  which  the  bells  are  raised,  that  is, 
swung  round.    (2)    A  carillon. 

Chirimia  [Sp.)  An  oboe  (from  Chirimoya, 
a  pear),  the  portion  of  the  oboe  in  which  the 
mouth-piece  is  inserted,  called  in  German 
Birn,  a  pear. 

Chirogymnast.  Finger-trainer.  A  con- 
trivance for  strengthening  the  fingers,  consist- 
ing of  a  cross-bar,  from  which  are  suspended 
rings  attached  to  springs.  The  term  is  also 
applied  to  any  apparatus  designed  for  a  like 
object. 

Chironomy.  Gk.  xeipovofxla.  (i)  Gesticu- 
lation by  the  use  of  the  hands.  (2)  Directions 
given  by  movements  of  the  hand,  especially 
to  a  chorus.  In  the  early  church  of  the  West 
such  a  system  was  much  in  vogue  ;  and  some 
have  maintained  that  the  signs  of  sounds,  as 
then  written,  were  merely  pictorial  represen- 
tations of  the  movement  of  the  hand. 

Chiroplast.  Finger-former.  An  instru- 
ment invented  by  Logier  in  1810,  to  facilitate 
the  p:i  per  method  of  playing  the  pianoforte. 
It  cunaisted  of  a  position-frame,  finger-guides, 
and  a  wrist-guide.  The  position-frame  con- 
sisted ot  two  parallel  rails  extending  from  one 
extremity  of  the  keys  to  the  other,  and  fastened 
to  the  pianoforte.  This  frame  served  as  a 
line  upon  which  the  finger-guides  travelled  ; 
these  guides  were  two  moveable  brass  frames, 
with  five  divisions  for  the  fingers,  and  to  each 
guide  was  attached  a  brass  wire  with  a  regu- 
lator, called  the  wrist-guide,  by  which  the 
position  of  the  wrist  was  preserved  from  in- 
clination outwards.  With  the  instructions  for 
the  use  of  the  chiroplast,  progressive  lessons 
on  the  pianoforte  were  given  ;  and  in  the  suc- 
cess attending  the  use  of  the  hand-guide,  these 
lessons,  which  were  cleverly  designed,  had 
doubtless  as  much  to  do  as  the  machine  itself, 
which,  however,  soon  fell  into  disuse. 

Chitarra  (It.)    A  guitar. 

Chitarra  col  arco  [It.)  A  violin  with 
sides  gently  curved,  as  in  a  guitar ;  without 
corners,  as  in  an  ordinary  violin. 

Chitarrina  (It.)  A  small  Neapolitan  guitar. 

Chiudendo  (It.)  Closing,  ending.  The 
word  is  generally  employed  in  connection  with 
another,  chiudendo  coUa  prima  strofe,  ending 
with  the  first  verse. 

Chiuso  [It.)    Close,  hidden,  concealed, 


e.g.,  canone  chiuso,  a  close  canon,  [Canon], 
con  bocca  chiusa,  with  the  mouth  closed, 
humming. 

Chceur  [Fr.)  [Chorus.] 

Choir,  (i)  A  part  of  the  building  in  a 
cathedral  or  collegiate  chapel  set  apart  for 
the  performance  of  the  ordinary  daily  service. 
The  choir  is  generally  situated  at  the  eastern 
end  of  the  building,  and  is  frequently  enclosed 
by  a  screen,  upon  which  the  organ  is  placed. 

(2)  The  minor  canons,  choral  vicars,  and 
choristers,  or  other  singers  taken  collectively, 
are  spoken  of  as  the  choir.  The  choral  body 
is  usually  divided  into  two  sets  of  voices,  the 
one  sitting  on  the  north  and  the  other  on  the 
south  side  of  the  chancel,  and  are  known  by 
the  respective  titles  of  Cantoris  and  Decani 
from  their  nearness  to  the  Cantor  (or  Pre- 
centor) and  to  the  Decanus  (or  Dean).  In 
most  cathedrals  and  collegiate  chapels,  the 
Decani  side  is  held  to  be  the  side  of  honour, 
the  best  voices  are  placed  there,  and  all  thf 
"  verses  "  or  soli  parts,  if  not  otherwise  directed, 
are  sung  by  that  side,  which  is  also  considered 
the  "first  choir"  {core  primo)  in  eight-part 
music. 

Choir-man.    An  adult  member  of  a  choir. 

Choir  Organ.    [Organ,  §  i.] 

Chor  [Ger.)  Chorus.  Choir  of  a  church 
or  concert  room. 

Choragus.  {Lat.)  (i)  The  leader  of  the 
chorus  in  the  ancient  Greek  drama.  [Chorus.] 

(2)  The  title  of  a  musical  official  at  Oxford 
University,  whose  duties  are  described  in  the 
Statutes. 

Choral,  (i)  Of,  or  belonging  to  the  choir, 
concert,  or  chorus.  Choral  service,  a  service 
with  music.    (2)  A  hymn  or  psalm  tune. 

Chorale  {Ger.)    [Hymn  tunes.] 

Choraliter  [Ger.)    In  a  choral  form. 

Choralmassig  [Ger.)  [Choraliter.] 
I     Choral  Music.    Vocal  music  in  parts,  as 
I  opposed  to  instrumental. 
!      Choral  Service.    A  service  of  song  ;  a 
service  is  said  to  be  partly  choral,  when  only 
I  canticles,  hymns,  &c.,  are  sung ;  wholly  choral, 
when  in  addition  to  these,  the  versicles,  re- 
sponses, &c.,  are  sung. 

Choral  Vicars.    [Lay  Vicars.] 

Chor-amt  [Ger.)  Choral  service.  Cathe- 
dral service. 

Choraules  [Gh.  ■)(opav\rig  from  x"P"^ 
nvXiio.)     (i)  A  player  on  the  flute  in  the 
Greek  Theatre.    (2)  One  who  keeps  a  chorus 
and  plays  in  it  himself. 

Chord.  A  combination  of  musical  sounds, 
consonant  or  dissonant.  [Harmony.] 

Chord.    A  string. 

Chorda  characteristica.    A  chord  of  the 

7th  in  which  a  leading  note  appears. 

Chordae  essentiales  [late  Lat.)  The 
tonic  and  its  3rd  and  5th.    The  key-chord. 


I  90  ) 


CHORDAULODION  CHORISTER. 


Chordaulodion.  A  self-acting  musical  in- 
strument, invented  by  Kauffmann,  of  Dresden, 
in  1812. 

Chor-dienst  (Ger.)  [Chor-amt.] 

Chordometer.  A  gauge  for  measuring 
the  thickness  of  strings. 

Chords  etouffes  {Fr.)  (i)  Chords  played 
on  the  pianoforte  with  the  sordino  pedal  held 
down.  (2)  Chords  on  the  harp,  lute,  guitar, 
or  dulcimer,  damped  by  placing  the  hand 
gently  on  the  strings. 

Choriambus.  A  metrical  foot  consisting 
of  two  short  between  two  long  syllables. 

Chorister.  A  member  of  a  choir  whetner 
juvenile  or  adult.  At  the  present  day  the 
children  of  the  choir  of  a  church  or  cathedral, 
are  those  usually  distinguished  by  the  term, 
but  so  recently  as  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century,  all  who  were  engaged  in 
taking  part  in  the  musical  portion  of  the 
service,  were  called  choristers.  The  word 
derived  from  xopoe,  by  metonomy  came  to 
signify  a  band  of  singers  or  dancers,  or  any 
member  of  such  a  band,  and  hence  the  term  is 
often  applied  to  a  singer  in  a  chorus  not 
necessarily  belonging  to  a  church,  just  as 
choir  is  applied  to  the  place  in  which  church 
singers  sit,  as  also  to  any  body  of  singers  of 
sacred  or  secular  music.  For  example,  Les 
enfans  de  choeur,  children  of  the  choir  or 
chorus  ;  Dom-chor,  cathedral  choir  or  chorus, 
and  Coro  del  chiesa,  church  choir  or  chorus; 
Choristers,  or  boy  singers,  called  "  clerks  of 
the  third  form,"  in  some  places,  are  attached 
to  every  cathedral  in  England,  and  receive 
advantages  of  more  or  less  value,  in  exchange 
for  their  services  as  members  of  the  choir. 
In  addition  to  necessary  instruction  in  music, 
they  have  an  education  in  other  matters, 
varying  in  many  places  according  to  the  con- 
struction put  upon  the  Statutes  by  the  deans 
and  chapters  of  the  cathedrals.  The  interpre- 
tation of  these  Statutes  has  been  the  subject 
of  grave  dispute,  as  the  advantages  accruing 
to  the  choristers  have  been  from  time  to  time 
most  shamefully  ignored.  In  days  past, the 
children  have  been  shut  out  from  the  enjoy- 
ment of  preferential  privileges  made  con- 
cerning them,  and  their  education  and  moral 
training  has  been  so  little  cared  for,  that  many 
a  child  who  in  early  years  was  familiarised 
with  the  most  sacred  matters,  has  acquired  for 
them  the  proverbial  result  of  familiarity.  A 
better  state  of  things  is  now  being  brought 
into  existence  with  a  result  which  cannot  be 
considered  other  than  hopeful. 

In  some  places  private  instructors  have 
been  engaged  to  teach  cathedral  choristers  a 
few  matters  besides  music  ;  in  others  they 
are  admitted  into  the  chief  grammar  schools 
cf  the  several  cities.  The  course  of  instruc- 
tion also  varies,  for  in  some  cases  they  are 


taught  the  simple  elements  of  reading  and 
writing,  in  others  they  learn  as  much  of  the 
higher  branches  of  education  as  is  possible 
in  addition  to  the  duties  of  their  profession. 
In  many  instances  their  musical  instructors 
impart  no  more  than  is  absolutely  needful  for 
the  exercise  of  cathedral  duty,  and  in  some 
music  is  taught  scientifically  as  well  as  practi- 
cally, not  only  in  connection  with  the  immediate 
work  in  hand,  but  also  with  reference  to  future 
use.  In  very  few  instances  are  the  boys 
boarded  and  lodged  within  the  precincts  of 
the  cathedral,  or  placed  under  the  immediate 
care  of  the  cathedral  authorities  out  of  the 
hours  devoted  to  duty — a  matter  of  much 
regret.  The  organist  is  sometimes  music- 
master  of  the  choristers,  sometimes  the  office 
is  distinct,  and  is  held  independently  of  the 
organist.  In  many  cathedrals  a  sum  of  money 
as  apprentice  fee  is  paid  to  a  chorister  on 
leaving  the  choir;  this  is  instead  of  the  money 
at  one  time  set  apart  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  chorister  as  a  student  at  the  universities. 
For  instance,  in  the  Statutes  of  Stoke  College, 
in  Suffolk,  founded  by  Parker,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  are  these  words:  "  of  which  said 
queristers,  after  their  breasts  be  changed 
(their  voices  broken)  we  will  the  most  apt  of 
wit  and  capacity  be  holpen  with  exhibition  of 
forty  shillings,  the  rest  with  lesser  summe." 

In  olden  times,  choristers  were  privileged 
to  demand  a  fee  from  every  newly  installed 
officer  of  the  church,  and  to  levy  "  spur  money" 
from  all  who  attended  the  service  in  riding 
gear.  In  the  former  case  the  fee  varied 
according  to  the  position  of  the  installed 
officer,  and  was  paid  without  conditions  being 
imposed  in  return;  in  the  latter,  the  wearer  of 
spurs  could  require  the  youthful  tax-gatherer 
to  repeat  his  "  gamut  "  perfectly  ;  if  he  hesi- 
tated, he  lost  his  spur-money.  The  boys  ot 
the  Chapel  Royal  were  the  last  to  keep  up 
the  custom  which  has  now  fallen  into  disuse 
with  many  others  equally  absurd.  For  ex- 
ample :  the  choristers  in  many  cathedrals  and 
collegiate  establishments  were  permitted  to 
rule  over  their  superiors  for  a  short  period 
once  a  year,  generally  from  December  6th, 
the  Feast  of  St.  Nicholas  (the  patron  saint  of 
sailors,  parish  clerks,  thieves,  and  boys)  until 
Innocents-day,  December  28th.  From  the 
aptitude  acquired  in  these  ludicrous  ceremo- 
nies, the  choristers  gained  such  a  skill  in 
acting  that  they  were  selected  to  perform  m 
the  mystery  plays  of  old  time,  and  latei  to 
represent  the  masterly  conceptions  of  such 
writers  as  Shakespeare,  Ben  Jonson,  and 
others.  It  was  not  alone  to  the  choir  boys 
attached  to  unimportant  establishments  that 
these  matters  were  entrusted,  but  also  to  the 
children  of  "  Powle's  churche  "  and  of  the 
"  Chapel  Royale "  of  Her  Majesty  Queen 


(  91  ) 


CHORISTER  CHORUS. 


Elizabeth.  The  possession  of  such  powers 
and  privileges  may  have  been  exceedingly 
pleasing  while  it  lasted,  but  the  ill  sorted 
union  of  the  theological  and  the  theatrical  is 
happily  dissolved,  it  is  hoped  for  ever. 

The  life  of  a  chorister  in  these  remote  days 
was,  however,  not  all  bliss,  as  the  owner  of  a 
good  voice  would  probably  find  to  his  cost, 
more  especially  if  he  was  not  fortunate  enough 
to  belong  to  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  or  the 
Chapel  Royal,  for  there  were  officers  armed 
with  the  awful  warrant  of  the  Royal  Court, 
empowering  them  to  roam  the  country,  to 
visit  all  churches  and  cathedrals  of  the  lesser 
sort  in  which  choral  singing  was  practised, 
and  to  select  and  take  away  all  boys  "with 
good  breasts,"  that  is  to  say,  all  with  voices 
of  more  than  ordinary  excellence,  for  the 
service  of  the  privileged  choirs.  The  "  placard  " 
or  warrant  was  often  used  illegally,  and  chil- 
dren were  impressed  for  choirs  other  than 
those  above  mentioned.  There  is  reason  for 
believing  that  choristers  so  gained  were  in 
general  badly  used,  if  we  may  trust  Thomas 
Tusser  (1523-1580),  the  author  of  "  Five 
hundred  points  of  good  husbandry,"  for  he 
speaks  of  his  good  fortune  in  having  been 
assigned  to  John  Redford,  organist  of  St. 
Paul's,  in  terms  which  prove  that  choristers 
were  not  so  kindly  used  in  other  places.  His 
situation  st  Wallingford,  from  whence  he  was 
impressed,  he  laments  in  the  words : 

"  O  shameful  time  !  for  every  crime 
What  toosed  ears,  like  baited  beares. 
What  bobbed  lippes,  what  yerkes,  what  nips, 
What  hellish  toies  ! 

What  robes,  how  bare,  what  colledge  fare. 
What  bread,  how  stale;  what  penny  ale, 
Then  Wallingford,  how  wert  thou  abhor'd 
Of  silly  boies." 

In  another  verse  he  contrasts  his  treatment : 

"  But  marke  the  chance,  myself  to  vance, 
By  friendships  lot  to  Pauls  I  got. 
So  found  I  grace  a  certayn  space 
Still  to  remaine 

With  Redford  there,  the  like  no  where, 
For  cunning  such,  and  vertue  much; 
By  whom  some  part,  of  musicke  art 
So  did  I  gain." 

On  the  Continent  choristers  are  attached  to 
many  cathedrals,  but  their  duties  and  educa- 
tion are  based  upon  a  different  system  to 
that  in  general  use  in  Great  Britain  at  the 
present  time.  Before  the  time  of  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  monasteries  the  position  of  choristers 
was  much  the  same  as  that  enjoyed  abroad 
by  them,  and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to 
find  "  the  children  of  the  choir  "  in  after  life 
occupying  stations  of  eminence  and  trust  in 
both  Church  and  State.  The  venerable  Bede, 
St.  Swithun,  St.  Hugh  of  Lincoln,  William 
of  Wykeham,  William  Wainfleet,  Erasmus, 
and  his  friend,  Dean  Colet,  the  founder  of  St. 


Paul's  School,  and  scores  of  other  distin- 
guished men  were  choristers.  The  musicians 
who  have  gained  the  first  knowledge  of  their 
art  within  the  walls  of  a  church  are  many 
and  comprise  among  others  the  names  o\ 
Palestrina,  Frescobaldi,  Orlando  di  Lasso  (im- 
pressed from  Hainault  into  Italy  as  a  child), 
Padre  Martini,  John  Sebastian  Bach,  Haydn, 
William  Byrd,Tallis,  Dr.  Bull,  Dr.  Rogers,  Dr. 
Blow,  Elias  Ashmole,  Henry  Purcell,  Dr.  Croft, 
Pelham  Humphreys,  Dr.  Greene,  Battishill, 
Dr.  Burney,  Attwood,  and  many  famous  living 
musicians  whose  names  it  is  not-  necessary 
here  to  catalogue. 

Chorton  {Ger.)  (i)  The  ancient  ecclesi- 
astical pitch  in  Germany.  It  was  supposed 
to  be  higher  than  that  employed  for  secular 
music  by  about  a  tone.  The  terms  Kam- 
merton  and  Chorton  were  used  to  signify  the 
difference  between  a  high  and  a  low  pitch  fo.- 
the  same  denominated  sound.  (2)  The  melody 
of  a  hymn  or  psalm  tune. 

Chorus.  Chor(Ger.)  Chceur  (Fr.)  Coro(7i.) 
(i)  A  band  of  singers  and  dancers  employed 
on  certain  occasions  in  the  ancient  Greek 
theatres,  and  other  public  places.  It  was  the 
custom  for  the  whole  population  of  a  city  to 
meet  on  stated  occasions,  and  to  offer  thanks- 
givings to  the  gods  for  any  special  advantages 
obtained,  by  singing  hymns  accompanied  with 
dances.  Donaldson  derives  the  word  from 
X<>i'<ii-.  the  name  of  the  place  where  these  exer- 
cises were  performed  in  Sparta,  and  shows 
the  connection  between  the  civil  and  religious 
ceremonies  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  saying  that 
music  and  dancing  were  the  basis  of  the  re- 
ligious, political,  and  military  organisation  of 
the  Dorian  States.  The  choral  songs  were 
always  written  in  the  Doric  dialect,  and  the 
choral  dances  were  Dorian  also.  In  course 
of  time,  as  the  fine  arts  became  more  culti- 
vated, the  duties  of  the  chorus  as  a  branch  of 
worship  devolved  upon  a  few,  and  ultimately 
upon  one,  who  bore  the  whole  expenses, 
when  paid  dancers  were  employed.  This 
person  was  called  the  choragus  and  it  was  his 
business  to  provide  the  chorus  in  all  plays, 
whether  tragic  or  comic.  His  first  duty  after 
collecting  his  chorus  was  to  find  and  pay  a 
teacher  (xopoSiSao-raXoc)  who  instructed  them 
in  the  songs  and  dances  which  they  had  to 
perform.  The  choragus  was  allowed  to  press 
children,  if  their  parents  did  not  give  them  up 
of  their  own  accord.  He  lodged  and  main- 
tained the  chorus  until  the  time  of  performance 
and  provided  them  with  such  aliments  as 
conduce  to  strengthen  the  voice,  he  had  also 
to  find  masks  and  dresses.  The  honour  was 
much  coveted  among  the  wealthy  Athenians 
The  choragus  who  exhibited  the  best  theatrica 
entertainment  generally  received  a  tripod  at 
a  reward  of  praise. 


(92  ) 


CHORUS. 


The  choral  dance  reached  its  perfection  in 
the  xopoc  kvkXikoq  at  Athens.  This  chorus 
consisted  of  50  persons.  The  number  of  the 
chorus  varied  in  later  times  according  to  the 
performance.  The  x^poc  rpaytKuc  consisting  of 
from  12  to  15,  the  xopoc  icopi/coe  of  24,  and  the 
'^opoc  trarvpiKoc  of  the  same  number  as  the 
rpayt/k-of.  The  chorus  in  the  time  of  the  Attic 
tragedy  consisted  of  a  group  of  persons,  male 
and  female,  who  remained  in  the  theatre  as 
witnesses  as  well  as  spectators.  When  they 
spoke,  it  was  to  ofier  reflections  on  the  scene 
passing  before  them,  taking  part  with  or 
against  the  dramatis  personce  by  offering 
advice,  comfort,  exhortation,  or  dissuasion. 
At  times  the  chorus  was  divided  and  spoke 
antiphonally.  These  divisions  moved  accord- 
ing to  a  pre-arranged  order,  which  movement 
probably  originated  the  naming  of  the  stanzas 
which  were  called  strophe,  antistroplie  and 
epode.  When  not  engaged  in  singing,  the 
chorus  grouped  itself  upon  a  platform  called 
the  Thymele,  which  was  in  the  centre  of  the 
building,  and  from  whence  all  measurements 
were  made,  the  semicircle  of  the  amphitheatre 
being  described  from  it  as  its  centre.  Of 
the  exact  part  music  played,  whether  elaborate 
compositions  were  employed  or  not,  little  is 
now  known.  It  is  supposed  that  a  simple 
rhythmical  declamation  analogous  to  chanting 
was  used.  The  accompaniment  of  flutes  in 
unison  was  made  use  of  for  the  choruses. 
The  chorus  declined  with  the  ancient  tragedy, 
and  the  few  attempts  made  by  modern  writers 
to  revive  the  manner  of  the  ancients,  as  in 
Schiller's  "  Braut  von  Messina"  have  not  been 
successful.  The  well-known  Antigone  and 
CEdipus  Colonseus  of  Mendelssohn  can 
scarcely  be  regarded  as  a  reproduction  of  the 
ancient  Greek  chorus,  owing  to  the  insuperable 
difficulty  of  adapting  modern  instrumentation 
to  ihe  spirit  and  observances  of  the  older 
customs. 

(2)  Amusical  instrument  variously  described 
by  different  writers.  A  bagpipe  must  have 
been  signified  when  the  word  was  used  in  the 
loth  century,  as  a  chorus  or  corns  is  described 
as  "  pellis  simplex  cum  duobus  cicutis." 
The  word  is  supposed  to  be  connected  with 
corneimise,  as  it  is  sometimes  written  corjmisa 
and  conisa.  In  the  Promptorium  Parvulorum, 
15th  century,  the  word  is  used  to  describe 
"  a  crowde,  an  instrument  of  musyke;" — the 
drone  of  the  bagpipe  and  the  unstoppable 
strings  of  the  "crowde"  bearing  a  sort  of 
burden  or  chorus  to  the  melody  played  on  the 
other  pipes  or  strings.  Busby  in  his  "  Dic- 
tionary of  Music,"  1810,  says  that  the  word 
is  the  old  Scottish  name  for  a  trumpet  of  loud 
tone. 

(3)  A  personage  in  some  of  Shakespeare's 
plays,  who  between  the  acts  utters  reflections 


upon  scenes  that  are  past,  and  describes 
scenes  to  come. 

(4)  A  composition  for  a  number  of  singers, 
with  or  without  accompaniment,  intended  as 
the  expression  of  the  united  sentiments  of  a 
multitude.  A  chorus  may  be  independent  and 
complete  in  itself,  or  may  be  a  portion  of  a 
large  work  either  sacred  or  secular.  It  may 
contain  opposed  sentiments  interwoven,  as  in 
the  Kermesse  scene  in  Gounod's  "Faust;"  in 
Meyerbeer's  "Huguenots,"  and  "L'Etoile  du 
Nord ;"  Wagner's  "  Tannhauser"  and  "  Lohen- 
grin ;"  according  to  the  purposes  of  the  drama. 
Choruses  with  opposed  subjects  are  not  in- 
frequent in  oratorios,  as  in  Handel's  chorus, 
"  Fixed  in  his  everlasting  seat,"  in  "  Samson." 
The  union  of  independent  themes  may  be 
traced  by  the  student  with  advantage,  in  the 
choruses  of  such  compositions  as  Bach's 
Passion  music,  &c.  Double,  triple,  or  even 
quadruple  choruses  are  uften  found  in  the 
works  of  the  old  Italian  cnurch  writers,  as 
well  as  in  the  sacred  compositions  of  Bach, 
Handel,  and  later  musicians. 

The  choruses  in  the  early  Italian  operas 
were  devoid  of  dramatic  character,  and  in 
fact,  were  often  independent  of  the  action 
of  the  opera  in  which  they  were  inserted.  As 
they  contained  occasional  reflections  on  pass- 
ing events  they  were  in  some  sort  connected 
with  the  ancient  Greek  chorus,  the  stage  direc- 
tions enjoining  the  dancers  to  accompany  the 
singingwith  motions  and  gestures,  also  formed 
another  link  binding  them  to  their  ancient 
model.  The  invention  of  the  operatic  ch(  l  us, 
or  rather  the  introduction  of  combined  voices 
as  a  necessary  part  of  the  dramatic  action  is 
claimed  by  the  French.  Many  of  the  lesser 
musical  dramas,  burlettas,  interludes,  &c.,  had 
no  choruses  properly  speaking,  a  glee  or  some 
concerted  piece  for  the  principals  being  all 
that  is  found  in  them.  The  choruses  of 
Lully  are  not  very  dramatic,  and  those  of 
Rameau  are  very  badly  constructed,  and  often 
incorrect  as  to  their  harmony,  so  that  the  im- 
provements introduced  by  these  two  masters 
were  not  extended  to  the  chorus.  Among  the 
followers  of  Lully,  Campra  (1660-1744)  is  the 
most  distinguished ;  he  treated  his  choruses 
in  a  more  advanced  manner  than  his  model, 
not  only  in  the  development  of  harmonic  effects, 
but  also  by  the  introduction  of  novel  rhythms. 
Gluck  invented  inorceaux  d'ensemble,  grand 
indeed,  when  compared  with  the  choral  effects 
by  other  composers  of  his  own  and  preced- 
ing times;  Spontini  added  new  instrumental 
colouring  ;  Cherubini  employed  the  graces  of 
form  to  clothe  the  musical  outlines  suggested 
by  his  predecessors;  Rossini  did  as  little  com- 
paratively for  the  chorus  from  a  dramatic  point 
of  view,  as  Meyerbeer  did  much.  Some  of 
Bellini's  choruses  are  conceived  in  fine  dra- 


(93  ) 


CHORUS. 


matic  spirit  ;  Verdi's,  though  occasionally 
vulgar  in  detail,  are  by  no  means  wanting  in 
general  force  and  appropriateness  ;  the  faults 
they  exhibit  are  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
fetters  of  tradition,  and  a  wearying  use  of 
simple  tonic  and  dominant  harmonies  ;  Gou- 
nod's are  often  admirable,  but  as  the  expression 
of  the  voices  and  opinions  of  a  multitude, 
Wagner's  choruses  are  nearest  the  true  ideal. 
In  many  of  the  early  English  operas  the 
chorus  is  an  inconsiderable  item.  Exception 
must,  however,  be  made  in  favour  of  those  by 
Henry  Purcell,  whose  works  of  this  class 
exist,  while  many  of  the  other  portions  of  his 
operas  have  fallen  out  of  memory.  Neither 
Lampe,  Arne,  nor  Storace  paid  much  attention 
lo  the  development  of  chorus, but  its  improve- 
ment in  smaller  dramatic  works  is  due  to  Sir 
Henry  Bishop.  As  conductor  of  the  music  at 
Covent  Garden  Theatre  for  many  years,  he 
produced  a  series  of  compositions  of  more  or 
less  value,  some  of  which  live,  while  the 
dramas  and  plays  for  which  they  were  written 
have  fallen  completely  into  oblivion.  His 
earlier  choruses  have  the  glee  attached,  the 
part  for  the  multitude  of  voices  being  as  easy 
as  possible.  It  is  presumed  that  operatic 
chorus  singing  was  not  in  its  highest  state  of 
perfection  in  the  days  of  Mozart  or  Beethoven, 
for  neither  of  these  composers  has  given  the 
chorus  much  that  is  difficult  or  important  in 
their  operas — a  matter  of  necessity  perhaps,  as 
it  was  hard  to  find  a  body  of  singers  in  those 
days,  who  would  be  so  far  content  with  the 
gifts  they  possessed  as  to  accept  an  inferior 
position.  Chorus  singing  was  very  little  culti- 
vated in  London  so  recently  as  the  time  when 
the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society  was  established, 
for  it  was  lo  in  l  n^'-^'^sary  to  invite  a  con- 
tingent of  singers  from  the  North  of  England 
to  take  up  a  residence  in  the  Metropolis, 
employment  being  found  for  them  for  the 
hours  when  their  vocal  services  were  not 
required. 

If  It  is  necessary  to  account  for  the  slow 
growth  of  operatic  chorus,  when  compared 
with  the  progress  made  in  other  portions  of 
the  musical  drama,  a  very  simple  reason 
can  be  found,  m  the  fact  of  the  difficulty 
attending  the  first  performance  of  a  variety  of 
works  when  the  singers  have  to  commit  the 
whole  of  their  parts  to  memory.  Straight- 
forward as  many  of  Handel's  choruses  are, 
it  was  found  necessary  to  make  some  slight 
alterations  in  the  choruses  of  such  a  work  as 
"  Acis  and  Galatea "  when  given  on  the 
stage.  It  is  not  difficult  to  gain  the  most 
sublime  effects  from  chorus  singing  when 
the  performers  have  the  copies  before  their 
eyes,  as  the  performance  of  oratorios  and 
similar  works  by  large  choral  societies  can 
sufficiently  testify. 


In  the  Oratorio,  the  chorus  is  of  the  greatest 

importance,  and  the  number  of  voices  to  a 
part  is  generally  larger  than  it  was  in  the 
time  of  Handel,  though  some  writers  ques- 
tion the  advantage  gained  by  multiplying 
the  forces,  as  it  is  supposed  by  them  that  a 
greater  number  of  voices  does  not  necessarily 
produce  a  proportionate  power  of  tone,  and 
the  difficulty  of  moving  a  large  body  in  con- 
cert may  involve  a  change  of  tempi,  but  this 
need  not  be  the  case  with  a  trained  body  well 
acquainted  with  the  works  performed.  It  is 
said  that  "  a  chorus  of  thirty-five  voices  from 
the  Pope's  chapel  who  sang  at  the  Coronation 
of  Napoleon  I.,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Notre- 
Dame,  Paris,  produced  a  far  greater  and  more 
wonderful  effect  when  they  entered  singing  the 
Th  es  Petriis,  than  another  chorus  of  hundreds 
of  voices,  and  eighty  harps,  that  had  been 
assembled  and  trained  for  the  same  occasion, 
in  expectation  of  surpassing  all  that  man 
could  imagine."  As  the  knowledge  of  music 
is  more  general  in  the  present  day,  this  ob- 
jection cannot  with  reason  be  entertained 
now,  otherwise  the  choruses  at  the  Handel 
Festivals  could  not  be  held  to  be  the  most 
attractive  features  of  such  gatherings. 

(5)  The  union  of  a  number  of  voices  for  the 
joint  performance  of  a  composition.  The 
whole  of  the  male  and  female  singers  other 
than  the  principals  whether  in  the  oratorio, 
drama,  or  at  a  concert. 

(6)  The  refrain  or  burden  of  a  song  whethei 
sung  by  one  or  by  many  voices.  As  foi 
example  : 

(a)  1  lov'd  a  lass,  a  fair  one. 
As  fair  as  e'er  was  seen  ; 
She  was  indeed  a  rare  one, 
Another  Sheba  Queen. 
But  fool,  as  then  I  was 

I  thought  she  lov'd  me  too, 
But  now,  alas  !  she's  left  me. 
Chorus.  Falero,  lero,  loo. 

George  Wither. 

(b)  Lisette.  dont  I'empire 
S'etend  jusqu'a  mon  vin, 
Jeprouve  la  martyre 
D'en  demander  en  vain. 

Pour  souffrir  qu'a  mon  age 
Les  coups  me  soient  compt^s, 
Ai-je  compte,  volage, 
Tes  infidelites? 

Chaur.  Lisette,  ma  Lisette, 

Tu  m'as  trompe  toujours, 
Mais  vive  la  grisette 
Je  veux,  Lisette, 
Boire  a  nos  amours. 

Beranoba. 

(c)  Lasst  tanzen  uns  und  springen, 
Hier,  wo  die  Blumen  stehn; 
Und  frohe  Lieder  singen, 

Im  Freien  klin^t  es  schon. 
Chor.  Und  frohe  Lieder,  Ac. 

Uhlahd. 

) 


CHRISTE  ELEISON 


 CITTERN. 


(7)  The  name  given  to  the  mixture  and 
compound  stops  in  an  organ. 

Christe  eleison  (Gk.)  A  portion  of  the 
kyrie  in  the  mass.  [Mass.] 

Christmas  Carol.  [Carol.] 

Christmas  Music,  (i)  Cantatas,  the  words 
of  which  are  suitable  to  Christmas  tide.  (2) 
Music  played  by  waits.  [Waits.] 

Chroma  {Gk.  xp<!'/'a.  colour  or  complexion). 
The  name  of  one  of  the  modifications  of  the 
Greek  musical  scale.  The  principal  chroma- 
tic scale  of  the  Greeks  was  called  xP"^/"" 
ru^aiov  ;  its  chief  characteristic  is  the  omis- 
sion of  the  4th  and  7th.    [Greek  Music] 

Chroma  duplex  [Lat.)  (i)  A  semiquaver. 
(2)  A  double  sharp. 

Chromatic.  That  which  includes  notes 
not  belonging  to  a  diatonic  scale. 

(i)  A  chromatic  chord  is  that  which  con- 
tains a  note  or  notes  foreign  to  diatonic 
progression,  e.g. : 


(2)  Chromatic  harmony  is  that  which  is 
made  up  of  chromatic  chords. 

(3)  A  chromatic  interval  is  that  which  is 
augmented  or  diminished,  e.g. : 


Chromatic  modulation  is  a  passing  into 
an  extreme  key,  by  means  of  chromatic 
harmony. 

(5)  A  chromatic  scale  is  one  which  consists 
of  a  succession  of  semitones. 

Chromatique  {Fr.)  ]  ^, 

Chromatisch(G.r.)|  Chromatic. 

Chrotta.  [Crowd.] 

Church  modes.    [Plain  Song.] 

Ciaccona  {It.)  [Chaconne.] 

Cicogna  {It.)  The  mouth  piece  of  a  wind 
instrument  ;  lit.  a  beak. 

Cicuta  {Lat.)  A  flute  or  pan-pipes,  made 
from  the  stalks  of  the  hemlock  plant. 

Cimbalo(/f.)  (i)  Harpsichord.  {2)ciinbali, 
cymbals.    (3)  A  tambourine. 

Cimbel  {Ger.)  A  mixture-stop  in  German 
organs. 

Cimbelstern  {Ger.)  Lit.  cymbal-star.  A 
mechanical  contrivance  in  some  German 
organs,  consisting  of  star-shaped  cymbals 
attached  to  a  wheel  which  is  set  in  motion  by 
a  pedal. 

Cink  (Ger.)  I A  small  reed  stop  on  foreign 
Cinq  iFr.) )  organs. 
Cinque  {It.)  A  fifth  part  in  concerted  music. 
Cinyra.    An  old  term  for  a  harp. 
Circular  Canon.   A  canon  so  constructed 
that  it  closes  in  the  key  one  semitone  above 


that  in  which  it  commences.  As,  at  each 
repeat,  it  begins,  not  at  the  original  pitch,  but 
at  the  pitch  at  which  it  closed,  it  is  evident 
that  twelve  repetitions  would  take  it  through 
all  the  known  keys. 

Circulus  {Lat.)  A  circle.  One  of  thz 
time  signatures  of  early  music.  It  was  only 
applied  to  te)iipus  perfectnni  and  teinpus  iin- 
perfecttim,  that  is  to  the  division  of  a  breve 
into  semibreves.  When  the  breve  v/as  divi- 
ded into  three  semibreves  (tempus  perfectum) 
a  complete  circle  was  placed  at  the  signature 
"  quia  forma  rotunda  perfecta  est."  When  the 
breve  was  divided  into  two  semibreves  (tempus 
imperfectum)  a  broken  circle  or  semicircle 
was  used.  This  last  sign  is  now  corrupted 
into  a  C  which  is  erroneously  said  to  stand 
for  common  time.  [Time.] 

Cis  {Ger.)    The  note  C  sharp. 

Cis-cis  {Ger.)    The  note  C  double  sharp. 

Cis  dur  {Ger.)    The  key  of  C  sharp  major. 

Cis  moll  {Ger.)  The  key  of  C  sharp  minor. 

Cistella  {Lat.)  A  dulcimer,  lit.  a  little 
box. 

Cistre  {Fr.)  [Cittern.] 

Cistrum.  [Sistrum.] 

Citara  {It.)    A  cittern.    A  guitar. 

Cithara  (Gk.  kiQuoh).  The  ancient  lute. 
It  probably  differed  from  the  lyre  in  having 
something  behind  the  upper  part  of  the  strings, 
whereas  the  lyre-strings  were  open  on  both 
sides.  [Guitar.] 

Cithara  bijuga.  A  guitar  or  lute  having  a 
double  neck.  Some  of  the  strings  passed  along 
the  side  of  the  finger-board  and  could  not 
therefore  be  stopped,  and  some  of  the  higher 
strings  were  tuned  in  pairs  in  unison.  Some- 
times it  was  strung  with  wire  and  played  with 
a  plectrum  like  a  cithara  ;  at  others,  it  was 
strung  with  cat-gut  and  played  like  a  lute. 

Citharcedus.  One  who  sings  whilst  playing 
the  cithara,  whereas  a  citharista  only  played. 

Citole.  An  instrument  similar  in  form  to 
the  dulcimer.  The  name  is  supposed  by  some 
to  be  derived  from  cistella  a  little  box  ;  by 
others,  from  cithara,  a  guitar.  It  is  frequently 
mentioned  by  early  poets,  apparently  with 
various  meanings.  William  Guiart  (1248) 
says : — 

"  Qui  le  roi  de  France  a  celle  cree 
Enveloppa  si  de  parolles 
Plus  douces  que  son  de  citoles." 

Chaucer's  allusion  to  it  would  imply  that  it 
was  a  kind  of  guitar: — "A  citole  in  hir  right 
hand  had  sche." 

Cittern.  An  old  English  name  for  a  guitar 
strung  with  wire  instead  of  with  gut.  It  had 
eight  strings  tuned  to  four  notes  g,  b,  d,  and 
e,  or  corresponding  intervals.  The  instru 
ment  was  at  one  time  very  popular,  a  cittern 
being  part  of  the  furniture  of  a  barber's  shop, 
the  customers  amusing  themselves  with  it 


(  95  ) 


CIVETTERIA,  CON  CLARICHORD. 


while  waiting.  The  music  for  the  cittern  was 
written  in  Tablature.  There  were  several 
instruction  books  for  the  instrument  issued, 
while  it  was  still  in  use.  The  title  of  the 
earliest  known  is  "  The  Cittharn  Schoole,  by 
Antony  Holborne,  Gentleman,  and  servant  to 
Her  Most  Excellent  Maiestie.  Hereunto  are 
added  six  short  Airs,  Neapolitan  like  to  three 
voyces  without  the  Instrument  :  done  by  his 
brother  William  Holborne.  London,  1597." 
[Guitar.] 

Civetteria,  con  (It.)  In  a  coquettish 
manner. 

Clairon  (Fr.)  [Clarion.] 

Clang.  (i)  Timbre  (Fr.)  Klang  {Ger.) 
Quality  of  tone.  (2)  The  peculiar  "ringing" 
noise  or  dm  produced  by  the  clash  of  metals, 
or  the  blast  of  loud  wind  instruments.  Lat. 
clangor.  The  Gk.  KXayyi]  is  also  applied  to  the 
whiz  or  twang  caused  by  the  discharge  of  an 
arrow,  &c. 

Clapper.    [Bells.]  [Bones.] 

Claque  {Fr.)  A  body  of  hired  applause- 
makers,  openly  employed  in  France  and  some- 
times secretly  resorted  to  in  England.  The 
"  claque  "  in  France  is  divided  into  several 
ranks;  rieiirs,pleuretirs,chatouillejirs,  hisseurs, 
and  so  forth.  These  officers  distributed  in 
several  parts  of  the  theatre,  laugh,  weep, 
gossip  with  their  neighbours,  cry  encore,  &c., 
under  the  direction  of  a  fugle-man  whose 
business  it  is  to  study  the  work  produced, 
and  after  consultation  with  the  author,  the 
performers,  and  the  stage  manager,  to  direct 
and  regulate  the  reception  of  certaifi  portions 
of  the  entertainment. 

Claque-bois  {Fr.)  [Gigelira.] 

Clarabella.  An  organ  stop  consisting  of 
open  wood  pipes,  invented  by  Bishop.  It  is 
of  a  soft  and  sweet  quality  of  tone.  It  is 
generally  merged  into  a  Stopped  diapason 
below  middle  C,  as  the  larger  pipes  do  not 
produce  a  clear  tone.  It  is  usually  of  8  ft. 
pitch. 

Clara  voce  {It.)    A  clear  voice. 

Claribel  Flute.  An  organ  stop  of  similar 
construction  to  the  clarabella,  but  generally 
of  4  ft.  pitch. 

Clarichord.  A  stringed  instrument  of 
mediteval  times,  by  some  writers  presumed  to 
be  identical  with  the  clavichord,  the  precursor 
of  the  spinet,  harpsichord  and  pianoforte. 

The  earliest  stringed  instrument  with  a  key- 
board for  the  fingers,  is  said  to  have  been 
invented  about  the  year  1300,  in  Italy,  and 
to  have  been  called  Clavycytherium,  the 
cithara  or  harp  with  keys.  In  the  Musurgia 
of  Luscinius,  printed  in  1536,  a  picture  of 
this  early  instrument  is  given,  but  as  there  is 
no  statement  that  it  had  been  drawn  from 
an  existing  example,  and  moreover,  as  it 
appeared  nearly  two  centuries  and  a  half  after 


the  supposed  invention  its  likeness  is  at  the 
least  rather  doubtful.  Trustworthy  represen- 
tations of  keyed  instruments  are  very  rare 
before  the  latter  of  the  above  dates,  and  a 
consequent  amount  of  confusion  exists,  as 
well  with  regard  to  forms  as  to  names.  In 
the  few  early  English  glossaries  extant,  no 
clear  or  lucid  description  of  the  majority 
of  instruments  in  existence  can  be  obtained, 
and  many  modern  writers,  misled  by  varied 
spelling,  and  the  number  of  different  names 
for  the  same  thing,  have  exercised  their  wits 
in  finding  a  variety  of  forms,  shapes,  and 
uses  for  that  which  was  after  all  but  of  one 
character,  and  probably  the  same  thing  des- 
cribed variously.  To  speak  of  the  older 
names  of  instruments  of  the  kind  now  under 
consideration,  the  words  clavichord,  mono- 
chord,  manichord,  clavycymbal,  cembalo, 
clavecin,  all  have  the  same  meaning,  a 
stringed  instrument  with  keys  played  by  hand. 
Some  writers  explain  the  words  clavichord  to 
be  so  called,  because  the  strings  were  wrested 
in  tune  with  a  ^ej  (clavis) ; — this  description 
would  also  apply  to  the  clarichord,  called  also 
claricols,  clarigold,  &c.,  for  that  was  kept  in 
tune  by  a  wrest,  as  William  Cornishe  in  his 
poem,  "  A  treatise  betwene  Trouthe  and 
Enformacion."  1500,  tells  us.    He  says: 

"  The  clarichorde  hath  a  tunely  kinde 
As  the  wyre  is  wrested  hye  and  lowe 
So  it  tuneth  to  the  players  mynde. 
For  as  it  wrested  so  must  it  nede  showe. 
Any  instrument  mystuned  shall  hurt  a  trewe  song, 
Yet  blame  not  the  clarichord  the  wrester  doth 
wrong." 

By  this  it  would  appear  that  the  clarichord 
was  a  kind  of  harp,  tuned  as  it  was  required 
to  be  used,  and  it  is  somewhat  singular  that 
as  the  words  clarichord,  clarigols,  clarigold, 
&c.,  are  only  used  in  ancient  English  writings, 
no  form  of  them  being  found  in  old  French  or 
Latin,  the  derivation  of  the  word  from  an 
ancient  British  etymon,  such  as  clar,  to  grip 
or  bend,  would  be  applicable  to  the  harp  as 
an  instrument  whose  strings  were  plucked  or 
gripped,  the  modern  Irish  word  for  playing 
on  harps  is  cU]tex>)Tei\  (clarediser),  and  the 
harp  itself  is  called  cla|trC4r(clarscat), gripped 
or  clawed  string.  The  word  yCA-c  might  be 
compared  with  the  German  Saite. 

Dr.  Rimbault,  after  quoting  the  definitions 
of  the  word  clarichord  given  by  a  few  of  the 
lexicographers  of  the  17th  century,  observes 
that  they  make  "  no  distinction  between  the 
terms  clarichord  and  clavichord,  but  the  one 
can  hardly  be  a  corruption  of  the  other."  He 
adds  that  the  "  words  suggest  a  totally 
different  etymology,"  and  he  then  proposes 
that  it  might  be  from  the  French  word  claire, 
denoting  a  transparent  tone;  but  in  the  earliest 
musical  dictionaries  clarichord  is  said  to  be 


(  96  ) 


CLARIN  CLARINETTO. 


"called  also  the  Dumb  spinnet,  on  account  of 
the  cords  being  covered  with  pieces  of  cloth." 
The  Clavechord  or  clavecimbalo  is  said  to 
signify  a  harpsichord.  In  every  instance  in 
which  the  word  claricho»d  is  employed  before 
the  1 6th  century  it  might  be  fairly  be  trans- 
lated harp. 

At  the  marriage  of  James  of  Scotland  with 
the  Princess  Margaret,  in  the  year  1503,  "the 
king  began  before  hyr  to  play  of  the  clary- 
chordes  and  after  of  the  lute.  And  upon  the 
said  clarychorde  Sir  Edward  Stanley  played  a 
ballade  and  sange  therewith."  (Warton, 
"  History  of  English  Poetry.")  It  is  quite 
possible  that  the  similarity  of  the  two  letters 
V  and  r  in  ancient  MSS.  might  have  led  the 
transcribers  to  mistake  one  for  the  other,  and 
by  writing  clarichord  or  clavichord  indiscrimi- 
nately they  might  innocently  cause  contro- 
versy. All  modern  authorities  on  the  subject 
declare  that  the  words  are  of  separate  and 
distinct  origin.  [Pianoforte.] 

Clarin  {Gey.)  A  species  of  trumpet,  a 
clarion,  also  an  organ  reed  stop  of  4  ft.  pitch. 
Clarin  blasen,  the  sound  of  a  trumpet.  Some- 
times the  word  is  applied  to  the  soft  tones 
produced  on  this  instrument. 

Clarinet  j    An  important  wind  in- 

Clarinette  (Fr.)  I  strument  said  to  have 
Clarinetto  {It.)  J  been  invented  by  John 
Christopher  Denner,  who  was  born  in  Leipsic, 
in  1654,  but  it  was  in  reality  only  a  modification 
and  improvement  of  the  more  ancient  shawm 
ox  chulameaii.  Most  authors  relate  that  Denner 
invented  the  instrument  in  1659,  at  which  date 
he  was  four  years  old  ;  but  it  was  made  by 
him  after  his  residence  in  Nuremberg,  in  1690. 
The  name  clarinet,  or  clarionet  was  probably 
attached  to  it  on  account  of  its  pure  and  brilliant 
tone  not  unlike  that  of  the  clarion  or  trumpet. 
In  modern  instruments  of  this  class,  the  tone 
has  been  rendered  far  purer  and  sweeter 
than  that  originally  produced.  The  difference 
between  the  tone  of  the  hautboy  and  that  of 
the  clarinet,  is  due  to  the  circumstance  that 
the  one  has  a  double,  and  the  other  a  single 
reed.  The  difference  in  the  nature  of  the 
scale  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  hautboy  is 
conical,  while  the  clarinet  is  a  cylinder,  the 
series  of  harmonics  in  the  hautboy  following 
each  other  in  the  ratio  i,  2,  3,  4,  &c.,  those 
of  the  clarinet  i,  3,  5,  7,  &c.,  hence,  that 
whereas  the  first  overtone  of  the  former  is  its 
octave,  the  first  overtone  of  the  latter  is  its 
twelfth.  On  this  fact  depends  the  difficulty 
of  making  shakes  and  of  playing  rapid  pas- 
sages on  certain  parts  of  the  clarinet.  All 
sudden  changes  from  the  end  of  the  first  range 
of  twelve  notes  to  the  commencement  of  the 
second  series,  are  difficult,  some  impossible. 

The  compass  of  the  instrument  is  about 
three  octaves  and  a  half  from  tenor  E,  including 


all  the  intermediate  semitones.  The  clarinet 
being  of  the  nature  of  a  stopped  pipe,  as  to 
its  harmonics,  can  be  played  from  its  lowest 
note  E  up  to  twelve  notes  higher  without  a 
break  by  means  of  its  keys.  At  this  point  the 
player  has  to  increase  the  pressure  of  wind, 
and  commence  a  new  series  of  sounds,  the 
transition  between  these  two  registers  forming 
the  chief  difficulty  in  "  clarinet  blowing." 
The  registers  are  four  in  number,  and  are  as 
follows: 

I.  The  low  includes  all  notes  between 


2.  The  second  between 


3.  The  third  between 


4.  The  fourth  comprises  all  remaining  notes 
from 


The  first  two  registers  are  called  the  "  chala- 
meau  part,"  and  when  this  is  employed  for  any 
continued  time  it  is  written  an  octave  higher, 
with  the  direction  "  chal,  or  chalameau  "  to 
the  player.  There  are  three  lengths  of  tubing 
employed  for  the  clarinet,  by  which  means 
the  instrument  may  be  made  to  sound  three 
different  scales  according  as  the  tube  "S 
short  or  long.  The  longer  tube  is  used  tor 
the  A  clarinet,  a  medium  for  the  B  flat,  and 
the  shorter  for  the  C. 

As  the  fingering  is  in  each  case  the  same 
in  each  instrument  it  has  been  found  con- 
venient to  adopt  C  as  the  normal  scale,  so 
that  a  piece  of  music  apparently  the  same  to 
the  eye  is  different  to  the  ear,  according  to 
the  clarinet  employed.  Thus  the  passage 
written  as  follows  : 


When  played  upon  a  C  clarinet  would  sound 
as  it  stands,  upon  an  A  clarinet  would  sound: 


And  upon  a  B  flat  clarinet,  as: 


It  is,  however,  easy  to  make  each  instru- 


(  97  ) 


G 


CIwARINETTISTA  CLEF. 


ment  give  out  the  same  notes  by  employing 
a  change  in  the  signature,  thus  the  passage 
for  the  A  clarinet  should  be  written: 


And  for  the  B  flat  clarinet : 


when  they  will  each  give  the  sounds  as  written 
in  No.  I. 

The  kind  of  clarinet  required  is  usually  stated 
at  the  commencement,  as  clarinet  in  A,  B  flat, 
or  C,  and  whenever  a  change  is  needed  during 
the  progress  of  a  piece,  the  same  is  indicated 
during  a  period  of  rest  for  the  instrument,  by  the 
words  change  to  A,  B,  or  C,  as  the  case  may  be. 

The  aavantage  of  a  change  of  clarinet  is 
that  complicated  scales  upon  one  instrument 
become  easy  upon  another.  For  instance  the 
scale  of  F  sharp  major  which  is  very  difficult 
on  a  C  clarinet,  when  played  upon  an  A 
clarinet  is  fingered  as  A  major,  the  real  sounds 
produced  being  those  of  the  scale  of  F  sharp 
major.  Similarly  the  scale  of  D  flat  major 
would  become  the  scale  of  E  flat  major  on  a 
B  flat  clarinet.  This  accounts  for  the  fact 
that  the  clarinet  part  in  a  full  score  is  some- 
times in  a  flat  key  while  the  movement  is 
in  a  sharp  key.  For  example  a  piece  in  the 
key  of  E  minor  (one  sharp)  not  uncommonly 
has  a  part  for  an  A  clarinet  written,  of  course, 
in  G  minor  with  two  flats. 

The  favourite  (because  easy)  keys  of  the 
clarinet  are  the  keys  of  C,  F,  and  G,  B  flat, 
E  flat,  A  flat  and  D  with  their  relative  minors. 
Hence  the  skill  of  the  composer  is  shown  in 
writing  for  tliat  clarinet  capable  of  producing 
the  best  effects  in  certain  keys. 

Clarinets  are  usually  employed  in  pairs, 
and  the  parts  are  ordinarily  written  on  one 
stave.  They,  in  conjunction  with  the  two 
bassoons  similarly  written,  form  a  grand  basis 
or  support  for  all  the  other  wind  instruments. 
The  small  E  flat  clarinet  (playing  a  minor 
third  above  the  notes  actually  written)  is  used 
in  military  bands.  Its  tone  is  shrill  and 
piercing.  The  introduction  of  the  clarinet  as 
a  regular  instrument  in  the  orchestra  of  the 
opera  is  due  to  J.  Christian  Bach,  who  wrote 
special  parts  for  a  pair  of  clarinets  in  his  opera 
"  Orione,  ossia  Diana  vendicata,"  which  was 
produced  in  London  in  1763. 

Clarinettista  (It.)  Clarinettiste  [Fr.)  A 
performer  on  the  clarinet. 

Clarinetto  {It.)  [Clarinet.] 

Clarino  (/<.)  (i)  A  trumpet.  (2)  An  organ 
stop,  consisting  of  reed  pipes,  generally  of 
4-ft.  pitch. 

Clausula  (Lat.)    A  close  or  cadence,  e.g. : 


clausula  falsa,  a  false  cadence ;  clausula  finalis, 

a  final  cadence,  &c. 

Clavecin  (Fr.)  (i)  A  harpsichord.  (2)  The 
keys  by  means  of  which  the  carilloneur  plays 
upon  the  bells.  [Pianoforte.] 

Claviatur  (Ger.)  (i)  The  key  board  of  an 
organ  or  pianoforte.    (2)  Fingering. 

Clavi-cembalum  (Lat.)  Clavicembalo  (//.) 
[Pianoforte.] 

Clavichord.  [Clarichord.] 

Clavicylinder.  An  instrument  in  the  form 
of  tubes  or  cylinders  of  glass,  invented  by 
Chladni.  There  was  another  instrument  with 
the  same  name  made  of  plates  of  glass  of  gradu- 
ated lengths,  the  tone  of  which  was  produced 
by  hammers  set  in  motion  by  a  key-board. 

Clavicytherium.  [Clarichord.] 

Claviglissando.  An  instrument  with  a 
key-board,  invented  by  C.  W.  Le  Jeune,  which 
is  intended  to  combine  the  properties  of  the 
violin  and  harmonium — of  the  violin  in  ob- 
taining a  slide  or  portamento,  and  the  harmo- 
nium in  the  capability  of  imitating  the  tones 
of  various  wind  instruments. 

Clavier  (Ger.)  [  (i)  The  pianoforte,  (2)  A 

Clavier  (Fr.)  j  row  of  keys  on  an  organ. 

Clavierauszug  (Ger.)  A  pianoforte  score, 
as  opposed  to  Partitur,  a  full  score. 

Clef  [Lat.  clavis.)  The  sign  placed  at  the 
commencement  of  a  staff  or  stave,  showing 
the  absolute  pitch,  the  lines  without  it  showing 
only  the  relative  distances  of  sounds.  When 
it  was  found  that  neumes  could  be  better 
interpreted  by  the  use  of  lines,  a  red  and  a 
yellow  line  were  used,  it  being  understood 
that  the  former  bore  the  note  F,  the  latter  C. 
It  is  easy  to  see,  that  the  fact  having  been 
once  established  that  lines  could  represent 
notes,  it  would  be  found  much  easier  to  attach 
the  letter  itself  to  the  commencement  ot  the 
lines,  than  to  colour  the  line.  The  coloured 
lines  were  invented  by  Guido,  but  Walter 
Odington  (13th  century)  used  one  of  the  letters 
of  the  musical  notes  as  a  clef  to  his  stave  of 
four  lines.  At  this  period,  it  was  not  usual 
to  employ  leger  lines,  but  if  the  voice  ex- 
ceeded in  compass  beyond  the  limit  of  the 
stave,  the  position  of  the  clef  was  altered ;  a 
practice  still  retained  in  plain-song  books. 
[Notation.]  The  letters  C  and  F  were  most 
commonly  used  in  all  ecclesiastical  music  up 
to  the  time  of  Palestrina,  after  which  other 
clefs  were  introduced. 

There  were  five  sorts  of  clefs  in  use  in  the 
i6th  century,  namely,  the  gamut  T,  from  the 
Greek  gamma,  the  F,  C,  g  and  d  clefs.  These 
were  ultimately  reduced  to  three,  the  gamut 
and  the  d  clefs  being  found  to  be  unneces- 
sary. The  position  of  the  clefs  was  held  to 
represent  a  certain  pitch,  and  as  it  was 
supposed  that  the  scale  was  incapable  of  ex- 
tension beyond  the  notes  indicated  by  the 


(  98  ) 


CLEF. 


clefs  gamut  and  d,  their  places  marked  the 
boundary  of  ecclesiastical  compass.  The  other 
clefs  might  be  made  moveable  if  needed,  for 
reasons  already  intimated,  but  whatever  the 
number  of  lines  above  or  below  the  clefs, 
each  clef  represented  a  particular  sound.  Thus, 
the  F  clefs  indicated  F  finale,  the  C  clef, 
acutum,  and  the  G  clef,  G  superacutum,  &c. 
Many  of  the  musical  treatises  of  the  i6th 
century  contain  a  chapter  "De  Clavibus  sig- 
natis,"  which  is  interesting  as  showing  the 
form  of  the  clefs  as  then  employed. 

All  the  writers  of  these  tracts  distinguish 
between  the  clefs  proper  to  plain-song,  and 
those  employed  for  figurate  or  mensurable 
music.  In  the  following  copies  of  these  ar- 
rangements of  clefs,  those  for  plain-song  are 
on  the  left,  and  those  for  figurate  music  on 
the  right.  No.  i,  from  Finck's  "  Practica 
Musica,"  1556  : 


Signa 
clavium 
in  utroque 
cantu. 


Et  ponuntur  omnes  in  lineali  situ, 
quxdam  tamen  sunt  magis  fami- 
liares,  utpote  F  et  C,  g  rariuscule. 
r  vero  et  dd  rarissime  utimur. 
Unde,  Linea  signatas  sustentat 
scilicet  omnes.  Et  distant  inter 
se  mutuo  per  diapentem.  F  tamen 
yd/j/ia  distinguat  septima  quamvis. 


No.  2,  from  "  Erotemata  Musices  Practicae, 
by  Ambrosius  Wilphlingsederus,  1563  : 


In  raeniurali  vero  hoc  modo. 


No.  3,  from  "  Erotemata  Musicae,"  by 
Lucas  Lossius,  1570  : 


■  c 

1  \ 

In  cantu  chorali.       In  cantu  figurali. 

In  later  times  three  clefs  F,  C  and  G  were 


found  sufficient  for  all  purposes.  The  C  clef 
appears  upon  all  lines  but  the  fifth. 


t 


The  first  is  called  the  Soprano,  and  is  most 
frequently  found  in  ecclesiastical  music,  though 
it  not  uncommonly  indicates  the  treble  voice 
part  in  modern  full  scores.  The  second  is 
called  the  Mezzo  Soprano,  and  is  assigned 
to  second  treble,  and  sometimes  alto  voices, 
and  in  music  of  the  early  part  of  the  i8th 
century  is  often  used  for  the  tenor  violin.  The 
third  is  the  Alto,  and  the  fourth  the  Tenor 
clef ;  the  former  being  used  for  alto  voices, 
violas,  and  the  highest  trombone,  the  latter 
by  tenor  voices,  trombones  and  the  upper 
register  of  the  bassoon  and  violoncello.  The 
F  clef  is  placed  upon  the  fourth  line  of  the 
stave  and  is  used  for  all  bass  voices  and  in- 
struments. When  it  is  found  upon  the  third 
line  as  in  some  old  music  it  is  called  the 
baritone  clef: 


The  following  quotations  from  music  books 
of  various  dates  will  show  the  forms  through 
which  the  several  clefs  have  passed.  The 
"  Compendium  Musicae,"  by  Lampardius,i537, 
is  supposed  to  be  the  earliest  printed  book  in 
which  the  G  clef  is  used  in  a  shape  nearly 
similar  to  that  now  employed: 


i 


In  Lully's  and  other  French  scores  it  is  some- 
times placed  upon  the  first  line: 


In  this  position  it  was  called  the  "  French 
violin  clef ; "  and  in  an  earlier  work  by 
Christopher  Demantius,  "  Isagoge  Artis 
Musicae,"  1656,  it  appears  upon  the  third 
line: 


In  "Ayres  and  Dialogues  for  one,  two,  and 
three  voyces,"  by  Henry  Lawes,  1653,  the 
forms  of  the  clefs  are  as  follows : 


In  Christopher  Simpson's  "  Compendium  of 

i  99  ) 


CLEF  COGLI  STROMENTI. 


Practical  Musick,"  1678,  the  clefs  are  in  this 
shape : 


M 

Playford's  Psalms,  third  edition,  1697,  the 
following  are  the  forms  : 


Matthew  Wilkins's  "  Book  of  Psalmody," 
1699: 

Dr.  Croft's  "  Thirty  Select  Anthems,"  1724: 


y — Tp— 

"^^ — 1  

Godfrey  Keller's  "Rules  for  playing  athorow- 
bass,"  1731: 


Emanuel  Bach's  "  Sechs  leichte  Clavier 
Sonaten,"  1766  : 


Malcolm,  "  A  Treatise  of  Music,"  1779: 


Shield's  "  Introduction  to  Harmony,"  1800  : 

In  many  modern  French  music  books  the  F 
clef  is  written  thus  : 


 /  

In  this  a  resemblance  to  the  letter  F,  the 
ancient  clef  sign  for  this  pitch,  may  be 
traced.  Many  writers  have  maintained  that 
clefs  create  difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  "right 
understanding  of  music,"  and  have  therefore 
suggested  their  removal  or  the  substitution  of 
simpler  signs.  | 


Thomas  Salmon,  1676,  proposed  the  use  of 
the  letter  T,  for  the  treble  clef,  M  for  the 
mean  or  C  clef,  and  B  for  the  bass  clef.  His 
proposal  led  him  into  a  controversy  with 
Matthew  Locke,  which  was  maintained  on 
both  sides  in  language  not  very  creditable 
to  either.  Francis  Delafond,  in  1725,  sug- 
gested the  use  of  one  clef  only,  the  F,  or 
bass  clef.  A  century  later.  Miss  Glover,  in 
a  pamphlet  explaining  her  views  on  what  she 
called  the  Tetrachordal  System,  proposed  to 
abolish  all  clefs,  a  proposition  which  has 
since  been  carried  out  in  the  Tonic-Sol-f? 
method  of  teaching  singing.  The  use  of  the 
treble  clef  for  all  purposes  has  also  been 
recently  advocated,  but  with  little  success. 

Clivus  {Lat.)  [Neumes.] 

Clocca  [Med.  Lat.)  A  bell.  Irish  clog,  a 
small  bell.    Fr.  cloche.  Ger.Glocke. 

Cloche  (Fr.)    A  bell. 

Clochettes  (Fr.)  Hand-bells. 

Clock,  to.  To  set  a  bell  in  vibration,  by 
attaching  a  rope  to  the  clapper,  and  swinging 
it  to  and  fro  till  it  strikes  the  side  of  the  bell 
which  remains  stationary.  It  is  an  undesi- 
rable practice,  as  many  valuable  bells  have  in 
this  manner  been  cracked. 

Clokerre  {Old  Eng.)  Clocherre  [Old  Fr.) 
A  belfry.    In  low  Latin,  clocherium. 

Close  harmony.  Harmony  produced  by 
drawing  the  parts  which  form  it  closely  to- 
gether. 

Close  play.  A  direction  in  lute  playing. 
The  following  explanation  of  the  term  is  from 
Barley's  Lute  book  :  "  Thou  shalt  not  neede 
but  to  remoove  those  fingers  which  thou  shalt 
be  forced,  which  manner  of  handling  we  call 
close  or  covert  play."  It  would  appear  to 
correspond  to  the  stnooth  style  sometimes 
adopted  on  the  organ  or  other  keyed  in- 
struments. 

Clynke-bell.  [Chimes.] 

C  moll  {Ger.)  C  minor. 

Coalottino.  [Concertino.] 

Coda  {It.)  (i)  The  tail  of  a  note.  (2)  The 
bars  occasionally  added  to  a  contrapuntal 
movement  after  the  close  or  finish  of  the 
canto  fermo.  (3)  The  few  chords  or  bars 
attached  to  an  infinite  canon  in  order  to 
render  it  finite  ;  or  a  few  chords  not  in  canon, 
added  to  a  finite  canon  for  the  sake  of  ob- 
taining a  more  harmonious  conclusion.  (4) 
An  adjunct  to  the  ordinary  close  of  a  sonata, 
or  symphony,  &c.,  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing 
the  final  character  of  the  movement. 

Codetta  (It.)  dim.  of  coda.  A  short  coda. 

Codon  {Gk.Kbiluv.)  (i)  A  small  bell,  such  as 
those  attached  to  the  trappings  of  horses.  {2) 
A  crier's  bell.  (3)  The  bell  of  a  trumpet  (Fr. 
pavilion).    (4)  A  trumpet  with  a  bell-mouth. 

Cogli  stromenti  (//.)  With  the  instru- 
ments. 


(  100  ) 


COI  COMMON  OR  DUPLE  TIME. 


Coi  (It.)  With;  e.g.  coi  bassi,  with  the  basses; 
cot  violini,  with  the  violins. 
Col  (//.)    With  ;  e.g.  : 

Col  arco,  with  the  bow. 

Col  basso,  with  the  bass. 

Col  canto,  with  the  melody. 

Colla  destra,  with  the  right  hand. 

Coir  arco,  with  the  bow. 

Colla  parte,  with  the  principal  part. 

Colla  punta  dell'  arco,  with  the  point  of  the  bow. 

Colla  sinistra,  with  the  left  hand. 

Colla  voce,  with  the  voice. 

College  of  Organists.  A  modern  insti- 
tution established  in  London,  for  the  purpose 
of  strengthening  and  improving  the  position 
of  organ  players,  granting  diplomas,  and  of 
providing  suitable  performers  for  the  service 
of  the  church. 

College  youths.  A  London  Society  of 
bell  ringers,  formerly  confined  to  members  of 
the  universities. 

Col  legno  {It.)  With  the  wood.  Adirection 
to  strike  the  strings  of  a  violin  with  the  back 
or  wood  of  the  bow. 

Collet  de  viol  on  {Fr.)  The  neck  of  a 
violin. 

Collinet  {Fr.)  [Flageolet.] 

Colophony.  Colofonia  {It.)  Colophonium 
{Lat.)  Colophonie  {Fr.)  Resin.  The  gum 
used  for  making  the  hair  of  bows  rough,  so 
as  to  set  the  strings  freely  into  vibration.  So 
called  from  Colophon  in  Greece  (fcoXo^wr/a, 
and  'pr]Tipri,  gum.) 

Color  {Lat.)  Colour.  A  term  variously 
employed  in  mediaeval  treatises  on  music  to 
represent :  a  repetition  of  a  sound  in  part 
music  (repititio  ejusdem  vocis);  purity  of  tone 
(pulchritudo  soni)  ;  a  movement  of  the  voice 
from  the  part  (florificatio  vocis)  ;  an  altera- 
tion of  rhythm  by  different  voices  (idem  sonus 
repetitus  in  tempore  diverso  a  diversis  voci- 
bus) ;  a  discord  purposely  introduced  for  the 
sake  of  variety  (aliquando  unus  eorum  ponitur 
in  discordantiam  propter  colorem  musicas). 
Some  have  gathered  from  the  definition— 
"  Repetitio  diversae  vocis  est  idem  sonus  re- 
petitus in  tempore  diverso  a  diversis  vocibus," 
that  a  musical  canon  is  meant  to  be  described. 
(2)  The  coloured  lines  first  used  for  the  pur- 
pose of  rendering  neiimes  more  intelligible. 
"  Quamvis  perfecta  sit  positura  neumarum, 
caeca  omnino  est  et  nihil  valet  sine  adjunctione 
literarum  vel  colorum  "  (Guido).  [See  Clef 
and  Notation.] 

Coloratura  {It.)  Divisions,  runs,  trills, 
cadenzas,  and  other  florid  passages  in  vocal 
music. 

Coloscione  or  Colachon.  A  species  of 
guitar,  called  also  Bichordon  or  Trichordon, 
according  as  it  was  strung. 

Come  {It.)    As,  like;  e.g.'. 

Come  prima.  As  at  first.  Come  sta,  as  it 
stands. 

(  1 


Comes  {Lat.)  The  answer  to  the  Dux  ot 
subject.  [Fugue.] 

Comic  opera.  An  opera  in  which  the  in- 
cidents are  of  a  humorous  description.  The 
comic  opera  is  of  Italian  origin  and  French 
development,  each  subject  treated  by  musicians 
of  other  nations  owing  its  rise  either  to  some 
one  or  other  theme  already  taken  by  French 
composers  of  comic  operas,  or  iVom  the 
vaudevilles  which  preceded,  and  formed  the 
pattern  of,  the  comic  operas.  Boieldieu, 
Herold,  Auber,  Adam,  Thomas,  Offenbach, 
Lecocq,are  the  most  successful  representatives 
of  the  modern  school  of  comic  opera  writers. 
[Vaudeville,  Opera,  &c.] 

Comic  song.  A  song  developing  in  humo- 
rous verse  some  ludicrous  idea  or  incident 
set  to  a  tune  already  popular,  or  with  a  melody 
easy  to  be  caught  up  by  the  hearers,  in  order 
that  they  may  be  ready  when  called  upon  to 
join  in  the  chorus  which  usually  accompanie.'; 
such  songs.  Songs  of  a  humorous  description 
are  of  high  antiquity,  but  as  their  humour 
is  generally  of  a  bad  character,  specimens  of 
this  class  of  literature  are  not  fitted  either  for 
general  or  for  particular  readers.  The  ballads 
and  stories  which  would  please  an  audience  of 
a  past  age  and  which  have  found  their  way 
into  many  collections  of  ancient  songs,  are 
scarcely  respectable  even  for  their  antiquity. 

Comma.  The  small  interval  between  a 
major  and  a  minor  tone,  that  is  between  a 
tone  whose  ratio  is  8 :  9  and  one  whose  ratio 
is  9  :  10.  The  ratio  of  a  comma  is  therefore 
80:81.  A  Pythagorean  comma  is  the  differ- 
ence between  the  note  produced  by  taking 
7  octaves  upwards  and  12  fifths. 

Common  chord.  A  note  accompanied 
by  its  major  or  minor  3rd  and  perfect  5th. 
[Harmony.]  In  thorough  bass,  the  figure  3, 
a  sharp,  flat  or  natural,  as  the  case  may  be, 
or  the  absence  of  any  letter,  character,  or 
figure,  denotes  the  common  chord  of  the  bass 
note.  When  there  is  more  than  one  chord 
on  the  same  bass  note,  the  common  chord  is 
figured 

Common  or  Duple  time.  Time  with  two 
beats  in  a  bar  or  any  multiple  of  two  beats 
in  a  bar.  The  beats  may  be  of  the  value  of 
any  note  or  rest  or  compound  of  notes  and 
rests,  providing  the  sum  required  by  the 
time  sign  be  exactly  contained  in  each 
bar.  Common  time  is  of  two  kinds,  simple 
and  compound.  Simple  common  time  is 
that  which  includes  four  beats  in  a  bar, 
or  any  division  of  that  number,  or  square 
of  the  number  or  its  divisions.  The  signs 
used  to  express  simple  common  time  are 
the  following:  2,2^  2^  4^  |,  and  the  charac- 
ters C  and  (^.  In  these  signs  the  upper  figure 
denotes  the  quantity  of  notes  required  in  the 
bar,  and  the  lower  figure  the  quality  of  the 

I  ) 


COMMODAMENTE  CONCENTUS. 


notes,  I  signifying  asemibreve,  2  a  minim,  4 
a  crotchet,  8  a  quaver,  and  so  on,  each  figure 
showing  the  relative  proportionate  value  to 
the  semibreve  which  is  now  reckoned  as  the 
time-standard.  The  sign  (Q)  is  called  the 
sign  of  alia  cappella  time,  and  is  usually 
followed  by  four  minims  in  a  bar,  played  or  sung 
in  slow  time;  the  sign  )  is  called  the  sign 
of  alia  breve  time,  and  has  also  four  or  eight 
minims  in  a  bar  played  or  sung  in  a  shorter 
time,  as  its  title  implies.  The  use  of  words 
directing  the  pace  in  which  pieces  of  music 
are  intended  to  be  taken,  has  created  a  certain 
amount  of  confusion  in  the  use  and  meaning 
of  all  the  time  signs  descriptive  of  form  in  a 
bar  [Expression,  Time].  Compound  common- 
time  is  expressed  by  the  signs  |,  |,  such 
signs  meaning  two  or  four  beats  of  three 
crotcnets  or  quavers  to  each  beat. 

In  mediaeval  music  a  circle  0  was  used 
to  indicate  what  was  called  perfect  time 
(tempus  perfectum),  a  portion  of  the  circle 
being  omitted  C  showed  that  the  time  was  im- 
perfect, a  line  through  the  latter  sign  (Jj  meant 
a  more  rapid  pace  than  that  required  when  the 
C  alone  was  used.  When  these  signs  were 
reversed  they  implied  that  the  music  was  to 
be  taken  faster  than  if  they  were  in  their 
ordinary  places.  Thus  the  degree  of  rapidity 
would  be  shown  by  the  time  signs  arranged 
as  follows  :  O  C  0  ^ 

Commodamente  (It.)  lit.  in  a  convenient 
manner.    Easily,  quietly. 

Commodo  (it.)  Easily,  at  will,  without 
haste. 

Compagnia  del  gonfalone  (It.)  An 
ancient  society  of  mystery  or  miracle  play 
actors  established  at  Rome,  in  1264,  who 
illustrated  their  dramatic  performances  of 
sacred  subjects  with  music.  They  took  their 
name  from  the  banner  (gonfalone)  which  they 
bore.  Their  performances  are  supposed  by 
some  writers  to  have  suggested  the  Oratorio. 

Company  of  Musicians.  One  of  the 
chartered  companies  of  the  City  of  London, 
which,  like  the  majority  of  such  companies, 
has  become  by  time  perverted  from  the  original 
purpose  of  its  foundation.  The  charter  was 
granted  by  King  Charles  I.,  in  1636,  to  divers 
musicians  under  the  style  and  title  of  the 
Marshal,  Wardens,  and  Commonality  of  the 
Art  and  Science  of  Music,  in  Westminster, 
in  the  County  of  Middlesex.  This  charter 
was  confirmed  by  letters  patent  from  King 
Charles  II. 

Compass.  The  whole  range  of  sounds 
capable  of  being  produced  by  a  voice  or 
instrument, 

Compiacevole  (It.)  Pleasant,  agreeable, 
charming. 


Complement.  The  interval  which  must 
be  added  to  any  other  interval,  so  that  the 
whole  shall  be  equal  to  an  octave ;  ^.g-.,  the 
complement  of  a  3rd  is  a  6th;  that  of  a  4th, 
a  5th;  of  a  5th,  a  4th  ;  and  so  on.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  intervals  are  always  considered 
as  overlapping. 

Compline  (from  the  Lnt.  completorium). 
The  short  evening  service  which  completes 
the  day-hours. 

Composer,  (i)  An  author  of  music.  One 
who  "  finds  out  musical  tunes."  (2)  An  in- 
ventor and  arranger  of  a  series  of  changes  in 
bell  ringing. 

Composition,  (i)  A  piece  of  music,  for 
voices  or  instruments,  or  a  combination  of 
both  effects,  constructed  according  to  the 
rules  of  art.  (2)  The  art  of  composing  music, 
guided  by  scientific  rules.  (3)  In  an  organ, 
the  particular  combination  of  sounds  which 
form  a  compound  stop.  (4)  A  mechanical 
arrangement  on  the  organ  by  which  certain 
combinations  of  stops  may  be  employed  or 
not,  at  the  wish  of  the  performer,  upon  his 
opening  or  closing  a  valve,  or  by  using  a 
pedal  which  acts  upon  the  sliders. 

Composizione  [It.)    A  composition. 

Composizione  di  Tavolino  (It.)  Table 
music.  Convivial  compositions,  c.f.  Ger. 
Lieder-tafel.    [Chamber  music] 

Compound  intervals.  Intervals  greater 
than  an  octave,  as  opposed  to  simple  intervals 
which  are  less  than  an  octave. 

Compound  Stops.  Organ  stops  having 
more  than  one  rank  of  pipes. 

Compound  Times.  Times  in  which  the 
bar  is  divided  into  two  or  more  groups  of 
notes,  e.g.,  ^  which  consists  of  two  groups 
of  three  notes  ;  f  which  co  nsists  of  three 
groups  of  three,  &c.  Compound  Times  are 
classified  as  duple  or  triple,  according  to  the 
number  of  groups  in  each  bar,  not  according 
to  the  number  of  notes  in  each  group ;  e.g., 
I  is  a  duple  time ;  f  a  triple  time  ;  (four 
groups  of  three)  a  duple  time,  &c.  The  prin- 
cipal accent  falls  on  the  first  note  in  each  bar. 
and  a  subordinate  accent  on  the  first  note  ol 
each  group. 

Comus  [Gk.  tcQfioc).  A  revel,  carousal 
merry  making  with  music  and  dancing.  The 
revellers  paraded  the  street  crowned,  carrying 
torches,  and  sang  verses  in  praise  of  the  gods 
or  the  victors  in  the  games. 

Comus.  {Gk.  tcofifiofj.  A  mournful  song 
sung  in  alternate  verses  by  an  actor  and  a 
chorus  in  the  Attic  drama. 

Con  (It.)  With ;  e.g.  con  amore,  with  affec 
tion  ;  con  moto,  with  spirited  movement;  con 
sordini,  with  the  mutes  on,  &c.  (See  the 
words  to  which  it  is  prefixed.) 

Concento  {It.)  Harmony. 

Concentus  {Lat.)  (concinno).  Musical 


(  102  ) 


CONCERT  CONCERTINA. 


harmony.  Part  music  ;  e.g.,  concentus  vocis 
Lyraque,  Consonance  ;  e.g.,  concentus  tuba- 
rum  ac  cormium. 

Concert,  (i)  A  performance  of  music  in 
which  several  executants  are  employed.  Con- 
certs of  music,  to  which  the  general  public 
is  admitted  by  payment,  are  of  comparatively 
recent  origin  in  the  history  of  music.  Public 
musical  performances,  more  or  less  connected 
with  state  or  religion,  were  anciently  given 
from  time  to  time,  on  occasions  of  importance. 
Kings,  nobles,  and  civic  officials,  employed 
musicians  in  their  trains,  but  their  perfor- 
mances could  scarcely  be  considered  in  the 
light  of  concerts.  Organized  bands  of  musi- 
cians who  performed  in  the  houses  of  the 
great  and  wealthy  ;  "  waits  "  and  "  noises  " 
are  frequently  mentioned  in  old  records,  but 
concerts  of  music  in  hired  houses,  assembly 
rooms  of  taverns,  &c.,  apart  and  distinct 
from  the  "  entertainment  "  ordinarily  provided 
at  hostelries  are  rare  before  the  time  of 
Charles  II.  Pepys,  in  his  Diary,  speaks  of 
"  musick  meetings  "  and  "  concerts,"  but 
they  were  private  affairs,  and  therefore  not 
within  the  meaning  of  the  term  as  now  under- 
stood. The  first  public  concert  in  England 
was  given  at  Oxford,  in  the  year  1670,  the 
first  in  London  two  years  later.  After  which 
a  periodical  concert  was  established  in  Ayles- 
bury Street,  Clerkenwell,  over  the  shop  of 
Thomas  Britten,  the  musical  small-coalman. 
Before  this  time  musicians  roved  from  tavern 
to  tavern,  instruments  in  hand,  waiting  the 
pleasure  of  the  guests  "  if  they  were  willing 
to  heare  any  musick."  These  bands  of 
fiddlers  played  by  the  hour  together  such  pop- 
ular tunes  as  were  best  calculated  to  delight 
audiences  gathered  impromptu.  But  from  all 
that  can  be  learned,  their  performance  was 
not  scientific  ;  "  for  the  most  part  it  was  that 
of  violins,  hautboys,  and  trumpets,  without 
any  diversity  of  parts,  and  consequently  in 
the  unison." 

The  advertisement  of  the  first  London  con- 
cert is  still  extant,  and  runs  as  follows : — 

"  These  are  to  give  notice,  that  at  Mr. 
John  Banister's  house  (now  called  the  Musick 
School)  over  against  the  George  Tavern,  in 
White  Fryers,  this  present  Monday,  will  be 
music  performed  by  excellent  masters,  begin- 
ning precisely  at  4  of  the  clock  in  the  after- 
noon, and  every  afternoon  for  the  future, 
precisely  at  the  same  hour.  London  Gazette, 
Dec.  30th,  1672."  From  this  time  forward 
concerts  of  all  kinds,  vocal  and  instrumental, 
given  not  only  "by  excellent  masters"  but 
also  by  those  who  cannot  with  justice  be  called 
either  "  masters  "  or  "  excellent,"  become  com- 
mon enough.  It  would  be  both  tedious  and 
unnecessary  to  trace  the  history  of  concerts 
step  by  step,  neither  is  it  to  the  present  pur- 


pose to  describe  in  detail  the  several  sorts  of 
concerts  which  have  taken  place  since  that 
given  "  over  against  the  George  Tavern." 
It  may  not,  however,  be  uninteresting  to  state 
that  the  word  has  been  applied  to  the  per- 
formance of  oratorios  in  church  as  the  follow- 
ing quotation  will  show : 

"  The  Oratorios  for  the  opening  of  the 
elegant  Organ  now  erected  in  the  Minster,  at 
Beverley,  will  be  on  the  20th,  21st,  and  22nd  of 
September,  1769,  viz  : 

"  On  Wednesday  the  20th,  the  Sacred 
Oratorio  of  the  Messiah. 

"  On  Thursday,  the  21st,  the  Oratorio  of 
Judas  Maccabaeus. 

"  On  Friday  the  22nd,  the  Oratorio  of 
Samson  ;  and  that  being  the  Anniversary  of 
the  King's  Coronation,  the  Performance  will 
conclude  with  Mr.  Handel's  grand  Coronation 
Anthem. 

"  The  first  violin  by  Mr.  Giardini.  The 
principal  voices  by  Mrs.  Hudson,  of  York, 
Miss  Radcliffe,  Mr.  Norris,  and  Mr.  Matthews, 
both  of  Oxford,  The  remainder  of  the  band 
will  be  numerous,  and  will  consist  of  the  best 
performers,  vocal  and  instrumental,  that  can 
be  procured, 

"  Tickets  for  the  Great  Aisle  at  5s.  each. 
Galleries  at  2s.  6d.  each,  to  be  had  of  Mr. 
Hawdon,  organist,  of  Mr.  Norris,  at  the  Bell, 
and  of  Mrs.  Todd,  at  the  Tyger,  in  Beverley  ; 
of  Mr.  Forster,  carver,  in  Salthouse  Lane,  and 
of  Mr.  Ferraby,  Bookseller,  in  the  Butchery, 
in  Hull.  Of  whom  may  be  had  Books  of  the 
Oratorios,  with  Mr.  Handell's  Alterations  and 
Additions, as  they  will  be  performed  at  Beverley. 
Price  4d.  each.  The  North  doors  will  be 
open'd  at  Ten  in  the  Morning,  and  the  Con- 
cert to  begin  at  Eleven.  The  Great  Aisle 
will  be  fill'd  with  Benches,  And  to  add  to 
the  solemnity  of  the  performance,  the  singers 
will  be  dress'd  in  surplices. 

"  All  tickets  transferable.  No  Money  taken 
at  the  Door. 

"  A  Concerto  upon  the  Organ  each  Day. 
And  Mr.  Giardini  will  oblige  the  company 
with  a  Solo, 

fS"'  An  Assembly  on  Wednesday  and 
Friday." 

Concertante  (7^)  (i)  A  composition  suit- 
able for  performance  at  a  concert.  (2)  A 
composition  in  which  several  of  the  parts  are 
in  turn  brought  into  prominence. 

Concerted  music.  Music  tor  two  or  more 
performers,  either  vocal  or  instrumental,  as 
opposed  to  a  vocal  or  instrumental  solo,  with 
or  without  accompaniment  by  a  single  in- 
strument. 

Concertina  {Eng.)  A  portable  musical 
instrument  of  hexagonal  form,  invented  by 
Professor  Wheatstone,  consisting  of  a  series 
of  vibrating  metal  reeds  acted  upon  and  set 


(  103  ) 


CONCERTINA  CONDUCTOR. 


in  motion  by  the  current  of  air,  caused  by  a 
bellows  placed  in  the  body  of  the  instrument 
connecting  the  two  ends  in  which  the  metal 
tongues  or  springs  are  fixed  and  worked  by 
the  player,  both  hands  being  in  such  a  position 
that  the  wrists  move  the  bellows  while  the 
fingers  are  free  to  press  the  stops  or  keys 
which  cause  it  to  sound.  The  compass  of  the 
concertina  is  of  three  and  a  half  octaves  with 
intermediate  semitones  from  fiddle  G  : 


Each  note  in  this  scale  is  double,  that  is  to 
say,  is  capable  of  being  produced  by  the  in- 
spiration or  respiration  of  the  bellows.  [Ac- 
cordion.] 

Concertina  {Ger.)  An  instrument  of  shape 
similar  to  the  English  concertina,  but  of  less 
finished  appearance  and  more  limited  com- 
pass. The  bellows  excites  the  vibration  of 
the  free  metallic  reeds  as  in  the  English 
concertina,  but  the  scale  instead  of  being 
double  is  single,  that  is,  the  respiratory  note  is 
different  to  the  inspiratory  note,  and  has  only 
those  chromatic  notes  necessary  for  the  modu- 
lation of  melody  into  the  tonic  or  dominant 
of  the  scale  in  which  the  instrument  is  tuned. 
There  is  also  an  escape  valve  to  allow  the 
passage  of  superfluous  air,  a  contrivance  not 
necessary  on  the  English  concertina,  where 
the  notes  are  of  double  sound.  The  German 
concertina  is  capableof  being  performed  only  in 
the  one  key  in  which  it  is  tuned,  the  English 
concertina  can  be  played  in  any  key. 

Concertino  [It.)  (i)  The  principal  in- 
strument in  a  concerto  as  vioUno  concertino. 
(2)  The  diminutive  of  concerto. 

Concerto  (i)  A  concert.  (2)  A  com- 
position for  the  display  of  the  qualities  of 
some  especial  instrument,  accompanied  by 
others  of  a  similar  or  dissimilar  character.  A 
concerto  may  be  for  a  solo  violin,  or  violon- 
cello with  an  accompaniment  for  strings,  or 
wind;  or  it  may  be  for  a  pianoforte,  violin,  or 
any  wind  instrument,  and  a  full  band.  Those 
for  pianoforte,  violin,  or  organ,  are  generally 
made  of  more  classical  character  than  those 
for  any  wind  instrument,  as  in  many  cases  the 
last  named  are  constructed  by  the  performers 
themselves  with  the  object  of  exhibiting  their 
own  accomplishments,  and  their  artistic  taste. 
In  a  work  by  Scipio  Bargaglia,  published  in 
Venice,  1587,  "Trattimenti  ossia  divertimenti 
da  Sonare,"  the  word  concerto  is  applied  to  a 
piece  for  a  solo  instrument  with  accompani- 
ment, probably  for  the  first  time.  The  con- 
certo is  usually  constructed  in  symphonic 
form,  but  without  a  minuet  or  scherzo.  Though 
the  early  concertos  show  some  deviation  from 
the  plan  now  accepted,  they  were,  however. 


designed  according  to  rules  or  plans,  accepted 
or  allowed  from  time  to  time.  The  concertos 
of  Corelli,  Torelli,  Bach,  Tartini,  and  writers 
of  the  periods  in  which  those  masters  lived 
are  only  difterent  from  their  suites  in  that  a 
solo  instrument  has  the  accompaniment  of 
other  instriftnents. 

Torelli  (1683- 1708)  was  the  first  writer  who 
suggested  an  extension  of  the  number  of  in- 
struments employed  in  a  concerto,  and  by 
this  means  pointed  the  way  to  the  symphony. 
He  called  this  sort  of  composition  "  Concerto 
Grosso."  In  his  plan  he  gives  certain  phrases 
to  one  or  more  solo  instruments  which  are 
repeated  by  the  full  band  employed.  Handel 
constructed  his  "  Concerti  Grossi  "  on  the 
same  model.  Vivaldi  (1690-1743)  further  de- 
veloped the  idea;  Gossec,  Haydn,  and  Mozart 
settled  the  form  as  it  stands  at  present,  and 
Beethoven,  Weber,  and  Mendelssohn  hav:- 
left  noble  examples  of  their  musical  powers 
in  their  works  of  this  class. 

Concerto  spirituale  {It.)  Concert  spirituel 
{Fr.)  A  concert  formed  of  a  miscellaneous 
selection  of  vocal  and  instrumental  pieces 
with  words  of  a  sacred  character.  The  con- 
certs spirituels  in  Paris  were  founded  in  the 
year  1725. 

Concertmeister  [Ger.)  The  leader  of  the 
band,  the  conductor. 

Concert-spieler  [Ger.)  A  performer;  i. 
solo-player  ;  the  player  of  a  concerto. 

Concert-stuck  {Ger.)  A  concert  piece,  a 
concerto. 

Concha  {Lat.)  A  trumpet  in  the  conven- 
tional form  of  a  shell  fish  ;  Triton's  horn  ;  a 
conch. 

Concitato  (7^.)  Moved,  disturbed,  agitated 

Concord.  [Harmony.] 

Conductor.  (1)  A  director  or  leader  of  an 
orchestra  or  chorus.  It  is  supposed  that  a 
leader  or  a  fugleman  was  employed  by  the 
Assyrians,  to  regulate  the  rhythm  of  the  songs 
or  dances  ;  he  was  armed  with  two  sticks, 
one  of  which  he  beat  against  the  other,  and 
so  marked  the  time  or  accent. 

Among  the  Greeks  the  Coryphceus  or  exar- 
chus  led  the  dance,  and  in  everything  requiring 
united  action,  a  leader  or  conductor  by  his 
voice  or  certain  understood  gestures  secured 
the  desired  result.  The  word  in  connection 
with  music  has  several  applications.  It  signi- 
fies one  who  directs  with  a  baton  the  perfor- 
mance of  a  band  of  players.  It  is  also  applied 
to  one  who  accompanies  vocal  or  instrumental 
pieces  on  the  pianoforte.  A  conductor,  as  an 
independent  time  beater,  was  not  known  until 
the  end  of  the  last  century.  The  player  vyho 
sat  at  the  harpsichord  gave  the  time  to  the 
leader  of  the  band,  who,  directing  his  subor- 
dinates, was  called  conductor.   [Orchestra.  ] 

(2)  The  inventor  or  leader  of  a  chime,  or 


(  1-4  ) 


CONDUCTUS  CONFRERIE  DE  ST.  JULIEN. 


change  in  bell  ringir.i^,  is  also  known  as  the 
conductor  or  composer. 

Conductus  (Lilt.)  The  name  given  to  a 
certain  vocal  composition  in  parts,  in  the  13th 
and  14th  centuries.  It  has  been  variously 
described  as  a  composition  having  descant 
on  an  original  melody  (qui  vult  facere  con- 
ductum,  primum  cantum  debet  invenire  pul- 
chriorem  quam  potest,  SzCyFrancoo/Cologne); 
on  an  original  or  borrowed  theme  (conducti 
sunt  compositi  explicabilibus  canticis  decoris 
cognitis  vel  inventis,  &c.,  Walter  Oditigtoii). 
The  definition  of  John  of  Garland  points  to  an 
elaborate  construction:  "conductus  autem  est 
super  unum  metrum,  multiplex  consonans 
cantus  qui  etiam  secundarias  recipit  conso- 
nantias."  .  .  .  "  In  florificatione  vocis  fit  color 
ut  commixtio  in  conductis  simplicibus."  Con- 
ducti were  sometimes  sung  without  words. 
They  were  called  simple,  double,  triple,  or 
quadruple,  but  the  real  distinction  between 
the  different  kinds  cannot  be  clearly  learnt 
from  the  old  treatises.  All  the  information 
which  can  be  brought  together  will  be  found 
in  Coussemaker's  L'Art  liannonique  aiix  XI 
et  XIIP  sihles. 

Cone  Gamba.  [Bell  Gamba.] 
Confrerie  de  St.  Julien.  A  Society  of 
Musicians  in  France,  at  one  period  possessing 
great  power.  At  the  end  of  the  13th  century, 
the  troubadours  ceased  to  exist,  the  "  courts 
of  love  "  were  closed,  the  sentiment  of  the 
troubadour  poetry  was  no  longer  enjoyed,  and 
the  excesses  of  the  singers  and  poets  were  the 
things  for  which  they  were  best  or  worst  re- 
membered. Their  followers,  no  longer  having 
poetry  as  a  veil  and  excuse  for  their  peculiari- 
ties, became  disreputable,  and  led  a  wander- 
ing, careless,  and  shifty  life ;  the  sins  of  their 
masters  were  visited  upon  their  devoted  heads, 
and  they  became  Ishmaelites  against  whom 
every  man's  hand  was  raised,  and  who  had 
inclination  but  not  power  to  lift  hand  against 
every  man.  They  were  no  longer  welcome 
for  their  skill  at  all  times  as  heretofore.  They 
were  no  longer  free  to  enter  the  houses  of  the 
great  and  wealthy  "  without  leave  and  license 
previously  had  and  obtained,"  as  they  had 
been  when  in  attendance  upon  some  poet 
prince  or  troubadour  sovereign.  It  was,  how- 
ever, necessary  that  they  should  live,  and 
those  that  did  not  become  openly  dishonest, 
"  robbers  on  the  king's  highway  with  a  gallows 
at  the  end  of  it,"  sought  the  means  of  liveli- 
hood in  another  sphere  than  that  to  which 
they  had  previously  been  always  welcomed  in. 
The  love  for  music  still  existed  among  a  lower 
class  of  people,  and  these  gladly  received  the 
musicians  and  performers  "whose  strains  had 
made  many  a  gentle  heart  beat  quickly,"  as  a 
proof  of  their  own  elevation  of  taste  in  matters 
of  courtesy  and  refinement.  Gathering  cour- 


age by  the  patronage  bestowed  upon  them, 
and  deemingit  needful  to  "sort  their  humours" 
to  those  of  the  people  for  whose  amusement 
they  exercised  their  calling,  they  made  a 
change  in  their  programme  and  spoke  out 
openly  that  which  had  hitherto  been  conveyed 
only  through  a  delicate  innuendo.  Their  suc- 
cess was  complete,  and  to  save  the  effect  of 
troubles  which  might  arise  from  an  ungodly 
enterprise,  they  became  apparently  religious, 
placed  themselves  under  the  protection  of  a 
patron  saint,  Julien,  Archbishop  of  Toledo, 
who  after  having  led  a  life  of  vicissitude  and 
vagabondage,  died  in  662,  and  became  the 
tutelar  protector  of  all  vagabonds  except 
thieves — who  were  committed  to  the  care  of 
St.  Nicholas.  There  was  also  another  Saint 
who  divided  the  honours  of  their  devotions, 
Genesius,  a  comedian,  who  was  martyred  lor 
his  Christianity  at  the  end  of  the  4th  century. 
Under  the  care  of  these  two  patrons,  the  musi- 
cians flourished,  and  in  the  year  1330,  settled 
themselves  in  the  good  city  of  Paris,  and 
formed  themselves  into  a  guild  for  mutual 
protection  and  support.  The  title  by  which 
they  were  enrolled  was  that  of  the  "Com- 
pagnons,  jongleurs,  menestreux  or  menes- 
triers,"  and  this  title  sufficiently  indicated  theii 
position  of  companions,  yokefellows,  and  ser- 
vants to  the  former  troubadours.  They  had 
sufficient  interest  left  with  the  friends  and 
connexions  of  their  old  masters  to  obtain 
"sealed  letters"  in  November  27th,  1331, 
recognising  their  position  ;  and  they  lived 
together  in  one  street,  hence,  called  St.  jfulien 
des  inenitriers.  To  this  quarter  all  had  to 
come  who  desired  their  services,  and  as  the 
minstrels  became  further  encouraged,  and  in- 
creased in  numbers  they  assumed  a  line  of 
conduct  which  caused  William  de  Germont, 
Prefect  of  Paris,  to  place  various  restrictions 
upon  them,  which  were  continued  with  ad- 
ditions and  modifications  by  his  successors. 

By  a  decree  issued  in  the  year  1393,  the  pain 
of  imprisonment  was  visited  upon  all  mem- 
bers of  the  guild  who  offended  by  reciting 
scurrilous  and  scandalous  verses  either  in  the 
streets  or  in  the  houses  of  those  who  hired 
them.  This  check  caused  a  division  of  the 
society,  the  one  part  devoting  itself  to  the 
practice  of  tumbling  and  rope-dancing — these 
were  called  bacelejirs—the  other  carrying  on 
the  music-entertaining  business — took  to  viol 
playing,  and  marked  a  certain  progress  in  their 
art,  by  the  introduction  of  bass  instruments 
hitherto  not  used  by  them.  They  distinguished 
themselves  by  the  title  of  "Menestrels  joueurs 
d'instrumens  tant  haiit  que  has."  By  this 
name  they  were  recognised  by  Charles  VI., 
who  gave  them  letters  patent  dated  April  14th, 
1401.  Armed  with  this  document  they  elected 
a  chief  called  "  Roi  des  m^nestrels,"  and  they 


(  105  ) 


CONFRERIE  DE  ST.  JULIEN  CONSECUTIVES. 


built  and  endowed  a  chapel  in  the  Rue  St. 
Martin,  as  much  to  conciliate  the  ecclesiastical 
powers,  as  to  mark  their  attachment  to  religi- 
ous forms.  They  had  a  monopoly  of  all 
music  in  France,  especially  in  Paris  ;  no  one 
could  learn  an  instrument  without  employing 
a  member  of  the  confraternity,  no  one  could 
give  a  banquet  of  music  without  the  leave  and 
license  of  the  Confrerie  de  St.  Julien.  Even 
the  king,  not  to  speak  of  the  mayor  of  Paris, 
was  compelled  to  be  indebted  to  them  for 
the  after  dinner  amusement  of  his  guests, 
as  well  as  for  the  means  of  giving  brilliancy  to 
pageants,  processions,  and  other  state  busi- 
nesses. The  Confrerie  were  all -important  in 
the  matter  of  vocal  and  instrumental  music; 
they  had  the  monopoly  of  the  court  and  mu- 
nicipal music  of  Paris  until  the  reign  of  Louis 
XIV.,  who  in  1658  was  weak  enough  to  confirm 
their  charter  and  privileges.  These  privileges 
must  have  been  great,  for  they  allowed  the 
title  of  musician  to  be  possessed  by  those 
who  had  funds  sufficient  to  purchase  fellow- 
ship in  the  guild:  musical  skill  was  of  no 
import,  for  neither  city  or  court  cared  for  the 
performances  of  the  Confrerie,  though  they 
were  compelled  to  pay  handsomely  for  that 
which  they  would  rather  have  dispensed  with. 
If  the  cultivation  of  true  musical  science  had 
been  the  object  in  the  maintenance  of  the 
guild,  musical  composition  from  the  14th  to 
the  17th  centuries  would  have  been  less  of  a 
puzzle  and  annoyance  than  it  is  ;  but  unfortu- 
nately for  the  body,  in  course  of  time,  pressure 
from  without  was  brought  to  bear,  and  the 
whole  thing  collapsed,  though  not  without  a 
struggle.  From  the  date  when  attention  was 
drawn  to  it  for  its  inefficiency  and  incompe- 
tency, to  the  day  when  it  finally  ceased  to  exist, 
no  less  a  period  than  100  years  elapsed.  Louis 
XIV.  in  i65o  happened  to  hear  a  piece  of 
music  by  a  rising  composer  called  Jean  Bap- 
tiste  Lully,  and  thinking  that  it  was  exactly 
the  sort  of  lullaby  or  reveille  he  should  like  to 
hear  performed  in  his  own  palace,  desired  to 
have  it  executed  by  his  own  court  band,  but, 
alas  !  they  were  musicians  only  in  name,  and 
this  little  request  gave  them  trouble.  But 
they  plucked  up  courage  ;  the  king  was  in- 
formed that  they  held  their  places  by  prescrip- 
tive right,  and  as  it  had  not  been  the  custom 
for  the  "  Musiciens  du  Roi,"  to  exercise  the 
art  which  they  professed  and  were  paid  for, 
for  many  generations,  the  king's  request  was 
unreasonable  and  unconstitutional.  The  con- 
fraternity would  still  enjoy  their  privileges  and 
emoluments  and  the  king  must  go  without  his 
music.  This  he  was  not  inclined  to  do  ;  he 
was  therefore  pleased  to  command  and  ordain 
that  Lully  should  organise  a  band,  himself  at 
the  head,  and  in  order  to  avoid  collision  with 
the  patent  place-holders  and  privileged  ineffi- 


cients,  this  new  band  of  practical  musicians, 
these  four  and  twenty  were  to  be  called 
"  Petits  violons  du  Roi,"  the  king's  little 
fiddlers,  instead  of  the  king's  musicians,  a 
very  nice  and  comforting  distinction.  By 
degrees  the  income  arising  from  the  property 
possessed  by  the  confraternity  of  St.  Julien 
was  applied  to  a  proper  purpose,  the  king's 
chamber  music  was  executed  by  legitimate 
performers,  and  the  perverted  association  was 
finally  suppressed  in  1761,  after  four  hundred 
years  of  profitable  but  comparatively  useless 
existence. 

Congregational  music.  Music  in  which 
the  people  or  congregation  take  part,  as  op- 
posed to  that  which  is  sung  by  the  trained 
choir  alone.  The  plain-song  of  the  Responses, 
Creeds,  and  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  ;  and  the 
melody  of  psalm  and  hymn  tunes  are  con- 
gregational music,  but  services  and  anthems 
are  specially  set  aside  for  performance  by  the 
choir,  acting  as  it  were  as  the  skilled  represen- 
tatives of  the  listening  and  meditating  people. 

Conjunct,  (i)  One  of  the  Greek  systems 
of  music.  I  Greek  Music]  (2)  Conjunct  motion, 
a  succession  of  sounds  proceeding  by  single 
degrees. 

Consecutives.  A  forbidden  progression  of 
parallel  fifths  or  octaves,  e.g. : 


Consecutive  fifths.  Consecuti 

Consecutives  are  considered  to  be  saved,  if 
they  do  not  occur  between  the  same  two  parts, 
as  shown  in  the  following  (Ex.  3),  which  em- 
bodies the  harmonic  progressions  of  Ex.  i : 


That  consecutive  fifths  are  often  productive  of 
an  ugly  and  distressing  eff"ect,  is  not  to  be 
denied  ;  but  their  use  when  not  objectionable 
seems  to  have  been  somewhat  thoughtlessly 
forbidden  by  musical  law-givers.  The  great 
masters  not  unfrequently  use  them  with  good 
results,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following 
examples.  (Stainer's  "  Theory  of  Harmony.") 

Handel's  "Solomon." 
Bach.    "  Motett."  No.  2.  "  Almighty  power." 


(  106  ) 


CONSECUTIVES  CONSERVATORIUM. 


Mendelssohn's  "  St.  Paul."        Mendelssohn's  "  St.  Paul." 
"  To  God  on  high."  "  To  Thee,  O  Lord." 


Sfohr's  "The  Last  Judgment." 

Introduction  to  Part  HI.  Haydn's  Symphony, No.  4. 


Beethoven's  Pianoforte  Sonata,  No.  :,  Op.  29. 

4  4a 


It  having  been  found  by  experience  that  the 
early  attempts  at  harmony  known  diaphony 
and  organum,  which  consisted  entirely  of 
consecutive  quarts,  quints,  and  octaves, 
were  remarkably  unpleasant  and  barbarous, 
it  is  probable  a  reaction  took  place  which  led 
to  the  indiscriminate  condemnation  of  con- 
secutive fifths. 

No  satisfactory  reason  has  yet  been  brought 
forward  for  the  unpleasant  effect  of  con- 
secutive fifths,  but  it  is  easy  to  see  why 
consecutive  octaves  should  not  be  allowed  in 
pure  part-writing.  If  in  a  duet,  or  trio,  for 
instance,  one  part  occasionally  moves  in  unison 
or  octaves  with  another,  such  a  part  is  for  the 
time  wasted,  and  loses  its  power  of  forming  a 
distinct  melody  or  adding  a  real  contribution 
to  the  harmony.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
any  phrase,  however  short,  may  be  legiti- 
mately enforced  or  strengthened  by  doubling 
at  the  unison  or  octave.  Thus,  the  bass  may 
be  doubled  by  the  left  hand  or  the  melody  by 
the  right  hand,  in  pianoforte  or  organ  music, 
and  voices  may  join  in  unison  whenever  it  is 
thought  desirable.  So,  too,  in  writing  for  a 
full  band,  a  theme  or  motive  may  be  enforced 
by  the  combination  of  any  instruments,  at  the 
unison,  octave,  or  double  octave;  but,  instru- 
ments playing  in  parts  are  not  allowed  to 
combine  in  such  a  manner  unless  for  such  a 
purpose. 


Consecutives  are  said  to  be  hidden  when 
the  progression  of  two  parts  gives  the  im- 
pression that  they  have  occurred,  although 
they  have  not  actually  been  written,  e.g. : 


Hidden  fifths.   Hidden  octaves. 

They  are  to  be  discovered  by  filling  up  the 
interval  of  one  of  the  parts  with  the  interme- 
diate scale-series,  e.g'. : 
Ex.  5. 


The  law  against  hidden  fifths  and  octaves  has 
never  been  directed  against  the  movement  of 
inner  parts,  but  only  against  that  of  extreme 
parts.  But  even  this  has  been  greatly  relaxed 
in  modern  music,  e.g. : 


Consecutives  are  said  to  be  "  by  contrary 
motion  "  when  the  parts  forming  them  pro- 
ceed in  opposite  directions,  e.g. : 

Schumann's  "  Luck  of  Edenhall." 


Consequent.  Consequenza  {It.)  The 
answer  to  a  fugue-subject  or  any  subject 
proposed  for  imitation.    [Dux.]  [Guida.] 

Conservatorium  (Lat.)  Conservatorio 
(//.)  Conservatoire  de  musique  {Fr.)  A 
public  music  school. 

The  Italian  academies  or  conservatories  are 
the  most  ancient,  and  were  formerly  attached 
to  hospitals  and  other  benevolent  institutions, 
and  were  intended  for  the  education  of  the 
poor  and  fatherless,  or  orphans.  Education, 
board  and  clothing,  were  dispensed  without 
cost  to  both  male  and  female  pupils.  The 
conservatorio  at  Milan  was  founded  in  i8o8, 
and  the  advantages  of  the  instruction  of  the 
professors  is  sought  and  obtained  by  many 
who  are  not  eligible  for  the  foundation,  but 
who  can  obtain  the  benefit  of  a  superior 
musical  education  at  a  small  cost. 


(  107  ) 


CONSOLANTE  COPYRIGHT. 


The  first  school  of  the  kind  was  established 
in  France,  in  1784,  with  the  title  of  "  L'ecole 
royalede  chant etde  declamation."  A  national 
institute  was  started  during  the  period  of 
the  Revolution,  to  supply  the  want  of  musi- 
cians in  the  army;  this  institute  became  the 
present  Conservatoire  de  musique,  for  the  sup- 
port of  which  the  government  is  charged  with 
an  annual  sum  of  140,000  francs.  Many  of 
the  masters  have  been,  and  still  are,  men  famed 
throughout  the  world  for  their  practical  skill 
and  their  success  in  teaching,  and  the  text 
books  used  at  the  conservatoire  are  among 
the  standard  works  of  reference  in  their  depart- 
ment. There  are  also  establishments  of  a 
similar  character  at  Brussels,  Cologne,  Prague, 
Warsaw,  Vienna  and  Leipsic,  the  last  named, 
established  under  the  direction  of  Mendels- 
sohn, is  held  to  be  one  of  the  best  in  Germany. 

Consolante  (It.)  In  a  consoling,  comfort- 
ing manner. 

Consonance.  Consonanz  (Ger.)  [Har- 
mony.] 

Consonant.  Concordant. 

Consonant  interval.  [Interval.] 

Con  sordini  (It.)  (i)  With  the  mutes  on. 
(2)  With  the  soft  pedal  at  the  pianoforte  held 
down. 

Consort,  (i)  A  consort  of  viols  was  a 
complete  set,  the  number  contained  in  a  chest, 
usually  six.  [Chest  of  Viols.]  (2)  The  sounds 
produced  by  the  union  of  instrumental  tone. 

Consort,  (i)  To  sound  together,  to  form 
agreeable  sounds  by  combination.  (2)  To 
form  a  concord. 

Con  stromenti  {It.)  With  the  instru- 
ments. 

Continued  Bass.  [Figured  Bass.] 
Continue  (It.)    [Figured  Bass.] 
Contours.  Conteurs(Fr.)  [Troubadours.] 
Contra         Against.  In  compound  words 
this  signifies  an  octave  below,  e.g.:  Contra- 
gamba,  a  16  ft.  gamba  ;  Contra -basso,  a  double 
bass  ;  Contra-fagotto  a  double  bassoon,  &c. 
Contra-bassist.    A  double-bass  player. 
Contra-basso  (It.)  [Double-bass.] 
Contra-danza  {It.)  [Country-dance.] 
Contra-fagotto  {It)    [Double  bassoon.] 
Contralto  voice.     The  voice  of  deepest 
tone  in  females.    It  is  of  a  quality  allied  to 
the  tenor  voice  in  men,  and  the  usual  compass 
is  within  two  octaves.    The  best  notes  of  the 
range  are  between  G  or  A  flat  below,  and  C 
or  D  above  : 


The  notes  above  these  are  of  a  somewhat  harsh 
and  forced  character,  those  below  of  little  musi- 
cal value.  In  most  contralto  voices  there  is  a 
break  varj'ing  between  C  sharp  and  A  flat  in 


the  lower  part  of  the  register,  and  the  careful 
adjustment  of  the  two  qualities  of  tone  above 
or  below  this  break  is  one  of  the  chief  qualities 
of  good  contralto  singing.    [Alto  Voice.] 

Contraposaune.  An  organ  stop  16  ft.  and 
32  ft.  pitch. 

Contrappuntista  (It.)  A  writer  on,  or  a 
composer  of  counterpoint. 

Contrappunto  {It.)  [Counterpoint.] 

Contrappunto  alia  mente  (It.)  Im- 
promptu counterpoint.  [Alia  Mente.]  [Chant 
sur  la  livre.] 

Contrappunto  doppio  (It.)  Double  coun- 
terpoint. [Counterpoint.] 

Contrapuntal.  Belonging  to  counterpoint. 

Contrapuntist.  A  writer  on,  or  a  com- 
poser of  counterpoint. 

Contr'arco  {It.)  False  or  incorrect  bowing 
on  the  viohn,  &c. 

Contrary  motion.  Melodies  or  chords 
proceeding  in  opposite  directions.  [Motion.] 

Contrassoggetto  (It.)   [Counter  subject.] 

Contra  tempo  (/i.)  Against  time,  (i)  The 
part  progressing  slowly  while  another  is 
moving  rapidly : 


(2)  Syncopation. 

Contra-tenor.  [Alto.] 

Contratone  {Ger.)  Deep  tones  of  the 
bass  voice. 

Contra-violone  (7^.)  Double-bass. 

Contre-basse  {Fr.)  Double-bass. 

Contre-danse  {Fr.)    [Country  dance.] 

Contrepartie  {Fr.)  Counterpart,  opposite. 
The  entry  of  a  second  voice  with  a  different 
melody,  making  harmony  with  the  first. 

Contrepoint  {Fr.)  Counterpoint. 

Contrepointiste  {Fr.)  Contrapuntist. 

Contre-sujet  (Fr.)    [Counter  subject.] 

Contre-temps  (Fr.)  Against  time.  Syn- 
copation. 

Conversio  (Lat.)  Inversion. 

Convict  of  music.  An  institution  for 
musical  instruction  in  Leipsic  ;  from  Lat. 
convictus  (convivere),  living  together,  social 
intercourse.  [Conservatorio.] 

Coperto  (7^.)  Covered,  concealed.  Tim- 
pani coperti,  muffled  drums;  quinti  coperti, 
concealed  fifths,  hidden  fifths. 

Copula  {Lat.)  In  mediaeval  music  a  free 
use  of  slurred  running  notes  in  descant. 

Copyright  is  the  exclusive  right  or  privi- 
lege of  printing,  or  reprinting,  publishing,  or 
selling  his  original  work  which  is  allowed  by 
the  law  to  an  author.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
this  is  a  right  at  common  law,  or  whether 
(which  seems  the  better  opinion)  it  is  merely 
the  creature  of  legislative  enactment.  (See 
on  this  point  the  cases  of  Southey  v.  Sherwood, 


(  108) 


COPYRIGHT  COR  ANGLAIS. 


4  Mer.  435;  Tonson  v.  Collins,  i  W.  Bl.  301  ; 
Miller  v,  Taylor,  4  Burr  2303  ;  Jeffreys  v. 
Boosey,  4  H.  L.  C.  815.)  By  Statute  8  Anne, 
c.  19,  §  I,  a  copyright  was  given  to  books  then 
printed  for  21  years,  and  to  authors  and  their 
assignees,  an  exclusive  copyright  for  14  years. 
By  §  9  of  the  same  statute,  another  similar 
period  was  given,  at  the  expiration  of  14  years, 
if  the  author  was  then  living.  This  Act 
was  extended  to  the  United  Kingdom  by  41 
Geo. III.  c.  107.  By  54  Geo.  III.  c.  156,  §  4, 
authors  and  their  assignees  had  exclusive 
copyright  for  28  years  from  the  day  of  publi- 
cation ;  and,  if  the  authors  were  living  at  the 
expiration  of  that  period,  for  the  residue  of 
their  lives.  The  present  law  of  copyright  is 
to  be  found  in  5  and  6  Vict.  c.  45,  which 
amends  the  general  law  on  the  subject,  re- 
peals the  above  -  mentioned  statutes,  and 
extends  the  privileged  period  to  the  author's 
life  and  for  7  years  after  his  death  ;  but  if  that 
period  falls  short  of  42  years,  then  for  42 
years  from  the  first  day  of  publication.  So  that 
if  an  author  lives  for  42  years  after  publication, 
the  copyright  will  exist  for  42  +  7  =  49  years. 
The  remedy  for  unlawfully  printing  a  book 
within  the  British  Dominion  is  (i)  an  action 
on  the  case,  which  must,  however,  be  com- 
menced within  one  year,  or  (2)  by  special  in- 
junction in  equity  to  restrain  the  progress  of 
the  injury  and  to  compel  an  account  of  the 
profits  which  have  accrued  therefrom.  By  §  2 
of  this  statute  the  word  "book"  includes  a 
sheet  of  music.  Lord  Mansfield  in  construing 
the  previously  existing  law  said,  "  the  words 
of  the  Act  of  Parliament  are  very  large,  books 
and  other  writings."  It  is  not  confined  to 
language  or  letters.  Music  is  a  science  ;  it 
may  be  written  and  the  mode  of  conveying 
the  idea  is  by  signs  or  marks.  A  person  may 
use  the  copy  by  playing  it,  but  he  has  no  right 
to  rob  the  author  of  the  profit  by  multiplying 
copies  of  it  and  disposing  of  them  to  his  own 
use.  If  the  narrow  construction  contended 
for  were  to  hold,  it  would  equally  apply  to 
algebra,  mathematics,  arithmetic,  hierogly- 
phics. All  these  are  conveyed  by  signs  and 
figures  (Bach  v.  Longman;  Cowp.  623),  and 
this  is  so,  even  though  the  music  was  published 
on  a  single  sheet  of  paper  (Clementi  v.  Gould- 
ing,  II  East  244.)  And  it  has  been  held  that 
in  a  declaration  for  pirating  a  book,  an  alle- 
gation, that  the  plaintiff  was  the  author  of  a 
book,  being  a  musical  composition  called  A, 
was  supported  by  showing  him  to  be  the 
author  of  a  musical  composition  comprised  in 
and  only  occupying  one  page  of  a  work  with 
a  different  title,  which  contained  several  other 
musical  compositions  (White  v.  Gerrock,  2  B. 
and  A.  298.)  It  is  of  course  impossible  within 
our  necessary  limits  to  discuss  all  the  points  of 
law  that  have  been  decided  on  the  subject  of 


musical  copyright ;  but  with  regard  to  origi- 
nality we  may  mention  the  case  of  Lover  v. 
Davidson  (i  C.  B.,N.  S.,  182)  in  which  it  was 
held  that  one  who  adapts  to  an  old  air  words 
of  his  own,  adding  thereto  a  prelude  and 
accompaniment,  also  his  own,  acquires  a  copy- 
right in  the  combination,  and  may,  in  an  action 
for  infringement  against  one  who  has  pirated 
the  whole,  properly  describe  himself  as  the 
proprietor  of  the  entire  composition.  In  this 
case  Samuel  Lover  had  adapted  the  words  of 
the  "  Low  Back'd  Car"  to  an  air  previously 
known  as  the  "  Jolly  Plough  Boy."  It  is  not, 
however,  lawful  to  publish  as  quadrilles  or 
waltzes  the  airs  of  an  opera  of  which  there 
exists  an  exclusive  copyright  (D'Almaine  v. 
Boosey,  i  Y.  and  C.  289.)  It  may  also  be 
noticed  that  the  publication  of  a  piece  of 
music,  not  for  sale  or  hire,  but  by  the  gratui- 
tous distribution  of  lithographed  copies  among 
the  members  of  a  musical  society  is  a  publi- 
cation for  which  a  party  is  liable  as  for  an 
invasion  of  the  copyright  of  the  proprietor 
(Novello  V.  Sudlow,  12  C.  B.  177.)  In  order 
to  assign  a  copyright,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
do  so  by  a  written  instrument,  which  need 
not  be  under  seal.  But  an  agreement  to  exe- 
cute such  an  assignment  will  not  operate  as 
an  assignment  so  as  to  render  inoperative  a 
subsequent  regular  assignment  to  a  third  party. 
By  5  and  6  Viot.,  c.  45,  §  13.  copyrights  may 
be  registered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  on  payment 
of  a  fee  of  five  shillings.  A  book  of  Registry 
of  the  proprietorship  and  assignment  of  copy- 
rights is  there  kept,  and  is  open  for  inspection 
at  reasonable  hours,  on  payment  of  a  fee  of 
one  shilling,  and  certified  copies  must  be  given 
on  demand  and  on  payment  of  a  fee  of  five 
shillings  to  the  proper  officer  of  the  Stationers' 
Company.  These  copies  so  certified  are  re- 
ceivable as  evidence  in  all  courts  and  summary 
proceedings,  but  they  are  rebuttable  by  other 
evidence.  In  the  case  of  musical  and  dra- 
matic compositions  they  are  prima  facie 
evidence  of  the  right  of  representation,  but 
this  presumption  is  similarly  rebuttable  by 
evidence  of  a  contrary  character. 
Cor  (Fr.)    A  horn. 

Corale  (It.)  Chorale,  hymn  or  psalm  tune. 
[Hymn  Tune.] 

Cor  Anglais  (Fr.)  Corno  Inglese  {It.) 
English  horn.  A  reed  instrument  of  the 
hautboy  character,  possessing  a  compass  of 
like  extent  but  of  lower  pitch.  Its  scale  is  two 
octaves  and  a  fifth  from  bass  E  with  the  in- 
termediate semitones : 


these  being  the  actual  sounds  produced.  The 
music  for  the  cor  Anglais  is  written  in  the 


(  109  ) 


CORANACH  CORNET. 


treble  clef,  and  the  instrument  tia  isposes  the 
sound  a  fifth  below.  Gluck  introduced  the 
instrument  in  his  "  Orfeo,"  Meyerbeer  has 
made  frequent  use  of  it,  and  Rossini  produces 
a  fine  effect  in  the  overture  to  "William 
Tell "  by  means  of  its  tone,  but  Beethoven  only 
once  employed  it, — Mozart  and  Weber  never. 

Coranach,  Coranich,  Coronach,  Cronach 
(Gaelic.)  The  word  for  a  funeral  song  among 
the  Scotch  Highlanders  ;  it  is  said  to  be  de- 
rived from  corah-rainach  a  crying  together. 
[Keeners.] 

Coranto  (It.)  Courante  (Fr.)  Current  tra- 
verse {Old  Eng.)  (i)  An  Italian  form  of  the 
country  dance.  (2)  A  movement  in  a  suite 
or  sonata  of  the  early  writers.  The  following 
is  given  as  an  early  specimen : 


GiROLAMO  FrESCOBALDI,  I59I-164O. 


Corda,  sopra  una  (It.)  Sur  une  corde  (Fr.) 
A  direction  that  the  passage  is  to  be  played 
on  one  string.    [A  una  corda.] 

Cordatura  {It.)  [Accordatura.] 

Cordax  {Lat.)  Kopgaf  {Gk.)  An  ancient 
Greek  dance  of  a  wanton  character,  in  the 
old  comedy  ;  but  sometimes  danced  off  the 
stage  by  drunkards. 

Corde  k  jour)        ,  . 

Corde  a  vide  I  (^''•)  An  open  stnng. 

Cor  de  chasse  (Fr.)    A  hunting  horn. 

Corde  fausse  (Fr.)  A  false  string.  [String,] 

Corde  signal  {Fr.)    A  bugle. 

Cor  de  vaches  {Fr.)  Cow-horn,  used  in 
many  places  abroad  to  call  the  cattle  home, 
and  formerly  employed  in  England  to  rouse 
the  labourers  to  their  work. 

"  No  more  shall  the  horn 
Call  me  up  in  the  morn." 

Corifeo  {It)  [Coryphoeus.] 
Cormuse.  [Bagpipe.] 
Cornamusa  {It.)  Come  muse  (Fr.)  [Bag 
pipe.] 

Cornare  (It.)  Corner  {Fr.)  To  sound  a  horn. 

Cornet.  Cornetto  {It)  Zinken  {Ger.)  An 
obsolete  reed  wind-instrument  not  unlike  a 
hautboy,  but  larger  and  of  a  coarser  quality 
of  tone.  In  this  country  they  were  of  three 
kinds,  treble,  tenor,  and  bass.  The  tubes 
gradually  increased  in  diameter  from  the 
mouthpiece  to  the  end,  and  their  outline  was 
gently  curved,  hence  the  Italian  name  cornetto 
curvo.  In  Germany,  as  in  England,  they 
were  once  in  common  use  for  sacred  and  * 
secular  purposes.  They  were  often  made 
of  wood  neatly  covered  with  dark  leather. 
[Waits.] 

2.  A  reed  stop  on  the  pedals  of  some  Ger- 
man organs,  of  4  or  2  feet  in  length. 

3.  Mounted  cornet.  A  solo  stop  on  old 
organs,  so  called  because  it  was  placed  on  a 
separate  sound  board,  and  raised  a  few  feet 
above  the  surrounding  pipes,  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  its  tone  special  prominence.  It  con- 
sisted of  several  ranks  of  pipes,  generally  of 
five,  namely,  an  open  or  stopped  diapason 
(usually  the  latter),  a  principal,  12th,  15th, 
and  tierce.  Thus,  if  the  stop  were  drawn,  and 


CORNETTO  COULE. 


the  finger  held  on  middle  C,  the  following 
sounds  would  be  heard  simultaneously : 


Although  these  would  of  course  combine 
into  one,  and  not  be  audible  as  separate  and 
distinct  sounds,  yet  it  may  be  supposed  that 
such  a  combination  of  loud  harmonics  with 
a  comparatively  soft  ground-note  would  pro- 
duce a  most  disagreeable  and  nasal  tone.  But, 
notwithstanding  its  unpleasant  timbre  it  was 
a  favourite  stop  in  the  last  and  in  the  early 
part  of  this  century,  and  its  general  intro- 
duction into  the  best  organs  gave  rise  to  a 
vicious  and  trumpery  literature  of  "  cornet 
voluntaries."  The  characteristic  of  these  was, 
that  while  the  left  hand  held  down  a  soft 
chord  on  the  choir  organ,  the  right  was  en- 
gaged in  passages,  turns,  shakes,  and  other 
musical  capers,  on  the  cornet  stop  of  the  great 
organ.  The  usual  compass  of  the  stop  was 
from  middle  C  upwards,  but  sometimes  it 
commenced  at  tenor  C.  A  large  number  of 
cornet  stops  were  removed  to  make  way  for 
the  clarabella  when  first  invented  by  Bishop, 
and  better  taste  has  so  far  ejected  them  that 
a  specimen  in  good  playable  condition  may 
be  looked  upon  as  a  curiosity. 

4.  Echo  cornet.  A  stop  often  found  in 
swell  organs.  Originally  it  consisted  of  the 
same  series  of  ranks  of  pipes  as  the  mounted 
cornet,  but  was  always^  of  a  very  small  scale. 
But  the  name  isnowoften  applied  to  any  small- 
scale  sesquialtera  or  mixture  enclosed  in  the 
swell  box. 

5.  Cornet-a-pistons.  A  modern  brass  instru- 
ment of  the  trumpet  family,  but  having  valves 
or  pistons  by  means  of  which  a  complete 
chromatic  scale  can  be  produced.  In  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  valves  introduced  into 
tube-instruments,  the  quality  of  their  tone  is 
deteriorated,  but  notwithstanding  this  loss  of 
purity  and  brilliancy,  the  cornet  is  most  useful 
and  valuable  for  many  purposes.  It  has  been 
brought  into  discredit  by  being  unwisely  used 
in  some  orchestras  as  a  substitute  for  its  parent, 
the  trumpet,  with  the  grandeur  of  which  it 
cannot  compete.   [Metal  Wind-instruments.] 

Cornetto  {It.)  [Cornet.] 

Corno  {It.)  [Horn.] 

Corno  alto  {It.)    High  horn. 

Corno  basso  (it.)    Low  horn. 

Corno  di  bassetto  {It.)  [Basset-horn.] 

Corno  di  caccia  {It.)  [Caccia.] 

Corno  Inglese  {It.)    [Cor  Anglais.] 

Cornopean.    [Cornet,  §  5.] 

Coro  {It.)  [Chorus.] 

Cor  omnitonique  {Fr.)  A  horn  on  which 
by  the  use  of  valves,  a  chromatic  scale  could 
be  played. 

{ 


Corona  {It.)    A  pause. 

Coronach.  [Coranach.] 

Corps  de  voix  {Fr.)  The  quality  or  the 
fulness  of  the  voice. 

Corrente  (7^.)  [Coranto.] 

Correpetiteur  {Fr.)  Correpetitore  {It.)  The 
instructor  of  the  chorus,  one  who  teaches  the 
choral  body  to  sing  their  several  parts  by  ear. 

Corti's  organ.  [Ear.] 

Coryphaeus  {Lat.)  Ko(jv(paioQ  {Gk.)  (i) 
A  leader  or  conductor  of  the  dances  or  chorus. 
(2)  An  officer  in  the  University  of  Oxford, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  give  instruction  in  music. 

Coryphee  {Fr.)  (i)  A  leader  of  the  groups 
of  dancers.    (2)  A  female  dancer. 

Cotillon  {Fr.)  lit.  under-petticoat.  A  lively, 
spirited  dance,  originally  performed  by  a  male 
and  a  female,  in  which  the  latter  alternately 
attracted  and  repulsed  her  partner.  It  v/as 
first  called  cotillon  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. 
was  expanded  in  its  design  by  the  French  in 
the  last  century,  and  arranged  for  eight  per- 
sons. It  is  now  danced  with  any  step  by  an 
unlimited  number  of  dancers.  When  it  is 
possible,  chairs  are  placed  round  the  room  for 
the  performers.  "  Each  gentleman  places  his 
partner  on  his  right  hand.  There  is  no  rule 
that  any  particular  figure  shall  be  danced. 
The  selection  is  left  to  the  determination  of 
the  leading  couple  who  commence  the  figure, 
which  the  other  couples  repeat  in  succession. 
In  large  parties  of  twenty-four  or  thirty 
couples,  it  is  customary  for  two  or  more 
couples  to  perform  the  same  figure  at  the  same 
time.  The  constant  variety  of  the  figures 
enables  each  gentleman  to  dance  with  almost 
every  lady."  The  figures  from  which  a  selec- 
tion is  made  are  called  the  pyramid ;  the  two 
flowers ;  the  great  bound  and  pass-under ; 
the  cushion ;  the  round ;  the  basket,  ring, 
and  flower;  the  two  lines  of  six;  the  coquette; 
la  gracieuse  ;  the  mirror  ;  the  handker- 
chief; the  star ;  the  cards  ;  the  double 
moulinet ;  the  deceived  lady ;  the  quadrille  ; 
the  two  chairs  ;  the  rounds  multiplied  ;  the 
lancers ;  the  three  chairs,  &c.  :  the  whole 
being  more  or  less  allied  to  the  old-fashioned 
country  dance.  It  is  not  at  all  improbable 
that  the  tune  "  Petticoat  loose  "  given  in  the 
article,  "  Country  dance,"  furnished  the  title 
to  the  Cotillon. 

Couac  {It.)  An  onomatopoeic  word  for  the 
sound  made  by  bad  blowing  on  the  clarinet, 
oboe,  or  bassoon.  The  quacking  sound,  the 
goose  note. 

Couched  harp.  [Spinett.] 

Coule  {Fr.)  A  glide,  (i)  Slurred  notes.  (2) 
A  slide  in  dancing.  (3)  An  ornament  in 
harpsichord  music ;  e.g. : 


Written. 


Played. 


Ill  ) 


COUNTERPOINT. 


Counterpoint.  The  term  "  counterpoint  " 
in  its  broadest  sense  may  be  defined  as  "  the 
art  of  adding  one  or  more  parts  to  a  given 
melody  ;  "  in  its  more  limited  sense  as,  "  the 
art  of  harmonising  a  theme  by  adding  parts 
which  shall  he  in  themselves  melodious."  The 
terms  subject,  melody,  canto  fermo,  and  theme, 
are  synonymous.  The  common  definition  of 
counterpoint  as  the  "  art  of  combining  melo- 
dies "  is  not  strictly  logical,  unless  the  word 
"  melody"  has  a  definition  not  generally  ac- 
cepted ;  because,  distinct  melodies  are  never 
given  to  the  student  to  be  combined  by  him 
unless  they  have  been  previously  proved 
capable  of  combination  ;  and  if  a  composer 
should  attempt  to  combine  two  distinct 
melodies  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
strict  counterpoint  he  will  probably  find  it 
necessary  to  eliminate  so  much  of  one  or 
both  of  his  subjects  that  little  real  musical 
melody  is  left.  The  contrapuntist's  notion  of  a 
melody  is — a  succession  of  sounds  which 
does  not  infringe  certain  theoretical  laws.  No 
wonder  then  that  authors  who  have  bound 
themselves  by  the  commands  of  counterpoint 
seem  to  have  trodden  in  one  almost  identical 
path  and  to  have  added  little  that  is  valu- 
able to  the  literature  of  counterpoint.  Those 
masters  who  have  exceptionally  combined  great 
genius  with  a  deep  study  of  the  art  of  counter- 
point, such  as  Bach,  Cherubini,  and  Mozart, 
exhibit  in  their  works  more  than  any  other 
authors  dc,  with  wb.at  beneficial  results  the 
laws  of  counterpoint  may  be  purposely  broken, 
for  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  first  fact  which 
startles,  and  shakes  the  faith  of  the  student 
of  counterpoint,  is  that  the  preaching  and 
practice  of  contrapuntists  are  so  thoroughly 
inconsistent.  Their  books  consist  of  rules, 
their  compositions  of  exceptions.  But  it  would 
be  dishonest  to  blink  the  fact  that  much  good 
was  for  a  time  done  by  counterpoint,  by  elimi- 
nating crudities  in  harmony,  by  introducing 
an  interesting  rhythmical  correlation  of  parts, 
and  by  opening  to  ingenious  writers  a  large 
field  for  imitative  construction  of  music  at  a 
time  when  the  resources  of  key,  modulation, 
form,  and  variety  of  tone  in  instruments, 
were  greatly  limited.  Whether  a  course  of 
study  in  counterpoint  is  not  more  interesting 
to  the  lover  of  musical  history  than  beneficial 
to  the  gifted  young  composer,  the  reader  may 
perhaps  be  able  to  judge  for  himself  after 
reading  the  rules  of  the  art  and  seeing  the 
examples  of  its  scope  given  below. 

Counterpoint  is  simple  or  double.  There 
are  five  species  of  simple  counterpoint. 

1,  when  the  added  part  is  note  against 
note  of  the  subject;  2,  when  the  added  part 
is  two  notes  to  one  of  the  subject ;  3,  when 
the  added  part  is  four  notes  to  one  of  the 
subject ;  4,  when  the  added  part  is  in  syncopa- 

(  I 


tion  to  each  note  of  the  subject;  5,  when 
the  added  part  is  free,  or  has  a  florid  accom- 
paniment to  each  note  of  the  subject. 

In  the  first  species,  note  against  note,  in 
two  parts,  the  following  rules  and  regulations 
are  to  be  observed: 

1.  No  discords  are  allowed. 

2.  More  than  three  consecutive  3rds  or  6th8 

are  forbidden. 

3.  Consecutive  5ths  and  8ths  are  forbidden. 

4.  The  fourth  is  to  be  considered  a  discord. 

5.  No   augmented  or  diminished  intervals 

are  to  be  used  in  the  progression  of  the 
subject  or  counterpoint.  The  major  6th, 
major  7th,  and  minor  7th  are  similarly 
disallowed. 

6.  A  tritone  (or  augmented  4th)  should  be 

avoided,  between  the  component  notes 
of  a  chord  and  that  which  immediately 
follows  it. 

7.  False  relations  are  forbidden. 

8.  Of  the  three  kinds  of  motion — similar, 

oblique,  and  contrary — contrary  motion 
is  to  be  preferred. 

9.  Hidden  fifths  and  octaves  are  forbidden. 
10.  Unison  between  subject  and  counterpoint 

is  forbidden. 
The  first  rule  requires  no  explanation.  The 
second  is  given  to  insure  the  independence  of 
the  counterpoint,  as  it  is  evident  that  if  one  part 
constantly  follows  another  at  the  interval  of 
the  3rd  or  6th,  it  cannot  possibly  be  said  to 
form  a  separate  melody.  The  third  and 
fourth  rules  need  no  explanation.  The  fifth 
rule  is  saddled  with  many  exceptions,  as 
might  be  expected  ;  the  major  6th  and  aug- 
mented 4th  in  ascending,  and  the  diminished 
7th  in  descending,  are  tolerated.  The  origin 
of  the  sixth  rule  is  to  be  traced  in  the  difficulty 
of  making  dominant  and  subdominant  har- 
mony succeed  each  other  with  good  effect, 
e.g.: 


is  certainly  unpleasant  to  the  ear,  whereas 


is  certainly  not  so  unpleasant,  though  equally 
forbidden  by  strict  contrapuntists.  The  rule 
against  false  relations  (7)  is  necessary  in  two- 
part  writing,  as  it  is  impossible  to  introduce 
them  with  good  effect.  Such  progressions  as 
the  following  are  palpably  inadmissible  : 

Rule  8  may  be  proved  necessary  on  the  same 
grounds  as  given  in  explanation  of  rule  2. 
Two  parts  cannot  be  forming  separate  tnelodiis 

12) 


COUNTERPOINT. 


when  moving  in  similar  motion,  mUch  less 
can  they  be  doing  so  in  oblique  motion,  in 
which, one  part  stands  still:  therefore,  contrary 
motion  is  preferable  as  probably  leading  to 
more  variety.  The  law  against  the  use  of 
hidden  fifths  and  octaves,  includes  under  it  the 
well-known  contrapuntal  rule :  "  do  not  proceed 
from  an  imperfect  to  a  perfect  interval  by 
similar  motion,"  the  fifth  and  octave  being 
the  only  perfect  intervals  admissible  in  two- 
part  counterpoint  of  the  first  species.  The 
presence  of  hidden  fifths  or  octaves  is  dis- 
covered by  filling  up  the  intervals  between 
the  consecutive  notes  of  each  part  with  the 
intermediate  degrees  of  the  scale,  thus : 


The  examples  given  throughout  this  article 
are  taken  from  Fux,  "Gradus  ad  Parnassum," 
1725,  a  work  from  which  all  later  authors 
have  borrowed  largely,  Cherubini  and  Ouseley 
not  excepted  :  it  is  fair  therefore  to  suppose 
that  these  specimens  of  counterpoint  meet 
with  the  approval,  if  not  the  admiration,  of 
modern  expositors  of  the  art. 


The  above  is  said  to  be  "  contrapunto  sopra 
il  soggetto."  The  following  example  has  the 
same  subject  in  the  upper  part,  "  contrapunto 
sotto  il  soggetto." 

.  Canto  fei 


The  second  species  of  simple  counterpoint 
is  subject  to  the  following  rules  and  regula- 
tions : 

I.  Of  the  two  notes  in  the  counterpoint,  the 
first  must  be  a  concord,  the  second  may 
be  a  concord  or  passing  discord. 


2.  Consecutive  fifths  or  octaves  on  successive 

down-beats  are  forbidden.  Some  authors 
however  admit  the  latter  of  these  pro- 
gressions if  the  skip  to  the  second  note 
is  greater  than  a  third. 

3.  Scale  passages  are  preferable  to  broken 

harmony. 

4.  The  counterpoint  may  commence  on  the 

up-beat  of  the  first  bar. 

5.  The  cadence  of  the  subject  should  be  har 

monised  by  contrary  motion. 

6.  The  interval  of  a  fourth  may  occasionally 

be  used  on  the  down-beat. 

7.  A  false  relation  is  not   avoided  by  the 

introduction  of  a  passing  note  or  passing 
discord. 

A  passing  discord  is  a  discord  having  a 
degree  of  the  scale  on  each  side  of  it,  e.g. : 


The  first  rule  therefore  forbids  a  discord  to  be 
a  skip.  The  second  rule  is  to  prevent  the  use 
of  such  progressions  as  the  following : 


The  third  rule  strives  to  enforce  independence 
of  motion  in  the  counterpoint,  e.^ 


In  this  example,  the  upper  part  is  practically 
harmonised  by  the  lower  one,  the  first  bar 
representing  the  chord  of  C,  the  next  two  bars 
a  chord  of  G.  Rules  4,  5,  and  6,  require  no 
explanation.  Rule  7  is  to  prevent  the  admis- 
sion of  such  passages  as  the  following  : 


The  following  are  specimens  of  this  species  : 

Counterpoii 


(  ) 


COUNTERPOINT. 


If  counterpoint  in  triple  time  is  used,  the  first 
minim  must  be  a  concord,  the  other  two  may 
be  concords  or  passing  discords  as  may  be 
found  desirable. 

The  third  species  of  counterpoint  in  two 
parts  in  which  there  are  four  notes  to  each 
note  of  the  canto  fermo,  is  subject  to  the 
following  rules  and  regulations  : 

1.  The  fourth  note  must  be  a  concord,  the 

second  and  fourth  may  be  passingdiscords. 

2.  The  third  note  may  sometimes  be  a  pass- 

ing discord,  but  should  be  generally  a 
concord. 

3.  The  first  bar  may  commence  with  a  crotchet 

rest,  if  the  note  immediately  after  the  rest 
is  a  concord. 

4.  The  cadence  should  be  by  contrary  motion. 

5.  There  may  be  unison  between  counterpoint 

and  subject,  provided  it  does  not  occur  on 
the  first  note  of  the  bar. 

6.  The  tritone  is  to  be  avoided  between  any 

four  notes  of  the  counterpoint,  unless 
they  occur  as  an  integral  part  of  the  scale, 
that  is, having  the  next  note  of  the  scale 
on  each  side  of  them. 

7.  Octaves  and  fifths  between  counterpoint  and 

subject  should  not  occur  on  successive 
down  beats;  or  between  the  third  crotchet 
of  one  bar,  and  the  first  crotchet  of  the 
following  bar. 
The  cases  in  which  the  third  note  may  be 
a  discord  (see  2)  are  of  the  following  kind  : 


The  sixth  rule  is  to  prevent  the  use  of  such 
passages  as  the  following : 


It  will,  however,  be  noticed  that  a  passage 
almost  similar  to  the  above,  occurs  in  the 
second  of  the  two  models  given  below  from 
Fux.  Rule  7  is  constantly  broken.  Fux  him- 
self gives  the  following  as  a  specimen  of  a 
cadence  in  this  species: 


The  fourth  species  of  counterpoint  in  two 
parts,  is  that  in  which  the  counterpoint  though 
containing  practically  note  against  note  of 
the  subject,  has  each  note  bound  into  the 
following  bar,  or,  syncopated. 

The  following  rules  and  regulations  are  to 
be  observed  : 

1.  That  which  is  incorrect  "  sine  ligatura  "  is 

incorrect  when  "  cum  ligatura." 

2.  It  is  necessary  to  begin  on  the  up-beat. 

3.  Syncopations  may  be  concordant  or  dis- 

cordant, a  concordant  syncopation  being 
one  that  is  heard  in  both  bars  (half  of 
each)  as  a  concord  :  a  discordant  synco- 
pation one  that  is  a  concord  on  the  up- 
'  beat,  but  forms  a  discord  on  the  down- 
beat. 

4.  If  necessary,   the  syncopations  may  be 

relinquished  for  the  space  of  two  minims. 

5.  The  best  cadence  is  formed  by  the  suspen- 

sion 7  6  on  the  supertonic. 
Rule  I  is  directed  against  such  progressions 
as  the  following : 


For,  tested  by  the  omission  of  the  ligatures, 
it  appears  thus  : 


According  to  this  rule  the  following  passage 
is  correct : 


Although  it  seems  to  infringe  rule  2  of  the 
second  species,  and  rule  7  of  the  third  species, 
but  without  ligatures  it  becomes  merely  a 
succession  of  6ths: 


The  following  are  specimens  of  counterpoint 
of  this  species  : 


(  114  ) 


COUNTERPOINT. 


When  this  species  is  used  in  triple  time  the 
second  note  of  the  bar  may  be  a  concord  or 
passing  discord,  the  third  must  be  a  concord 
bound  into  the  next  bar  and  forming  a  synco- 
pated concord  or  suspended  discord. 

The  fifth  species  of  counterpoint,  florid  or 
figurate  counterpoint,  consists  of  a  mixture 
of  the  various  kinds  just  given,  and  so  far  as 
it  proceeds  in  any  one  species,  is  subject  to 
the  laws  and  regulations  of  that  species. 
Shorter  notes  may  occasionally  be  used.  The 
following  are  examples : 

-  ,IH  I  I  II  I -t— I  il  I  i-pTrfbJ-ff 


Counterpoint  in  three  parts  is,  generally 
speaking,  bound  by  the  rules  of  its  correspond- 
ing species  in  two  parts.  The  additional  part, 
however,  makes  the  following  rules  necessary 
in  the  first  species,  note  against  note. 

1.  Every  chord  should  be  a  common  chord, 

if  possible.  When  not  possible  the  chord 
I  may  be  used. 

2.  The  third  of  the  common  chord  should  not 

be  doubled. 

(  II 


3.  The  term  "chord  I"  includes  under  it  the 
chord  I  on  the  supertonic,  that  is,  the 
second  inversion  of  the  chord  of  the  minor 
seventh,  the  root  being  omitted.  As  the 
old  masters  did  not  consider  this  chord  a 
discord,  the  seventh  of  the  root  (third  of 
the  chord)  is  frequently  resolved  upwards 
by  them.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  give 
specimens  of  counterpoint  in  every  form 
of  which  it  is  capable,  one  example  of 
each  species  will  suffice,  if  the  reader 
will  remember  that  the  canto  fermo  may 
appear  in  upper,  lower,  or  middle  parts. 
The  student  of  counterpoint  should  refer 
toFux,  "  Gradusad  Parnassum"  Vienna, 
1725,  or  to  an  English  translation  called 
Practical  rules  forlearningcomposition," 
printed  by  Welcker,  Gerrard  Street,  Soho 
(at  the  end  of  the  last  century),  or  to 
Cherubini's  work  (Novello,  London). 
The  second  species  of  counterpoint  in  three 

parts  contains  one  part  having  two  notes 

to  each  note  of  the  subject. 

1.  A  syncopation  is  allowed  to  take  place 

immediately  before  the  cadence. 

2.  The  third  of  the  common  chord  should  not 

be  doubled. 
The  following  is  a  specimen  of  counterpoint 
of  this  species : 


The  third  species  of  counterpoint  in  three 
parts  contains  one  part  having  four  notes  to 
each  note  of  the  subject.  A  syncopation  before 
the  cadence  is  not  permitted  in  this  species  : 


Counterpoint. 


A  mixed  kind  of  counterpoint,  containing  one 
part  having  two  notes  to  each  note  of  the 

^5  ) 


COUNTERPOINT  (DOUBLE) 


subject,  and  another  having  four  notes  to  each 
note  of  the  subject,  may  be  classified  under 
this  species : 


(Transposed.)  , 


(Fourth  Specie*.) 


The  fourth  species  of  counterpoint  in  three 
parts  contains  one  syncopated  part : 

.Cc 


The  fifth  species  of  counterpoint  in  three 
parts  contains  one  figurate  or  florid  part.  It 
is  unnecessary  to  give  an  example  of  this 
species. 

In  counterpoint  of  four  parts,  the  rules  of 
two-part  and  three-part  counterpoint  are 
necessarily  relaxed  to  some  extent  in  the  case 
of  the  inner  parts,  unless  the  inner  parts  consist 
of  the  canto  fermo  and  the  counterpoint  spe- 
cially characteristic  of  the  particular  species 
to  which  the  example  belongs. 

The  following  rules  and  regulations  apply 
to  four-part  counterpoint  generally  : 

1.  In  the  first  species,  only  common  chords 

should  be  used,  but  the  chord  |  may  oc- 
casionally be  used. 

2.  In  every  species,  the  different  parts  should 

be  as  much  as  possible  equidistant. 

3.  Two  parts  may  occasionally  cross  each 

other. 

4.  The  laws  against  hidden  fifths  and  octaves 

do  not  bind  inner  parts,  and  consecutive 
fifths  by  contrary  motion  are  sometimes 
permitted. 

It  will  be  sufficient  if  two  examples  of  four- 
part  counterpoint  are  given  : 

(Second  Species.)  ,       |  ,     ^      |     ,       |  j 


Counterpoint  may  be  in  5,  6,  7,  8  or  even 
16  parts,  but  enough  has  been  said  to  give  the 
reader  an  insight  into  its  principles. 

Counterpoint  (Double)  has  been  well  de- 
scribed as  a  "  kind  of  artificial  composition 
where  the  parts  are  inverted  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  uppermost  becomes  the  lowermost, 
and  vice  versa."  Or,  in  other  words  "  the 
art  of  making  melodies  grammatically  conver- 
tible at  certain  intervals." 

If  the  melodies  are  interchanged  at  the  in- 
terval of  an  octave,  the  double  counterpoint  is 
said  to  be  "  at  the  octave,"  but  if  the  inverted 
melody  is  transposed  one  note,  the  other 
melody  remaining  untransposed,  the  double 
counterpoint  is  said  to  be  at  the  9th.  Simi- 
larly, the  double  counterpoint  may  be  at  the 
loth,  iith,  i2th,  13th  or  14th.  But  double 
counterpoint  at  some  of  these  intervals  im- 
poses such  difficulties  in  the  construction  of  the 
component  melodies,  that  it  is  rarely  met  with. 
Double  counterpoint  at  the  8th,  loth  and 
1 2th,  are  the  kinds  most  commonly  used, 
and  shall  be  explained  in  order.  It  will  be 
seen  if  the  following  passage : 


be  inverted  by  playing  the  lowest  line  an  octave 
higher,  and  the  highest  an  octave  lower,  thus: 


that  the  intervals  between  the  two  parts  have 
undergone  an  entire  change,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  octave  which  has  become  a  unison. 
Thus  the  2nd  has  become  a  7th. 


3rd 
4th 
5th 
6th 
7th 
8th 


6th. 
5th. 
4th. 
3rd. 
2nd. 

I  St. 


We  have  above,  then,  a  complete  scheme  of 


(  "6) 


COUNTERPOINT  (DOUBLE). 


the  changes  intervals  undergo  by  inversion  at 
the  octave.  It  is  evident  that  the  following 
rules  must  be  observed  : 

1.  As  the  5th  becomes  a  4th,  and  the  4th  is  a 

discord,  the  5th  must  be  treated  as  a 
discord,  if  used  at  all.  As  a  discord,  it 
may  be  prepared,  or  treated  as  a  passing 
discord. 

2.  The  octave  must  be  approached  by  a  single 

degree,  not  a  skip,  in  strict  style. 

3.  As  it  is  usual  to  place  the  upper  melody  an 

octavelower,  leavingthe  lower  unchanged, 
the  interval  of  an  octave  between  the  two 
parts  must  not  be  exceeded,  otherwise  the 
object  of  inversion  will  be  lost,  e.g. : 


In  the  first  and  third  bars  of  Ex.  2,  no 
inversion  has  taken  place.  If  melodies  are 
framed  with  the  intention  of  altering  the  pitch 
of  both  when  inverting  them,  this  rule  does 
not  of  course  hold  good,  e, 


4.  The  melodies  should  be  different  in  style, 
and  one  should  commence  on  the  up-beat. 
The  following  is  an  example  of  double 
counterpoint  at  the  octave,  from  Fux  : 


If  we  wish  to  discover  the  changes  inter- 
vals undergo  by  double  counterpoint  at  the 
loth,  we  can,  as  before,  write  them  out  thus  : 


I.  Consecutive  loths  become  consecutive 
unisons,  e.g. : 


Will  become 
when  inverted  ; 


and  consecutive  3rds  become  consecutive 
octaves ;  e.g. : 


Will  become 
when  inverted : 


Both  consecutive  loths  and  5rds  must  there- 
fore be  avoided. 

2.  Consecutive  sixths  become  consecutive 
fifths  ;  they  therefore  must  be  avoided,  e.g. : 


Will  become 
when  inverted ; 


3.  The  suspension  4  3  becomes  a  yih 
resolved  wrongly ;  e.g. : 


Will  become 
when  inverted 


4.  The  interval  of  a  tenth  between  the 
upper  and  lower  melodies  should  not  be 
exceeded,  for  the  reason  given  in  rule  3  of 
double  counterpoint  at  the  octave. 

The  following  example  is  from  Cherubini  : 


f  "7  ) 


COUNTERPOINTS,  TRIPLE  AND  QUADRUPLE. 


The  subject  of  the  above  may  also  be 
written  in  the  third  above  and  the  counter- 
point in  the  octave  below,  throughout ;  or 
again,  the  counterpoint  may  be  written  in  the 
third  below,  and  the  subject  in  the  octave  below. 
The  following  example,  from  Fux,  shows  how 
the  same  counterpoint  may  be  used  at  the 
same  time,  at  the  octave  and  the  tenth,  each 
counterpoint  being  correct  when  taken  se- 
parately : 

Counterpoint, 


^^^^^ 


Counterpoint  at  the  Twelfth. 


Interesting  examples  of  combinations  of 
counterpoints  at  the  loth  and  I2th  are  to 
be  found  in  Fux. 

Counterpoints,  Triple  and  Quadruple, 

as  their  names  show,  are  the  due  construction 
of  three  or  four  melodies  respectively,  in  such 
a  mannej-  that  they  can  be  interchangeable 
without  involving  the  infringement  of  the 
laws  of  musical  grammar.  It  will  be  evident, 
on  consideration,  that  the  octave  is  the  only 
feasible  interval  at  which  counterpoints  of 
this  class  can  be  made,  unless  indeed  one  or 
more  free  parts,  that  is,  parts  not  forming 
interchangeable  melodies,  are  added.  The 
following  is  an  example  of  triple  counterpoint, 
written  out  in  full.  Of  course  three  sentences 
at  least  will  be  required  for  the  exposition  of 
triple  counterpoint ;  four  sentences  for  that 
of  quadruple : 


Double  counterpoint  at  the  I2th  is  much 
less  hampered  by  the  change  of  intervals  than 
many  other  species. 

I.  The  6th  becomes  the  7th,  if  therefore 
introduced,  it  must  be  as  a  discord  in 
the  lowest  part,  e  g. : 


T  1  TT  P— 

will  become  when  inverted  ; 


or,  a  sequence  of  prepared  sevenths. 
2.  The  final  cadence  will  require  special  care 
in  its  treatment. 
The  following  is  an  example  of  this  species: 


I.      ,  .  _ 

2. 

The  following  example  of  quadruple  coun- 
terpoint is  from  Zimmerman  : 


COUNTER  Sb  JECT  COUNTRV  DANCE. 


I.                     A  M. 

2. 

«  4-  _ 

I. 

3.  '    '  r  1  •  r 

,  J     J  J,.  .. 

It  is  perhaps  necessary  to  warn  the  lay 
reader  against  the  confusion  Hkely  to  arise 
between  the  terms  two-part,  three-part,  four- 
part,  counterpoint ;  and  double,  triple,  and 
quadruple  counterpoint.  The  former  refers 
only  to  the  number  of  parts  added  to  a  given 
subject,  and  such  parts  need  not  necessarily 
be  interchangeable  ;  whereas,  the  essence  of 
the  latter  is  that  in  each  case  all  the  parts 
must  be  capable  of  substitution  one  for  the 
other. 

Occasionally,  specimens  of  quintuple  coun- 
terpoint are  to  be  met  with,  but  they  may 
be  looked  upon  more  as  curiosities  than  as 
substantial  additions  to  the  musical  art. 

Counter  subject.  [Fugue.] 

Counter  tenor  clef.  The  C  clef  placed 
upon  the  third  line  of  the  stave  for  the  use  of 
countertenor  or  alto  voices,  the  viola,  &c.: 


Counter  tenor  voice.  The  old  name  for 
the  alto  voice.    [Alto  voice.] 

Country  Dance.  Contre-danse  (Fr.)  Con- 
tradanza  {It.)  A  rustic  dance,  of  English 
origin,  in  which  performers  were  arranged 
face  to  face,  "  one  set  against  another,"  and 
performed  certain  prescribed  figures.  The  old 
method  of  dancing  the  "  country  dance  "  was 
to  place  the  ladies  and  the  gentlemen  in  two 
parallel  lines,  the  former  on  the  left,  the  latter 
on  the  right,  facing  their  partners.  All  advance, 
then  retreat,  during  the  first  four  bars  of  the 
music,  then  cross  to  opposite  places,  then 
advance  and  retreat,  and  then  re-cross  to 
original  places.  Each  of  these  movements 
should  occupy  the  time  of  four  baia  of  music. 
The  lady  who  stands  at  the  top,  and  the 
gentleman  whose  place  is  at  the  bottom, 
advance  towards  each  other,  courtesy  and 
bow,  and  return  to  their  places.    The  gentle- 


man at  the  top  and  the  lady  at  the  bottom  do 
the  same.  Then  the  first  named  couple  ad- 
vance once  more,  give  right  hands  and  swing 
quickly  round  each  other  back  to  places.  This 
figure  is  repeated  by  the  other  couple.  The 
lady  at  the  top  then  advances,  gives  her  right 
hand  to  her  opposite  partner,  and  passes  be- 
hind the  two  gentlemen  standing  in  the  places 
next  to  him :  then,  through  the  line  and 
across  it,  giving  her  left  hand  this  time  to  her 
partner,  who  meets  her  half  way  between  the 
two  lines,  having  passed  behind  the  two  ladies 
next  to  his  partner's  place.  The  lady  then 
passes  behind  the  two  ladies  next  in  the  line,  the 
gentleman  moving  in  the  like  figure  behind  the 
two  gentlemen  next  lowest,  and  so  on,  all 
down  the  line.  At  the  bottom  the  lady  gives 
her  left  hand  to  her  partner,  and  they  pro- 
menade back  to  their  former  places.  Then 
the  top  couple  come  forward,  courtesy  and 
bow,  the  lady  turns  to  the  right,  the  gentle- 
man to  the  left,  each  followed  by  the  rest  of 
her  or  his  line.  Top  couple  meeting  at  the 
bottom  join  hands  and  raise  their  arms  to 
form  an  arch  for  the  other  couples  to  pass 
under,  until  all  have  reach'ed  their  places  ex- 
cept the  top  couple;  these  having  become  the 
bottom  couple,  repeat  the  figure  from  the 
beginning  until  they  have  worked  back  to  their 
original  places  at  the  top  of  the  lines,  and 
then  the  dance  is  ended.  Such  is  a  general 
description  of  a  dance  which  under  various 
titles  has  been  popular  in  England  for  centu- 
ries, has  been  adopted  by  other  nations,  and 
revived  from  time  to  time  with  a  few  modifi- 
cations under  the  several  titles  applied  to  it  by 
the  people  from  whom  it  was  last  taken.  Thus 
it  has  been  called  "  contre-danse "  and  is 
erroneously  said  to  be  French  ;  and  when  it 
has  been  named  coranto  "  it  has  been  sup- 
posed to  be  Italian. 

John  Stafford  Smith,  in  his  Musica  Antiqua, 
quotes  a  dance  tune  which  he  copied  from  a 
MS.,  now  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford, 
the  date  of  which  is  probably  about  the  year 
1300.  The  tune  is  in  |  time,  in  three  sec- 
tions of  nine  bars  each,  and  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  it  has  one  more  bar  in  each 
section  than  the  majority  of  tunes  employed 
as  country-dance  melodies,  can  be  danced  to 
without  difficulty  or  sense  of  inconvenience. 


Country  Dance  Tune,  about  13CO. 


(  "9) 


COUNTRY  DANCE. 


It  is  unnecessary  here  to  enlarge  upon  the 
popularity  of  dancing,  throughout  all  ages;  a 
reference  to  Strubt's  "  Sports  and  Pastimes," 
and  to  Chappell's  "  Popular  Music  in  the 
Olden  Time,"  will  satisfy  those  who  are  curious 
as  to  details.  It  may  be  here  stated  that  the 
old  poets  and  dramatists,  from  the  time  of 
Chaucer  and  later,  have  frequent  allusions  to 
the  custom,  and  make  mention  of  many 
dances  by  name  without  giving  descriptions, 
so  that  it  may  be  inferred  that  their  allusions 
point  to  practices  in  their  time  so  popular 
that  particular  description  was  not  deemed 
needful. 

One  of  the  old  English  names  for  rustic 
dances  was  hey  digyes  or  rounds. 

"  While  some  the  rings  of  bells  and  some  the  bagpipes 
play, 

Dance  many  a  merry  round,  and  many  a  ky  degy." 

Drayton's  "  Polyalbion,"  Song  xxv. 

The  "  Hay,"  or  "  Raye"  as  it  is  also  called, 
is  probably  the  same  as  the  "  hey  digyes."  It 
was  danced  by  many,  forming  a  line  or  a 
circle,  and  the  direction  w&s  to  "  wind  round 
handing  in  passing  until  you  come  to  your 
places." 

"  The  Have,"  a  Countrie  Dance,  1678. 


"Dargason"  was  another  name  given  to 
the  country  dance  years  before  the  time  of  the 
Reformation.  Ritson  in  his  Ancient  Songs 
classes  it  as  belonging  to  a  very  early  period. 
Mr.  Chappell  quotes  the  tune  in  his  "  Popular 
Music,"  p.  65,  and  it  is  of  the  rhythm  common 
to  many  country  dance  tunes : 


The  same  character  of  tune  which  suited 
the  country  dance  was  also  used  tor  the  reel, 
the  round,  the  morris-dance,  the  jig,  and 
hornpipe,  all  of  which  are  offshoots  from  the 
one  original  stem.  Those  among  these  dances 
now  performed  by  one  or  at  most  two  dancers, 
were  not  always  so  done,  the  reel  was  often 
"  four  or  eight  handed  or  even  general," 
the  jig  and  hornpipe  were  also  dances  for 
many.  The  two  last  named  probably  derived 
their  title  from  the  instruments  employed  as 
accompaniments,  the  usual  accompaniment 
to  most  country  dances  was  anciently  the 
fiddle,  in  Germa.nGeige ;  or,  pipe  and  tabour. 
There  were  many  other  names  given  to  the 
country  dance  in  successive  ages,  and  the 
variety  of  the  titles  has  led  many  writers  into 
the  belief  that  there  were  as  many  dances  as 
names.  The  allusions  found  in  the  writings  of 
the  poets  and  dramatists  have,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, increased  the  confusion  in  the  minds  of 
readers,  and  commentators  not  deeming  the 
subject  worthy  of  the  consideration  it  deserves, 
have  often  by  wrongly  directed  notes  and 
glosses,  made  matters  in  a  worse  condition 
than  that  arising  from  original  error.  Sir  John 
Davies  (1570- 1626) in  his  poem  "  Orchestra"  is 
clearer  than  other  authors  on  the  subject.  He 
identifies  rounds,  corantos,  measures,  &c., 
with  country  dances.    His  description  of  a 


(  120  ) 


COUNTRY  DANCE. 


country  dance,  to  be  found  under  "Brawl," 
is  almost  the  same  as  that  given  above,  which 
is  the  process  of  performing  the  country  dance 
to  this  day.  He  calls  a  "  measure  "  "  a  round 
dance  for  ever  wheeling,"  and  implies  that  "  as 
men  more  civill  grew,  they  did  more  grave 
and  solemn  measures  frame"  out  of  the  primi- 
tive country  dance.  The  "  galliard  "  "  a  swift 
and  wandering  dance  with  passages  uncertain 
to  and  fro,  yet  with  a  certain  answer  and 
consent."  The  coranto  or  "current  traverses" 
in  which  he  says  of  the  dancer  : 

"  Everywhere  he  wantonly  must  range 
And  turn  with  unexpected  change  " 

All  these  forms  are  but  slight  variations  of  the 
simple  original,  and  as  it  is  admitted  that  "no 
rules  have  ever  been  laid  down  for  the  com- 
position of  a  country  dance,  nor  is  it  indeed 
confined  to  any  particular  measure  ;  so  that 
any  common  song,  or  tune,  if  sufficiently 
rhythmical  may  by  adoption  be  made  a  country 
dance,"  the  diversities  of  tempo  in  the  several 
melodies,  of  the  coranto,  rondo,  galliard,  and 
measure  ought  not  to  be  taken  as  a  proof  of 
a  distinct  character  of  dance. 

In  the  rustic  dances  the  motion  was  rapid, 
but  when  people  of  less  humble  condition 
deigned  to  adopt  them,  they  varied  the  figures, 
made  the  motion  more  dignified,  and  giving 
a  new  title  to  the  old  diversion,  created  a 
certain  amount  of  confusion  in  the  minds  of 
interested  posterity.  The  "stately  measure, 
the  graceful  minuet,  and  the  courtly  quadrille  " 
are  each  and  all  country  dances,  and  people 
of  all  conditions  have  indulged  in  the  pastime 
they  offer.  Mr,  William  Chappell  ("Popular 
Music  in  the  Olden  Time,"  p,  626)  shows 
that  country  dances  were  popular  at  court  in 
the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  succeeding 
reigns.  The  custom  of  dancing  the  ancient 
English  country  dance  was  kept  up  at  court 
during  the  reign  of  George  III,  as  many  news- 
papers and  other  records  show.  Thus,  in  the 
"  Universal  Magazine,"  for  June,  1784,  we 
read :  "June  4th,  the  anniversary  of  the  King's 
birth-day,  the  drawing-room  broke  up  about 
half-past  five,  when  their  majesties  returned 
to  the  Queen's  palace  to  dinner  ;  and  at  about 
nine  in  the  evening  there  was  a  grand  ball, 
which  was  opened  by  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
who  walked  the  first  minuets  with  the  Princess 
Augusta  .  ,  ,  ,  The  country  dances  began  a 
little  before  twelve,  and  continued  till  past 
one," 

It  has  been  mentioned  above  that  the 
rhythm  of  country  dance  tunes  is  various, 
some  are  in  triple  and  some  in  duple  mea- 
sure. Among  the  most  popular  airs  emplo3-ed 
for  the  dance,  those  called  "  Sir  Roger  de 
Coverley,"  the  "  Tank,"  the  "  Triumph," 
"Gee  ho,  Dobbin,"  "Merrily  danced  the 
Quaker's  Wife,"  "Petticoat  Loose,"  "Gossip 


Joan,"  "  The  Devil  among  the  Tailors,"  "  Moll 
in  the  Wad,"  and  the  "Wind  that  shakes  the 
Barley,"  are  still  popular:  these  are  all  dif- 
ferent in  accent  and  measure,  yet  all  serve  the 
purpose  of  the  dance.  It  matters  not  whether 
the  time  be  ^,  |,  or  *  ;  all  that  is  necessary 
is  that  the  strains  should  be  in  four  or  eight  bar 
phrases  to  accompany  the  several  movements, 
and  every  need  is  satisfied. 


"  RoOER  DE  Coverley." 


(  121  ) 


COUNTRY  DANCE. 


(  122  ) 


COUNTRY  DANCE. 


Country  dances  when  imported  into  other 
nations  have  become  as  popular  as  at  home. 
The  Italians,  in  1740,  were  said  to  be  "fond 
to  a  degree  "  of  them,  and  about  the  same 
period  in  Paris,  "  no  kind  of  dance  was  re- 
ceived with  so  much  favour  as  they."  Dancing 
masters  vied  with  each  other  in  devising  new 
combinations  of  figures,  and  musicians  of  the 
common  order  provided  original  or  borrowed 
tunes  for  the  dance,  many  of  which  were  pub- 
lished in  single  sheets  with  such  titles  as  "La 

N«"^-  Chartres,  countre  danse  par  Mr.  ,  M'^^- 

de  Danse,  prix  4  f.  la  feuille ;  a  Paris,  ches  M. 
de  la  Chevardiere,  M^-  de  Musique,  rue  du 
Roule  a  la  Croix  d  or  ;  M"^-  Castagniere,  rue 
des  Prouvaires,  avec  privilege  du  Roy." 

These  publications  consisted  of  four  pages, 


the  first  occupied  with  the  title,  as  above ;  the 
second  containing  a  description  "  des  figures 
de  la  contre  danse;  "  the  third  diagram-plans 
of  the  said  figures,  and  the  fourth  the  music, 
which  in  the  instance  quoted  above,  is  as 
follows: 


The  following  diagram  from  the  above  work, 
shows  the  various  figures  of  another  dance, 
the  black  marks  representing  the  position  of 
the  men  ;  the  white  marks,  that  of  the  women ; 
the  arrow-heads,  the  direction  in  which  they 
move 


(  123  ) 


COUNTRY  DANCE  CREMONA. 


Description  des  Figures  de  la  Contredanse. 

1.  La  grande  chaine,  un  demi  tour. 

2,  3.  La  ponssette  dessus,  et  dessous,  et  la  pirouette  d 
:haqne  bout. 

4.  Autre  i  tour  de  chaine,  la  poussette,  et  la  piroiiette 
au  bout. 

5,  6,  7,  8.  Gager  d'une  place  sur  le  cote;  deux  se 
tenant  les  mains  passent  en  dedans  ct  les  deux  autres  en 
dehors,  continuant  d  passer  de  cctte  maniere  4/ois,  jusqu^d 
ses  places,  faisant  deux  balance  d  chaque  place. 

9.  La  chaine  dcs  dames  sur  les  cotes. 

10.  Un  tour  allcmande  en  piroiiettant. 

11.  Refaire  la  chaine  dcs  dames. 

12.  Un  tour  d'allemande.    La  Main. 


LA  N^""  50CIETE 
PLAN 

DesFfgures  de  la  ConCredanfe 

^^^^^^ 

^^^^^ 

M 

f 

IX 

X 

XI 

4^. 

The  subjoined  is  the  melody  to  which  it 
was  danced : 

"La  Nouvelle  Societe,"  Contre-danse  Allemande. 


2  fois  la  rep.  du  majeur  en  rondeau,  et  deux  fois  chaque  rep.  du 
mineur. 

Coup  d'archet  (Fr.)    Stroke  of  a  bow. 

Couper  le  sujet  {Fr.)  To  abbreviate  or 
curtail  a  musical  subject  or  theme. 

Coupler.  The  mechanism  which  connects 
pedals  with  the  manuals;  or,  different  manuals 
together.  [Organ.] 

Couplet,  (i)  Two  lines  in  rhyme,  which 
contain  a  complete  sentence.  (2)  A  verse  of 
a  song.  (3)  Two  notes  occupying^the  time  of 
three,  e.g. : 


Courante  (Fr.)  [Coranto.] 
Couronne  (Fr.)    The  name  for  the  sig^ 
of  a  pause  /^  . 

Courtaut,  Cortaud,  Corthal.  An  ancient 
instrument  of  the  bassoon  kind.  [Bassoon.] 

Covered  consecutives.  Hidden  consecu- 
tives.  [Consecutives.] 

Covered  strings.  Strings  of  silk,  wire,  or 
gut,  covered  with  a  fine  wire  by  means  of 
a  machine,  by  a  process  technically  termed 
string-spinning.  Covered  strings  are  used  for 
pianofortes,  violins,  violoncellos,  guitars,  &c., 
the  wire  covering.by  adding  weight  and  strength 
to  the  string,  makes  it  slower  of  vibration, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  more  elastic 
than  an  uncovered  string  of  the  same  diameter. 

Cownterynge  yn  songe  {Old  Eng.)  In 
Lat.  concentus  or  accentus,  singing  an  accom- 
paniment to  a  tune.  [Descant.] 

Cracovienne.  [Polacca.] 

Crackle.  A  direction  in  lute  playing,  thus 
explained  by  "  Maister  "  Thomas  Mace, 
1676:  "To  crackle  such  three  part  stops  is 
only  to  divide  each  stop,  with  your  thumb  and 
two  fingers,  so  as  not  to  loose  time,  but  give 
each  crotchet  its  due  quantity."  [Arpeggio.] 

Credo  {Lat.)  One  of  the  movements  in 
a  mass.  [Mass.] 

Crembalum.    [Jew's  Harp.] 

Cremona,  (i)  A  violin  made  in  the  town 
of  Cremona.  (2)  A  reed  stop  in  the  organ. 
A  corruption  of  the  word  Krum  or  Cromhorn. 


(  124  ) 


CREMORNE  GUSTOS. 


Cremorne  (Fr.)  [Krum  horn.] 
Crepitaculum  or  Crepundia  (Lat.)  An 
ancient  instrument  of  a  character  like  the  c?.sta- 
nets,  but  with  sound  produced  more  by  friction 
than  striking.  [Castanets,  Bones,  Knicky- 
knackers.] 

Crescendo  (7^.)  Increasing,  a  gradual 
increase  in  the  force  of  sound  expressed  by 
the  sign  ~=::^ZZ'  or  the  abbreviation  cres. 
The  sign  was  first  employed  in  England  by 
Matthew  Locke,  in  1676. 

Crescendo-zug  {Ger.)  The  swell  box  in 
the  organ.  [Organ.] 

Creticus  [Lat.)  A  metrical  foot  consisting 
of  one  short  syllable  between  two  long  —  ^  — 

Croche  (Fr.)  A  quaver,  ^^  the  hooked 
note.  [Nomenclature.] 

Croma  (//.)    A  quaver  ^^ 

Cromatico  (It.)  Chromatic,  as,  fuga  cro- 
tnatica,  a  chromatic  fugue ;  fantasia  cromatica, 
a  chromatic  fantasia,  &c. 

Crom  horn.    [Krum  horn.] 

Crooks.  Short  tubes  either  straight  or 
curved,  adapted  for  insertion  between  the 
mouthpiece  and  the  body  of  the  horn,  trumpet, 
or  cornet-a-pistons,  for  the  purpose  of  altering 
the  key.    [Metal  wind  instruments.] 

Crotalum  [Lat.)  KporaXov  [Gk.)  A  rattle, 
or  clapper,  used  sometimes  to  mark  the 
rhythm  of  dancmg,  in  the  worship  of  Cybele. 
They  were  generally  made  of  wood,  having  a 
loose  piece  hinged  about  midway,  so  that, 
when  shaken  in  the  hand  a  clattering  noise 
was  produced,  called  by  the  Greeks  TrXarayri. 


Instruments  of  this  kind  were  in  use  among 
the  ancient  Egyptians,  as  the  following  illus-  I 
tration  shows: 


Crotchet.  A  note  '  one-fourth  of  the  value 
of  a  semibreve.  [Nomenclature.] 


Croupeza,  Kpoinrtiia,  iCpovTraC^a,  Kpoinfava, 
KpovTTsra  [Gk.  from  icpovio,  to  knock,  strike). 
High  wooden  shoes  worn  by  flute-players  or 
others,  with  which  the  time  was  marked  by 
striking  with  the  foot;  c.f.  Lat.  scrupedae, 
women  who  wore  high-heeled  boots. 

Crowd.  Crwth,  an  ancient  instrument, 
like  a  violin,  with  six  strings,  four  of  which 
were  played  upon  by  a  bow,  and  the  other 
two  played,  or  plucked  with  the  thumb,  as  an 
accompaniment.  The  neck  had  a  hole,  through 
which  the  player  thrust  his  hand,  so  that  he 
could  only  command  the  notes  lying  under  his 
fingers.  [Violin.] 

Crowle.  An  early  form  of  the  word  corolla 
(Lat.)  a  crowd,  q.v. 

C-schliissel  [Ger.)    The  C  clef. 

Cum  sancto  (Lat.)  A  portion  of  the  Gloria 
in  the  mass.  [Mass.] 

Cue.  A  catch  word  or  phrase.  The  last 
notes  or  words  of  other  parts  inserted  as  a 
guide  to  singers  or  players  who  have  to  make 
an  entry  after  rests : 


&c. 


And   the    depths  were  con  - 


Currende  (Ger.)  Children  carol-singers 
in  Germany. 

Cushion-dance.  An  old  English  round 
dance,  in  which  each  woman  selected  hei 
partner  by  placing  a  cushion  before  him. 
Taylor,  the  Water  Poet,  calls  it  a  "  pretty 
little  provocatory  dance,"  for  that  reason. 
There  was  a  dialogue  carried  on,  according 
to  the  description  given  in  the  "  Dancing 
Master"  of  1686;  and  the  note  appended  to 
the  same  description  points — perhaps  unwit- 
tingly— to  the  probable  origin  of  the  dance  : 
"  Note.  The  women  are  kissed  by  all  the 
men  in  the  ring  at  their  coming  and  going 
out,  and  likewise  the  men  by  all  the  women." 
Therefore,  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  the 
Cushion-dance  was  the  "  Kissing  dance." 
One  of  the  tunes  to  which  it  was  danced  is 
subjoined,  and  another  melody  is  printed  in 
Mr.  Chappell's  "  Popular  Music,"  where  it 
is  shown  that  the  dance  was  also  called  a  Gal- 
liard.   [Cotillon.]   [Country  Dance.] 


Cushion  Dance. 


Custos  (Lat.)  (i)  The  chief  of  a  college 
of  minor  canons.  (2)  A  direct,  the  sign  >v  or 
V,  placed  at  the  end  of  a  line  or  page  to  show 


(  125  ) 


CYCLISCHE  FORMEN  CZIMKEN. 


the  position  of  the  first  note  of  the  line  or 
page  fcllowing. 

Cyclische  Formen.  Rondoforms.[Form.] 
Cymbalista.  A  cymbal  player. 
Cymbals.  Cymbalum  (Lat.)Kvfijia\ov  (Gk). 
Musical  instruments  of  percussion,  consisting 
of  two  metallic  basins,  which  are  set  in  vibra- 
tion by  being  clashed  together.  The  shape  of 
cymbals  varies,  from  that  of  the  actual  form 
of  a  cup  or  basin  to  an  almost  flat  plate.  The 
following  illustration  shows  those  used  by  the 
Assyrians.  It  will  be  remarked  that  the  lower 
basin  is  held  in  a  stationary  position,  while  the 
upper  one  is  dashed  on  it. 


Fig.  I. 


The  Hebrews  had  two  kinds  of  cymbals, 
mentioned  by  name  in  Psalm  cl.  5,  "  Praise 
Him  upon  the  loud  cymbals  ;  praise  Him 
upon  the  high-sounding  cymbals."  The  Ara- 
bians have  two  sorts  at  the  present  time, 
the  larger  they  use  in  their  religious  cere- 
monies, but  the  smaller  are  rarely  used  but 
for  the  purpose  of  accompanying  the  dance. 
In  India  cymbals  are  used  called  talan,  and  a 
smaller  sort  called  kintal.  An  illustration  of 
Indian  cymbals  is  given  : 


Fig.  2. 


The  Burmese  instruments  of  this  class  are 
of  the  true  basin  shape,  as  shewn  in  the 
following : 

Fig-  3- 

A  pair  of  ancient  Egyptian  cymbals  are  in 
existence;  they  are  about  five  inches  in 
diameter,  and  are  made  of  a   mixture  of 


copper  and  silver,  and  in  outline  are  identical 
with  those  now  used  by  modern  Egyptians. 

As  has  been  the  case  with  other  musical 
instruments,  the  name  cymbal  has  been  ap- 
plied in  various  ways.  At  one  period  the 
Italians  called  a  tambourine  by  this  name, 
and  at  another  a  dulcimer.  As  the  harpsi- 
chord was  the  actual  outgrowth  of  the  dulci- 
mer, the  harpsichord  came  to  be  called 
cembalo,  a  word  still  to  be  found  occasionally 
affixed  to  the  pianoforte  part  of  full  scores.  It 
is  probable  that  the  peculiar  clang  produced 
by  striking  the  wire  strings  of  a  dulcimer  with 
a  wooden  hammer  gave  rise  to  the  associa- 
tion of  the  name  cymbal  with  dulcimer. 

In  modern  military  bands  cymbals  are  used 
in  the  ancient  manner.  One  plate  is  held  in 
each  hand  of  the  performer,  and  the  sound 
is  produced  by  clashing  the  plates  together. 
In  the  orchestra  of  the  concert-room,  one 
plate  of  a  cymbal  is  attached  to  the  upper 
side  of  the  rim  of  the  big  (upright)  drum,  and 
the  other  held  in  the  left  hand  of  the  drummer. 
The  tone  produced  by  the  beating  of  these  is 
largely  increased  in  power  and  depth  by  the 
connection  with  the  drum.  Verj'  small  cym- 
bals were  introduced  by  Berlioz,  tuned  a  fifth 
apart,  as  an  orchestral  instrument,  but  have 
not  come  into  common  use.  Small  cymbals 
are  sometimes  attached  to  the  fingers  and 
are  hence  called  finger-cymbals  : 
Fig.  4. 


These  naturally  became  associated  with 
castanets;  and  they  have  also  found  their 
way  into  the  rim  of  the  tambourine,  of  which 
in.strument  they  form  an  important  element. 

It  should  be  stated  that  cymbals  are  not 
struck  together,  actually  face  to  face,  for  by 
so  doing  not  only  would  the  free  vibration  of 
the  plates  be  very  much  arrested,  but  they 
would  in  all  probability  be  split  by  the  blow. 
Turkey  is  still  celebrated  for  its  manufacture 
of  cymbals  and  other  instruments  of  percus- 
sion, and  exports  them  in  large  quantities  to 
all  parts  of  the  world.  The  exact  composi- 
tion of  the  metal  used  in  Turkey  is  not  known 
to  the  manufacturers  in  other  countries. 

Cypher-system.  [Notation.] 

Czakan.    A  flute  made  of  cane  or  bamboo. 

Czardasch  {Hung.)  [Chica.] 

Czimken  (Polish).  A  dance  similar  to  the 
country  dance. 


(  126  ) 


D  DANCING. 


D. 


D.  (i)  The  first  note  of  the  Phrygian, 
afterwards  called  Dorian,  mode. 

(2)  The  second  note  of  the  normal  scale  C. 

(3)  The  scale  having  two  sharps  in  its  sig- 
nature. 

(4)  The  name  given  to  a  string  tuned  to  D, 
e.g.,  the  third  string  of  the  violin,  the  second 
of  the  viola  and  of  the  violoncello. 

(5)  The  name  of  a  clef  in  old  mensurable 
music,  D  excellens.    [Clef.  ] 

(6)  Ahk.  for  Discantus,  Dessus,  Destra,  &c. 
Da  ballo  (It.)    In  dance  style. 

Da  camera  (It.)  For  chamber  use.  In 
the  style  of  chamber  music. 

Da  cappella  [It.)  In  the  church  style. 

L/d  capo  (It.)  From  the  beginning.  An 
expression  first  used  by  Scarlatti  in  his  "Theo- 
dora." signifying  that  the  performer  must  re- 
commence the  piece,  and  conclude  at  the 
double  bar  marked  "  Fine." 

Da  capo  al  fine  {It.)  From  the  beginning 
to  the  sign  Fine. 

Da  capo  al  segno  (It.)  Repeat  from  the 
sign  (K)  at  the  beginning. 

D'accord  (Fr.)    In  tune. 

Dach  (Ger.)  Sounding-board.  Resonance- 
body  of  an  instrument. 

•  Da  chiesa  {It.)  For  the  church.  In  the 
church  style. 

Dachschweller  {Ger.)  Swell-box. 

Dactyl.  A  metrical  foot,  consisting  of  a 
long  syllable  followed  by  two  short  syllables. 

Dactylion  (G  -.)  An  instrument  invented 
by  Henri  Herz,  for  strengthening  the  fingers 
for  pianoforte  playing,    [c.f.  Chiroplast.] 

Daina  or  Dainos.  A  term  given  to  some 
little  Lithuanian  love-songs. 

Daire  {Turkish).    A  tambourine. 

Da  lontano  {It.)  In  the  distance,  e.  g., 
corni  da  lontano,  horns  heard  in  the  distance. 

Dal  segno  {It.)  To  the  sign  (K).  [Da  capo.] 

Damenisation.  The  syllables  da,  me,  ni, 
po,  tu,  la,  be,  which  Graun  employed  for  the 
notes  of  the  scale  in  his  vocal  exercises.  [Sol- 
mization.] 

Damp,  to.  (i)  On  instruments  played 
by  plucking  the  strings,  as  the  harp,  guitar, 
&c.,  to  check  the  vibrations  by  placing  the 
hand  lightly  on  the  strings.  (2)  To  apply 
mechanical  dampers. 


Damper,  (i)  Certain  moveable  pieces  of 
mechanism  in  a  pianoforte,  made  of  wood 
covered  with  cloth,  which,  after  the  finger  has 
struck  the  key  and  left  it,  immediately  check 
the  vibrations  of  the  strings,  and  prevent  that 
confusion  of  sound  which  would  result  if  they 
were  allowed  to  continue  in  vibration.  (2) 
The  mute  of  a  horn,  and  other  brass  wind- 
instruments. 

Dampfer  {Ger.)    A  damper. 

Dancing.  A  graceful  movement  of  the 
feet  or  body,  intended  as  an  expression  of 
various  emotions  ;  with  or  without  the  ac- 
companiment of  music  to  regulate  its  rhythm. 

Dancing  is  mentioned  by  the  earliest  writers, 
both  sacred  and  profane,  as  a  constituent  part 
of  religious  ceremonies.  There  are  many  in- 
stances named  in  the  Bible,  needless  here  to 
particularize,  and  the  ancient  Greek  poets 
have  abundant  allusions  to  the  practice  in 
their  writings.  Homer  mentions  dancing  and 
music  at  social  entertainments;  Aristotle  tells 
of  dancers  who  were  able  to  express  manners, 
passions,  and  deeds  in  rhythmical  gestures  ; 
Herodotus,  Pindar,  Athenaeus,  and  others  of 
later  date  refer  to  the  practice.  Donaldson  says 
that  all  ancient  dancing  was  "  either  gymnastic 
or  mimetic;  it  was  gymnastic  when  intended 
merely  as  an  exercise,  it  was  mimetic  when  it 
was  designed  to  express  some  mental  feeling, 
or  to  represent  by  corresponding  gestures  the 
words  of  the  accompanying  chorus  sung  " 

Athenaeus  speaks  of  three  divisions  of  the 
Greek  dance:  the  Emmeleia  {IfifilXtia),  the 
Sicinnis  {(rtKivrtg),  and  the  Cordax  ((copSaf); 
the  first  named  from  the  melody  played  to  it, 
the  second  from  its  inventor  Sicinnos,  and  the 
third  probably  for  the  reason  hereinafter  ex- 
plained. The  Emmeleia,  the  tragic  dance, 
was  a  kind  of  slow  dignified  movement  or 
ballet.  The  Sicinnis  was  of  a  grotesque 
character,  and  was  performed  with  a  peculiar 
shaking  of  the  body  and  violent  motion  of  the 
limbs.  The  Cordax  was  less  decent  in  style 
than  the  last  named.  It  was  introduced  into 
comedies,  and  was  performed  by  actors  assum- 
ing to  be  under  the  influence  of  wine.  In 
addition  to  these  there  were  the  Pyrrhic  or 
war  dances,  expressive  of  the  pursuit  and 
encounter  of  an  enemy. 


{  127  ) 


DANCING  DECANI. 


The  Roman  dances,  at  first  connected  with 
religious  observances,  became  by  degrees  sepa- 
rated from  them,  and  perhaps  degenerated,  as 
it  was  considered  disgraceful  for  a  free  citizen 
to  dance,  excepting  during  devotional  exer- 
cises. 

The  Almee,  or  dancing  and  singing  girls 
of  Egypt,  the  Nautch  girls  of  India,  perform, 
at  feasts  and  solemn  occasions,  certain  dances 
akin  to  those  which  formed  part  of  the  ancient 
observances. 

There  is  ground  for  the  belief  that  dancing 
was  not  discouraged  among  the  early  Chris- 
tians, and  there  are  records  showing  continu- 
ance of  the  custom  among  the  less  orthodox 
sects  at  dilTerent  periods  of  the  history  of  the 
Church. 

Dancing  and  pantomimic  actions  formed 
part  of  the  amusements  sometimes  offered  by 
the  jongleurs,  a  body  of  the  minstrel  class  ; 
their  dancing  often  included  acrobatic  per- 
formances. The  common  dances,  popular 
among  the  people  in  various  European  coun- 
tries, vary  more  in  name  than  in  character ; 
and  as  they  are  unquestionable  legacies  of 
heathen  days,  have  been  condemned  from 
time  to  time  by  the  more  serious-minded. 

The  Icrce  and  original  meaning  of  dancing 
is  now  lost  sight  of.  It  is  not  now  regarded 
in  the  light  of  an  act  of  worship,  but  is  en- 
couraged only  as  a  means  of  social  enjoyment. 
The  rude  forms  of  dancing  have  been  softened 
and  polished  during  successive  generations, 
their  character  changed,  and  their  identity  or 
connection  with  their  origin  disguised  under 
modified  motions.  Each  country  in  which 
dancing  is  practised  has  considered  itself  free 
to  change  the  steps,  arrangement,  and  signifi- 
cance of  the  dance,  or  to  give  preference  to 
one  portion  of  a  complicated  whole  ;  and  such 
alterations  have  been  accepted  as  new  dances, 
when  they  are  not  really  so.  The  German 
waltz,  the  French  cancan,  the  English  country- 
dance,  the  Spanish  bolero,  the  South  American 
chica,  the  Italian  saltarello,  the  Hungarian 
czardasch,  are  all  forms  traceable  to  one 
source.  The  allemande,  the  brawl,  the  co- 
ranto,  the  fandango,  the  forlana,  the  gavotte, 
the  hornpipe,  the  jota,  the  kalamaika,  the 
loure,  the  measure,  the  minuet,  the  passecaille, 
the  quadrille,  the  ringeltanz,  the  saraband,  the 
tarantella,  trenchmore,  zapateado,  &c.,  are 
only  different  names  of  the  several  motions  of 
that  called  in  England  the  country-dance, 
with  such  variations  in  melody  and  rhythm 
as  would  arise  from  the  use  of  accompanying 
musical  instruments  more  or  less  perfect  in 
their  construction,  or  on  account  of  the  speed 
at  which  they  were  danced,  by  which  means 
a  rapid  triple  measure  may  be  made  to  seem 
duple  measure.  The  advancing  and  retreat- 
ing in  the  various  figures  ;  the  embracing  and 


unloosing,  the  stamping,  shrieking,  and  sing- 
ing in  some  dances  ;  the  grand  chain,"  or 
the  gallopade  which  generally  marks  the  con- 
cluding figure  of  a  quadrille,  are  merely  mild 
versions  of  some  of  the  several  peculiarities 
of  the  ancient  prototype. 

The  Italians  of  the  i6th  century  are  cre- 
dited with  the  distinction  of  having  invented 
that  form  of  dancing  known  by  the  general 
term  of  ballet:  they  arranged  the  motions 
and  gestures  of  the  body  in  an  expressive 
pantomime,  and  reduced  the  various  actions 
to  a  series  of  well-defined  and  understood 
rules,  so  that  the  performers  were  able  to 
impart  to  the  spectators  a  perfect  story  with- 
out the  aid  of  words  ;  but  their  claim  cannot 
be  upheld,  as  the  like  thing  had  been  done 
by  the  Greeks  ages  before. 

The  rhythm  of  the  more  important  dances 
will  be  found  described  under  their  respective 
titles. 

Darabooka  or  Darabukkeh.  An  Arabian 
drum ;  the  body,  to  which  is  attached  a  handle, 
is  of  hollowed  wood.  There  are  various  kinds 
of  this  instrument. 

Darmsaiten  (Ger.)  Strings  of  catgut. 
[String.] 

Cash,  (i)  Aline  drawn  through  a  figure 
in  thorough-bass,  showing  that  the  interval 
must  be  raised  one  semitone,  e.g. : 


(2)  A  line  drawn  through  the  duple  time- 
sign,  e.g.,  implying  a  division  either  ol 
measurement  or  of  pace. 

(3)  A  short  stroke  placed  above  notes  or 
chords,  directing  that  they  are  to  be  played 
staccato. 

(4)  In  harpsichord  music,  a  dash  passing 
between  two  notes,  called  a  slur,  or  coule  : 


was  thus  played ; 


Da  teatro  {It.)    In  the  theatrical  style. 

Dauer  {Ger.)  Duration  or  continuance  of 
notes  or  sound. 

Daumen  (Gcr.)    The  thumb. 

D  dur  {Ger.)    D  major. 

Debut  {Fr.)    A  first  appearance. 

Debutant,  e  {Fr.)  A  performer  who  ap- 
pears for  the  first  time. 

Dec,  abb.  of  Decani. 

Dec,  abb.  of  Decrescendo. 

Decachordon  {Gk.)  An  instrument  with 
ten  strings. 

Decani  {Lat.)  A  term  used  in  cathedral 
music,  to  signify  that  the  part  so  distinguished 
is  to  be  sung  by  the  singers  on  the  dean's,  or 
south  side  of  the  choir,  in  contradistinction 


;i28 ) 


DECEPTIVE  CADENCE  DEDICATION. 


to  "  cantoris "  the  cantor's  or  prsecentor's 
side.    [Cathedral  Music] 

Deceptive  cadence.  [Cadence.] 

Decide  {Fr.)    Firmly,  with  decision. 

Decima  {Lat.)  A  loth,  an  interval  of  a 
loth  ;  decima  plena  de  tonis,  a  major  loth  ; 
decima  non  plena  de  tonis,  a  minor  loth  ; 
decima  qjiarta,  a  14th  or  octave  of  the  7th  ; 
decima  quiiita,  a  15th  or  double  octave ; 
decima  tertia,  a  13th  or  octave  of  the  6th. 

Decimole.  [Decuplet.] 

Decisio.  [Apotome.] 

Deciso  [It.)  Determined,  decided,  with 
firmness. 

Decke  {Ger.)  (1)  Cover,  an  upper  or  lower 
plate  of  a  resonance  box.  (2)  The  cover  of 
stopped  metal  organ  pipes  ;  e.g.,  lieblich 
gedeckt,  the  sweet  toned  stopped-diapason. 

Declamando  {It.)  In  a  declamatory 
style. 

Declamation.  The  proper  rhetorical  ren- 
dering of  words  set  to  music.  [Recitative.] 

Decompose  {Fr.)  Unconnected,  incohe- 
rent. 

Decoration  {Fr.)  Signature  of  a  piece  of 
music. 

Decres.,  abb.  of  Decrescendo. 

Decrescendo  {It.)  Decreasing  gradually 
the  volume  of  tone.  Indicated  in  music  by 
the  abbreviations  Dec,  Decres.,  or  the  sign 

Decuplet.  A  group  of  ten  notes  played  in 
the  time  of  eight  or  four. 

Dedication.  An  address  or  inscription  to 
a  patron  or  friend,  prefixed  to  a  work. 

Dedications  frequently  form  a  valuable 
guide  to  the  historian,  as  by  them  it  can  be 
ascertained  whether  the  author  designed  to 
honour  any  special  individual,  or,  in  the  case 
of  early  works,  whether  a  production  was 
issued  at  the  "  cost  and  charges "  of  any 
particular  patron. 

Before   the   time  when  an  author  could 
command  a  large  sale  amongst  the  general 
public,  it  was  not  an  uncommon  practice  to 
dedicate  a  book  to  one  who  had  borne  the 
chief  expense  in  the    production,  and  the 
ingenuity  of  the  author  was  exercised    in  ; 
finding  expressions  sufficiently  flattering  in  j 
return   for  money   expended   or   presented.  ! 
The  character  of  these  addresses  became  at  | 
one  time  somewhat  fulsome,  as  may  be  seen  ; 
by  the  following,  prefixed  to  Clifford's  "Divine  \ 
Services  and  Anthems:"  London,  1663;  the 
first  book  of  its  kind  printed  in  England: 

"  To  the  Reverend  Walter  Jones,  Doctor  in 
Divinity    and    Sub-Dean    of  his    Majesties  ] 
Chappel-Royal,  &c.  : 

"  Sir, — Under  your  able  patronage  I  have 
presumed  to  shelter  this  my  weak  endeavor, 
which  if  for  no  other  reason  than  the  wel- 
meaning  devotion  thereof,  I  was  sure  would 


not  be  unacceptable  or  troublesome  to  you. 
Be  pleased  therefore  to  intermit  awhile  those 
seraphical  raptures,  in  the  excellency  whereof, 
and  your  thereto  tuned  piety,  you  are  so 
famously  happy.  And  vouchsafe  an  eare  to 
the  mean  addresse  of  these  rudiments  (as  it 
were)  of  Church  Musick,  which,  like  other 
perfections,  hath  suffer'd  meerly  through  the 
peoples  ignorance.  To  you  therefore  more 
especially  doe  I  dedicate  this  essay,  whose 
alone  competent  skill  and  judgement  in  the 
highest  mysteries  of  this  divine  science,  if  it 
shall  please  you  to  descend  and  deign  a 
favourable  approbation  thereunto,  cannot  but 
comand  reception  from  others :  since  my 
knowledge  at  Oxford  (improved  further  at 
London)  of  your  eminency  this  way,  cannot 
so  far  disoblige  the  world  as  not  to  believe 
you  have  the  supreme  mastery  in  religious 
musick ;  by  which,  as  you  charm  the  soul, 
and  all  its  affections,  no  doubt  you  can  prevail 
upon  and  perswade  publick  acceptance. 

"  I  submit  this  piece  in  this  (howsoever  rude) 
manner  to  your  judgement,  having  attempted, 
I  hope  something  of  tendency  to  the  churches 
peace  and  harmony,  whereof  though  I  am  a 
smal  and  an  unworthy  member,  yet  a  mite 
even  from  such  is  justly  expected  :  For 
higher  works  God  hath  fitted  and  prepared 
your  most  artfull  hand,  and  hath  placed  you 
in  an  orb  from  whence  your  melody  (as  of  the 
spheres)  of  holiness  and  constant  goodness  in 
and  for  the  church  is  universally  heard  with 
joy  and  delight.  In  which  happiness,  God 
Almighty  long  continue  you  here  and  late 
translate  you  to  the  angelical  choire :  So 
prayes,  Reverend  Sir,  your  most  devoted  and 
obedient  Servant,  James  Clifford." 

Master  Thomas  Mace,  in  a  more  manly 
mood,  dedicated  his  famous  book  called 
"  Musick's  Monument"  (1676)  to  a  higher 
power  than  a  sub-dean,  on  the  principle  that 
a  man's  work  should  be  "  dedicated  "  to  God, 
and  only  "inscribed"  to  a  fellow-m.an.  His 
"  Epistle  Dedicatory  "  runs  as  follows  : — 

"  To  Thee,  One-Only-Oneness,  I  direct  my 
weak  desires,  and  works  ;  please  to  protect 
both  them  and  me  ;  for  Thou  alone  art  able 
(and  none  but  Thee)  to  make  us  acceptable 
unto  the  world. 
"I  am  not  of  that  Catholic  belief 
(I  mean  the  Roman's  faith)  who  seek  relief 
(At  th'  second  hand)  from  saints  ;  but  I  thus  take 
My  freedom,  and  (sans  complement)  thus  make 
My  seeming  bold  address  :  not  judging  it 
A  crime  with  Thee  ;  but  rather  count  it  fit ; 
Part  of  my  duty  call'd  for,  which  I  owe 
Unto  Thy  goodness  ;  therefore  thus  it  show. 
I've  wondered  much  to  see  what  great  ado 
Men  make,  to  dedicate  their  works,  unto 
High  mortals,  who  themselves  can  no  way  save 
From  the  sland'rous  tongues  of  every  envious  knave. 
Thou  (only)  art  the  able-true  protector: 
Oh  be  my  shield,  defender  and  director, 
Then  sure  we  shall  be  safe. 


(  129  ) 


DEDUCTIO  DESCANT. 


Thou  know'st  (O  searcher  of  all  hearts)  how  I, 
With  right-downright-sincere-sincerity, 
Have  longed  long  to  do  some  little  good 
(According  to  the  best  I  understood), 
With  Thy  rich  talent,  though  by  me  made  poor ; 
For  which  I  grieve,  and  will  do  so  no  more, 
By  Thy  good  grace  assisting,  which  I  do 
Most  humbly  beg  for  :  Oh  adjoyn  it  to 
My  longing  ardent  soul ;  and  have  respect 
To  this  my  weak  endeavour ;  and  accept 
(In  Thy  great  mercy)  both  of  it,  and  me, 
Ev'n  as  we  dedicate  ourselves  to  Thee." 

This  is  followed  by  "  An  epistle  to  all 
divine  readers,  especially  those  of  the  discent- 
ing  ministry,  or  clergy,  who  want  not  only 
skill,  but  good-will  to  this  most  excelling-part 
of  divine  service,  viz.,  singing  of  psalms, 
hymns,  and  spiritual  songs,  to  the  praise  of 
the  Almighty,  in  the  publick  assemblies  of 
His  saints  ;  and  yet  more  particularly  to  all 
great  and  high  persons,  supervisors,  masters, 
or  governors  of  the  Church  (if  any  such 
should  be)  wanting  skill,  or  good-will  there- 
unto." 

In  17 13  Mattheson  published  a  sonata 
"  dedicated  to  the  person  who  will  best  per- 
form it,"  and  if  it  were  necessary,  many 
curious  instances  of  remarkable  dedications 
might  be  quoted  to  swell  the  list,  but  one  only 
must  suffice.  There  is  extant  a  composition 
by  Samuel  Wesley,  containing  a  series  of 
intended  violations  of  musical  grammar,  all 
of  which  are  duly  pointed  out,  and  the  whole 
is  dedicated  "  without  permission  to  William 
Horsley,  Esqre.,  Mus.  Bac,  fifth  and  eighth 
catcher  in  ordinary  and  extraordinary  to  the 
Royal  Society  of  Musicians." 

Deductio  (Lat.)  The  succession  of  notes 
as  they  appear  in  their  proper  places  in  the 
hexachords,  which  are  in  consequence  called 
prima  deductio,  secunda,  &c.,  up  to  septinta. 
[Notation.] 

Deficiendo  {It.)    Gradually  dying  away. 

Degre  {Fr.)     Degree  of  a  scale. 

Degree  of  a  scale.  A  step  in  the  tone- 
ladder;  it  may  consist  of  a  semitone,  a  tone, 
or  (in  the  minor  scale)  of  an  augmented  tone. 

Degree  in  music.  The  rank  or  title  con- 
ferred by  an  University  on  a  candidate  who 
has  matriculated,  and  passed  through  the 
necessary  examinations.  They  are  of  two 
kinds.  Bachelor  in  (or  of)  Music,  and  Doctor 
of  Music.  The  latter  is  generally  taken  by 
bachelors  of  several  years  standing,  but  in 
special  cases  candidates  are  allowed  (by  a 
grace)  to  accumulate,  that  is,  take  both 
degrees  at  the  same  time. 

Dehnung  {Ger.)    Expansion,  extension. 

Dehnungstriche  {Ger.)  A  long  stroke 
with  the  bow. 

Delassement  {Fr.)  A  light  trifling  enter- 
•ainment. 

Deliberatamente  (7^.)  Deliberately. 
Deliberate  {It.)  Deliberate. 


Del,  della,  delle,  dello  (//.)  Of  the,  e.g., 

sopra  il  soggetto  della  ftiga  seguente.  On  the 
subject  of  the  fugue  which  follows,  &c. 

Delicato,  delicatamente  {It.)  Delicately; 
delicatissimo,  very  delicately  ;  con  delicatezza, 
with  delicacy. 

Delicatesse  {Fr.)  Delicacy  of  performance. 

Delirio,  con  {It.)  With  excitement,  with 
frenzy. 

T>&\yn  (Welsh).    The  harp. 

Demancher  {Fr.)  To  cross  hands,  in 
pianoforte  playing.  To  shift,  in  violin  playing. 

Demande  {Fr.)  The  subject,  dux,  or  pro 
position  of  a  fugue. 

Demi-baton  {Fr.)    A  semi-breve  rest. 

Demi-cadence  [Fr.)  A  half  cadence,  or 
the  cadence  on  the  dominant.  [Cadence.] 

Demi-jeu  {Fr.)  Half  power.  Mezzo  forte, 
applied  to  organ  or  harmonium  playing. 

Demi  -  mesure,  demi-pause  {Fr.)  A 
minim  rest. 

Demi-quart  de  soupir  {Fr.)  A  demi- 
semiquaver  rest. 

Demi-semiquaver.    A  note  of  the  value 

of  one-fourth  of  a  quaver 

Demi-soupir  {Fr.)    A  quaver  rest. 

Demi-ton  {Fr.)    A  semitone. 

Demoiselle  {Fr.)  A  coupler  in  the  organ. 

Denis  d'or.  An  instrument  having  a 
finger  board  like  a  piano,  and  pedals  like  an 
organ,  capable  of  producing  a  vast  number  of 
different  qualities  of  sound.  It  was  invented 
in  1762  by  Procopius  Divis,  in  Moravia. 

Derivative,  (i)  The  actual  or  supposed 
root  or  generator,  from  the  harmonics  of 
which  a  chord  is  derived.  (2)  A  chord  de- 
rived from  another,  that  is,  in  an  inverted 
state.    An  inversion. 

Des  {Ger.)    D  flat. 

Descant,  Discantus  {Lat.)  The  addition 

of  a  part  or  parts  to  a  tenor  or  subject.  This 
art,  the  forerunner  of  modern  counterpoint 
and  harmony,  grew  out  of  the  still  earlier 
art  of  diaphony  or  the  organum,  of  which  it 
is  necessary  to  give  a  slight  sketch. 

Diaphony  {liutfitot  ia)  signified  in  Greek  music 
discordant  sounds  or  dissonance  (voces  dis- 
crepantes  vel  dissonae),  as  opposed  to  sym- 
phony {ervfiipwfta)  consonance.  But  the  term 
came  afterwards  to  be  applied  to  those  first 
attempts  at  the  harmonic  combination  of 
voices,  and  polyphony,  which  may  be  looked 
upon  as  the  first  life-pulse  of  modern  har- 
mony. It  is  indeed  strange  that  the  term 
diaphony  should  have  been  selected  for  these 
early  efforts,  for,  crude  and  painful  as  they 
are  to  our  ears,  they  gave  undoubted  pleasure 
to  those  who  first  listened  to  them,  who  speak 
of  their  "  melodiae  suavitas "  and  "  dulcis 
concentus  ; "  moreover,  diaphony  was  well 
known  to  signify  dissonance,  intervals  being 


(  130  ) 


DESCANT. 


divided  into  symphonic  and  diaphonic,  the 
former  including  4ths,  5ths,  and  octaves  (and 
their  compounds);  the  latter  ands,  3rds,  6ths, 
and  yths.  That  they  should  not  have  called 
it  "harmony"  would  not  surprise  us  if  they 
were  only  cognizant  of  the  exact  force  of  the 
Greek  np/noi/a,  but  it  happens  that  Isidorus 
of  Seville  (in  the  6th  century),  gives  the 
following  definition  of  harmony,  "  consonantia 
plurimorum  sonorum  et  coaptatio,"  a  defini- 
tion which  so  far  diverges  from  that  of  the 
Greek,  that  it  might  have  included  all  the 
efforts  of  the  diaphonists,  and  indeed  might 
almost  pass  muster  as  a  definition  of  modern 
harmony.  Why  diaphony  or  the  diaphonia 
cantilena  was  also  called  organum  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  say.  A  later  explanation,  namely,  that 
it  was  because  of  a  supposed  similarity  to  the 
music  of  the  instrument  "organ"  is  plainly 
untenable  (apte  similitudinem  exprimat  instru- 
menti,  quod  organum  vocatur) — ^J.  Cotton  in 
Gerbertus  Script.  II.  263.  In  time  of  Charle- 
magne the  art  of  diaphony  must  have  reached 
some  degree  of  perfection,  as  it  is  certain  that 
Roman  cantors  were  called  upon  to  teach 
certain  French  chanters  the  ars  organandi, 
and  piceri  syniphoniaci  were  part  of  the  musi- 
cal staff  of  Vitalian  at  the  end  of  the  7th 
century.  The  earliest  forms  of  diaphony  were 
of  four  kinds ;  when  the  organum  was  added 
to  the  "principal"  or  subject  throughout  at 
the  interval  (i)  of  an  octave,  (2)  of  a  fifth 
(3)  of  a  fourth,  (4)  at  an  octave  above  and 
below. 

These  species  were  combined  in  three  or 
four-part  music,  thus  presenting  to  the  ear 
a  simple  succession  of  consecutives.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  give  examples  of  each  of  the 
above ;  the  following  (from  Gerbertus)  will 
suffice  as  illustrations  : — 


He  also  gives  the  following,  but  in  old 
notes  and  clefs : 


tris  sempiturnus  /  \ 


Pa/ 

\Fi 

/ 

es        \  li 

Tu/  tr 

s  sempiturnus  /      \        \  us. 

Pa/ 

\Fi 

/ 

\H 

Tu/ 

\us. 

In  the  above  S  stands  for  semitone,  T  for 
tone.  It  is  thus  rendered  by  Gerbertus  (De 
Cantu,  &c.,  I.  112.) : 


The  next  example  is  from  Kiesewetter 
(Hist,  of  Modern  Music) : 


Sit   glo    -     ri  -  a     Do  -  mi  -  ni     in     see  -  cu  -  la, 


In  another  kind  of  organum,  one  voice  held 
on  a  note  like  a  drone  while  a  second  sang 
the  tune. 

But  the  first  step  towards  harmony  was  to 
allow  the  organizing  voices  to  have  a  choice 
of  intervals,  instead  of  compelling  them,  as 
seen  in  the  examples  above,  to  move  in 
parallel  quarts,  quints,  and  octaves.  The 
following  example  (No.  4)  is  from  Gerbertus  : 


In  the  above  it  will  be  observed  that  several 
yds  are  introduced  ;  the  admission  of  this 
interval  (both  minor  and  major)  into  the  list 
of  consonances  represents  another  forward 
movement  in  the  art  of  music.  But  3rds 
(and  afterwards  6ths)  were  not  allowed  to  be 
perfect,  but  classified  as  imperfect  consonances, 
a  title  which  to  this  day  adheres  to  these 
beautiful  intervals,  although  their  superiority 
to  4ths  and  5ths  has  compelled  modern  writers 
to  call  a  4th  a  discord,  and  to  forbid  consecu- 
tive 5ths  as  an  abomination.  Franco  and 
Garland  have  a  division  of  intervals  which 
is  interesting  as  marking  the  transition  from 
the  treatment  of  3rds  and  6ths  as  discords, 


(  131  ) 


DESCANT. 


and  their  present  position  in  music.  These 
authors  (see  Coussemaker,  jj.  49)  classify  the 
unison  and  octave  as  perfect  consonances ; 
the  4th  and  5th  as  middle  consonances  ;  the 
major  and  minor  third  as  imperlect  conso- 
nances. 

The  next  important  step  in  the  progress  of 
harmony  seems  to  have  been  the  giving  due 
consideration  to  what  we  now  term  the  rela- 
tive motion  of  the  parts.  In  the  early  examples 
(i  to  3)  it  must  have  been  observed  that  there 
is  nothing  but  similar  motion ;  in  Ex.  4, 
oblique  motion  is  mixed  with  similar;  and 
next  we  find  authors  boldly  laying  down  the 
law  that  when  the  principal  (or  melody) 
ascends,  the  added  organum  should  descend, 
and  vice  versa  (ubi  in  recta  modulatione  est 
elevatio,  ibi  in  organica  fiat  depositio  et  e 
converso).  This  acknowledgment  of  the 
beauty  and  value  of  contrary  jnotion  must 
have  given  a  new  impulse  to  the  art.  Thus 
step  by  step  did  it  grope  its  way,  till  in 
the  nth  century  important  treatises  on  it 
were  produced,  and  there  can  be  also  traced 
that  sure  sign  of  a  healthy  circulation  of 
thought,  a  marked  partisanship  of  different 
and  opposed  systems.  After  this  period,  in- 
stead of  the  "principal"  and  its  "organum," 
we  begin  to  read  of  a  "  tenor "  and  its 
"  descant,"  and  by  almost  imperceptible  de- 
grees the  old  system  dies  away  as  the  new  is 
grafted  and  feeds  on  it.  It  must  not,  however, 
be  supposed  that  the  successive  changes  in 
diaphony,  above  sketched,  occurred  in  the 
exact  order  in  which  they  are  presented  to  the 
reader.  Systems  of  art  are  never  of  sudden 
growth,  they  overlap  each  other;  they  perhaps 
grow  side  by  side  for  years,  perhaps  for  cen- 
turies, until  those  which  have  in  them  the 
smallest  power  of  development  decay,  and 
leave  the  less-matured  but  better-constituted 
systems  to  survive,  with  fresh  opportunities 
of  thriving. 

Descant,  Discantus  (Lat.),  may  be  said  to 
have  come  into  existence  at  the  end  of  the 
iith  or  beginning  of  the  12th  century.  The 
word  itself  is  thought  by  some  to  be  merely 
a  latinized  synonym  of  diaphony ;  others, 
among  them  Franco,  considered  it  to  be  con- 
nected with  de  cantu,  something  framed  on  or 
growing  out  of  a  melody.  Originally,  as  had 
been  previously  the  case  with  diaphony,  it 
consisted  of  two  parts  only,  but  later  in  its 
life  developed  into  motetts  and  various  other 
forms  of  composition.  The  real  difference 
between  diaphony  and  descant  seems  to  have 
been  that  the  former  was  rarely,  if  ever,  more 
complicated  than  note  against  note,  whereas 
descant  made  ase  of  the  various  proportionate 
value  of  notes — "  Discantus  est  aliquorum 
diversorum  cantuum  consonantia,  in  quo  illi 
diversi  cantus  per  voces  longas,  breves,  vel 


semibreves  proportionaliter  adzequantur,  et  in 
scripto  per  debitas  figuras  proportionari  ad 
invicem  designantur "  (Johan.  de  Moravia). 
It  also  included  notes  altered  semitonally  by 
accidentals,  under  which  circumstances  it  was 
called  musica  ficta  vel  falsa,  feigned  or  false 
music.  This  fact  adds  interest  to  a  discus- 
sion which  took  place  between  M.  Fetis  and 
M.  Coussemaker.  The  former  taxed  the  latter 
with  having  misinterpreted  his  published 
specimens  of  diaphony,  because,  in  it  were 
introduced  the  tritone  and  the  lesser  5th. 
M.  Coussemaker's  answer  seems  conclusive — 
it  is  to  the  effect  that  if  the  parallel  motion 
of  diaphony  were  consistently  preserved, 
either  such  intervals  must  occur,  or  acciden- 
tally altered  notes,  outside  the  scale,  must 
have  been  introduced  ;  and  such  has  not  been 
proved  to  have  taken  place. 

The  rules  of  descant  are  numerous,  and 
they  provided  for  the  regular  addition  of  one 
part  to  any  other  part  according  to  the  move- 
ment of  the  tenor.  The  particular  interval 
by  which  the  tenor  proceeded,  dictated  to  the 
descant  its  own  progression.  It  would  be 
useless  to  give  the  rules  here,  as  they  can 
only  be  mastered  by  the  student  who  carefully 
reads  the  many  treatises  on  the  subject,  so 
elegantly  reprinted  by  the  indefatigable  M. 
Coussemaker  (Script,  de  Musica  Medii  jEvi). 
The  scope  of  these  rules  was  from  time  to 
time  expanded,  and  in  a  treatise  of  the 
14th  century  by  Theinred,  reprinted  by 
W.  Chappell  (in  the  "Choir"  newspaper  of 
April  9,  1870),  the  divergences  of  the  later 
from  the  earlier  systems  are  apparent. 

At  this  time,  or  even  earlier,  such  expres- 
sions as  cantus  firmus  and  contrapunctus  begin 
from  time  to  time  to  be  used,  giving  the  first 
intimation  of  the  art  of  adding  counterpoint 
to  a  canto  fermo,  which  was  soon  to  supersede 
descant,  as  descant  had  superseded  diaphony. 

Opinions  have  been  divided  as  to  whether 
descant  was  merely  a  form  of  regulated  im- 
provisation, or  whether  it  was  a  written  art. 
In  all  probability,  it  grew  from  one  state  into 
the  other.  At  first,  without  doubt,  its  rules 
were  intended  to  direct  a  musician  how  to 
add  "  contrapunto  alia  mente  ;"  afterwards, 
when  an  interesting  and  successful  descant 
had  been  framed,  and  perhaps  often  repeated, 
it  would  indeed  be  strange  if  the  author  had 
made  no  attempt  to  lengthen  its  existence  by 
committing  it  to  paper;  indeed,  one  sentence 
from  Johannes  de  Muris  substantiates  the  fact 
beyond  dispute.  He  says,  "  Nihil  enim  pro- 
hibet  in  duobus  cantibus  simul  esse  cantantes 
plures,  tam  in  tenore  quam  in  discantu."  It 
is  inconceivable  that  a  number  of  voices  could 
be  found  to  add  descants  impromptu  without 
serious  discrepancies.  Descants  were  some- 
times sung  without  words. 


(  132  ) 


DESCENDING— DIAPASON. 


Descending.  Passing  from  a  higher  de- 
gree of  pitch  to  a  lower. 

Des  dur  {Ger.)    The  key  of  major. 

Des  moll  {Ger.)    The  key  of  D)  minor. 

Dessin  (Fr.)  The  design  or  plan  of  a 
composition. 

Dessus  (Fr.)  One  of  the  old  names  for 
the  treble  or  upper  part  in  vocal  music. 

Desto  {It.)  Sprightly. 

Destra  {It.)  The  right,  as  destra  mano, 
the  right  hand. 

Detache  {Fr.)  Detached,  or  staccato  notes. 

Determinato  {It.)    Resolutely,  definitely. 

Detonation  {Fr.)    False  intonation. 

Detonner  {Fr.)  To  sing  out  of  tune  :  to 
sing  harshly  or  coarsely, 


Detto  {It.)    The  same 
the  same  voice. 

Deutsche  Flote  {Ger.)  The  German  flute. 
[Flute.] 

Deutscher  Bass  {Ger.)  An  instrument  of 
the  viol  kind,  with  five  or  six  gut-strings, 
midway  in  size  between  a  violoncello  and  a 
double-bass. 

Deuxifeme  position  {Fr.)  (i)  The  second 
position  or  half- shift  on  the  violin.  [Shift.] 
(2)  The  second  fret  on  a  guitar. 

Development  of  a  subject.  The  elabo- 
ration of  a  given  theme  according  to  the  rules 
of  art.  [Sonata.] 

Devoto,  Devozione,  con  {It.)  With  de- 
votion, affection. 

Dextra  {Lat.)  The  right,  e.g.,  dextra 
manu,  with  the  right  hand. 

Dextrae  tibiae  (Lat.)  Pipes  held  in  the 
right  hand  ;  generally,  the  shorter  of  the  tibice 
unpares.  Hence,  tibice  dextra  seems  to  imply 
a  pair  of  treble  pipes  ;  tibicB  sinistrcE,  a  pair 
of  lower-toned  or  bass  pipes.  [Aulos.] 

Di  (7^.)  By,  of,  for,  with.  Di  grado,  by 
degrees;  stromenti  di  fiato,  wind  instruments  ; 

chidsa,  for  the  church  ;  di  bravura,  with 
bravura  passages. 

Diagonal  Bellows.  An  old  form  of  organ 
bellows,  the  construction  of  which  may  be 
thus  explained. 


close  to  the  bottom  (c)  which  is  a  fixture,  and 
the  handle  (6)  with  its  levers  are  in  the  posi- 
tion described  by  the  dotted  lines.  Starting 
thus,  if  the  handle  be  pressed  down,  as  it 
leaves  the  dotted  line,  the  top  (a)  will  ascend, 
and  air  will  enter  the  bellows  through  the 
apertures  e,  e,  e.  When  the  handle,  having 
reached  its  maximum  depression,  is  released, 
the  surface  weights  (/,/,/)  exercise  their  in- 
fluence to  restore  the  top  (a)  to  its  horizontal 
position ;  but  in  the  mean  time,  the  valves 
{g,  g,  g)  inside  the  bellows  have  fallen  over 
the  apertures  {e,  e,  e),  and  prevented  the  egress 
of  the  air  through  them  ;  the  air,  therefore,  is 
necessarily  forced  through  z,  the  only  exit  left, 
!  into  the  sound  boards  below  the  pipes.    It  is 


When  the  bellows  are  empty,  the  top  (a), 
which  is  moveable  (being  hinged  at  d),  lies 


il  detto  voce,  j  evident  from  this,  that  during  the  time  the 
j  handle  is  being  pushed  down,  no  air  is  being 
forced  into  the  sound  boards,  because,  the 
handle  while  being  depressed  negatives  the 
effect  of  the  surface  weights.  Hence,  two 
diagonal  bellows,  at  least,  were  absolutely 
necessary  in  every  organ,  whilst  some  had  as 
many  as  10,  12,  or  14.  The  organ  in  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral  had  originally  4  large  dia- 
gonal bellows,  measuring  8  feet  by  4  ;  and 
that  in  St.  Sulpice,  Paris,  14  diagonal  bellows. 
This  large  number  of  bellows  was  sometimes 
arranged  in  a  row,  side  by  side,  sometimes  in 
two  rows,  one  of  which  was  placed  over  the 
other.  In  the  latter  case,  ropes  attached  to 
the  handles  of  those  in  the  upper  row  allowed 
them  to  be  blown  from  the  same  level  as 
those  below.  Sometimes  diagonal  bellows 
were  inflated  by  treadles,  so  arranged  that  the 
blower  could  easily  step  from  one  to  another, 
whence  the  Ger.  "  Balgetreter,"  "  Calcant." 
One  of  the  chief  defects  in  the  diagonal  bellows 
was  its  inability  to  supply  wind  of  an  uniform 
pressure.  This  arose  from  two  causes :  the 
first,  because  the  sides  of  the  folds  as  they 
turned  inwards,  changing  from  an  obtuse  to 
an  acute  angle,  gave  more  pressure  as  the  top 
of  the  bellows  gradually  fell ;  the  second,  be- 
cause the  surface  weights  would  exercise  more 
and  more  pressure  as  the  top,  starting  from 
an  inclined  plane,  approached  the  horizontal. 
This  defect  was  in  time  remedied  by  attach- 
ing to  the  rod  {h)  or  end  of  the  handle  (b)  a 
spring,  whose  tension  was  greatest  when  the 
top  (a)  was  highest,  and  when  therefore,  as 
explained  above,  the  air  was  least  compressed. 
[For  an  account  of  Horizontal  Bellows,  see 
Organ,  §  2.] 

Dialogue.    A  duet. 

Diana  (7^.),  Diane  {Fr.)  An  aubade, 
huntsup. 

Diapason  (Gk.)  (i)  An  octave.  [Greek 
music]  (2)  The  name  given  in  this  country 
to  the  most  important  foundation  stops  of  an 
organ,  termed  in  other  countries  more  properly 
Principal.  There  are  two  kinds  of  diapasons, 


(  133  ) 


DIAPASON  CUM  DIAPENTE  Dl  SALTO 


the  open  and  stopped.  Open  diapasons  on 
the  manuals  are  nearly  always  of  metal,  but  ! 
on  the  pedals  are  often  of  wood.  Stopped 
diapasons  were  formerly,  in  most  cases,  of 
wood,  but  now  are  frequently  made  of  metal. 
When  two  or  more  open  diapasons  are  on  the 
same  manual,  they  are  of  different  scales. 
(3)  Fixed  pitch ;  normal  diapason,  a  recog- 
nised standard  of  pitch.  [Pitch.] 

Diapason  cum  diapente.    The  interval 
of  a  1 2th. 

Diapason  cum  diatessaron.    The  inter- 
val of  an  iith. 

Diapente  {Gk.)    The  interval  of  a  5th. 

Diapentissare  {med.  Lat.)   To  descant  at 
the  interval  of  a  5th. 

Diaphony.    [See  under  Descant.] 

Diaschisma  {Gk.)  liaax^iafia.    An  approxi- 
mate half  of  a  linuna. 

Diastema  {Gk.)  diaarri^a.    An  interval. 

Diatessaron  {Gk.)  The  interval  of  a  fourth. 

Diatonic,  (i)  One  of  the  three  genera 
of  music  among  the  Greeks,  the  other  two 
being  the  chromatic  and  enharmonic.  [Greek 
Music]  (2)  The  modern  major  and  minor 
scales.  (3)  Chords,  intervals,  and  melodic 
progressions,  &c.,  belonging  to  one  key-scale. 
A  diatonic  chord  is  one  having  no  note  chro- 
matically altered.  A  diatonic  interval  is  one 
formed  by  two  notes  of  a  diatonic  scale  un- 
altered by  accidentals.  A  diatonic  melody  is 
one  not  including  notes  belonging  to  more 
than  one  scale.  A  diatonic  modulation  is  one 
by  which  a  key  is  changed  to  another  closely 
related  to  it. 

Diaulion  {Gk.)  ^lavXiov.     An  air  played  i 
upon  the  aulos  or  flute  during  an  interval  in 
the  choral  song. 

Diazeuxis  (Gk.)  ciai^tv^ic.  The  separation  j 
of  two  tetrachords  by  a  tone :  opposed  to 
synaphe  (iwatpn),  or  the  overlapping  of  tetra- 
chords.   [Greek  Music] 

Dichord.  (i)  An  instrument  having  two 
strings.  {2)  An  instrument  having  two  strings 
to  each  note.  [Bichord.] 

Di  colto  {It.)    Suddenly,  at  once. 

Diecetto  {It.)  A  composition  for  ten  in- 
struments. 

Diesare  {It.),  Dieser  {Fr.)    To  sharpen. 

Diese  {Fr.)    A  sharp. 

Diesis  [Gk.)  cUmc.  Originally  the  name 
of  a  semitone,  called  afterwards  a  limma.  In 
later  writings,  applied  to  a  third  or  quarter  of 
a  tone  in  the  enharmonic  and  chromatic  scales. 
The  modern  enharmonic  diesis  is  the  interval 
represented  by  125  :  128;  that  is,  the  difference 
between  three  true  major  thirds  and  one  octave. 

Dieze  (Fr.)    A  sharp. 

Diezeugmenon.    [Greek  Music] 

Difficile  (It.)  Difficult. 

Di  gala  (It.)    Merrily,  cheerfully. 

Digitorium.    The  name  of  a  small  por- 


table dumb  instrument,  invented  by  M.  Marks, 
for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  and  giving 
flexibility  to  the  fingers  for  pianoforte  playing. 
It  consists  of  a  key-board  with  five  keys,  kept 
in  their  places  by  springs  of  metal. 

Di  grado  (It.)    By  conjunct  intervals. 

Dilettante  (It.)  [Amateur.] 

Diludium.    An  interlude. 

Diluendo  (It.)  Wasting  away,  diminish- 
ing ;  decrescendo. 

Diminished.  Made  less,  (i)  Diminished 
intervals  are  those  made  less  than  minor,  e.g.: 
Gi  to  Ft!  is  a  diminished  7th,  because 
G  to  F  being  a  minor  7th,  Gft  to  F  contains 
one  semitone  less  than  the  minor  interval. 
Some  authors,  however,  apply  this  term  in  a 
manner  liable  to  lead  to  much  confusion, 
namely,  to  a  perfect  interval  when  made 
smaller  by  one  semitone,  and  to  an  imperfect 
interval  when  made  less  by  two  semitones ; 
thus,  according  to  them,  C  to  G  b  is  a  dimi- 
nished 5th,  but  C  to  E  b?  or  C  5  to  E  I?  a 
diminished  3rd.  [Interval.]  (2)  Diminished 
subjects  or  counter-subjects  are  subjects  or 
counter-subjects  introduced  with  notes  half 
the  value  of  those  in  which  they  were  first 
enunciated.  (3)  A  diminished  triad  is  the 
chord  consisting  of  two  thirds  on  the  sub- 
tonic,  e.g.,  B,  D,  F  in  the  key  of  C. 

Diminue  (Fr.),  Diminuito  (7^.)  Dimin- 
ished. 

Diminuendo  (It.)  Decreasing  in  power 
of  sound. 

Diminution.  [Canon.] 

Di  molto  (It.)  Very  much ;  as.,  allegro 
di  molto,  very  fast. 

Din-din.  An  Indian  instrument  of  the 
cymbal  class. 

Di  nuovo  (It.)    Anew,  again. 

Dioxia.  The  interval  of  a  5th.  This  term 
was  afterwards  supersed  by  diapente. 

Direct.  A  sign  («-)  used  at  the  bottom  of 
a  page  of  music,  to  indicate  the  note  next  to 
be  sung  or  played  : 


Directeur  (Fr.),  Direttore  (It.)  Director. 
Manager,  guide,  conductor  of  an  orchestra. 

Direct  motion.  [Motion.] 

Dirge.  A  solemn  piece  of  music,  of  a 
funereal  or  memorial  character,  so  called  from 
the  first  word  of  the  Antiphon,  "  Dirige, 
Domine  Deus  meus,  in  conspectu  tuo,  viam 
meam."  The  office  of  burial  of  the  dead  was 
called  in  the  Primer  (cir.  1400)  Placebo  and 
Dirige,  and  in  the  Primer  of  Henry  VIII 
(1545)  is  called  The  Dirige. 

Diretta,  alia  (It.)    In  direct  motion. 

Dis  (Ger.)    D  sharp. 

Di  salto  (It.)  By  a  leap,  spoken  of  melody 
progressing  by  skips. 


(  ) 


DISCANT  DOLCIANO. 


Discant.  [Descant.] 
Discant-Geige  (Ger.)  An  old  term  for  the 
violin. 

Discant-Schlussel  (Ger.)  The  soprano 
clef.    Descant  clef.  [Clef.] 

Discord.  A  chord  which  when  struck  or 
sung  requires  to  be  resolved  into  a  concord. 
[Harmony.] 

Discrete,  con  discrezione  (7^.)  Pru- 
dently, discreetly,  with  judgment. 

Disdiapason  (Gk.)  An  interval  of  two 
octaves  ;  a  15th. 

Disinvolto  (//.)  Free,  unfettered,  natur- 
ally. 

Disjunct  motion.  [Motion.] 

Dis  moll  {Ger.)    D  sharp  minor. 

Disperato,  con  disperazione  (It.)  De- 
spairing, with  desperation. 

Dispersed  harmony.  Harmony  in  which 
the  notes  composing  the  chord  are  at  wide 
intervals  from  each  other  : 


Divisi  (It.)  Divided.  A  direction  that 
instruments  playing  from  one  line  of  music 
are  to  separate  and  play  in  two  parts.  The 
reunion  of  the  parts  into  unison  is  directed 
by  the  words  a  due,  e.g. : 

Viole. 


Disposition.  Arrangement  (i)  of  the  parts 
of  a  chord,  with  regard  to  the  intervals  between 
them  ;  (2)  of  the  parts  of  a  score,  with  regard 
to  their  relative  order  ;  (3)  of  voices  and  instru- 
ments with  a  view  to  their  greatest  efficiency 
or  to  the  convenience  of  their  positions ;  (4) 
of  the  groups  of  pipes  in  an  organ,  or  of  the 
registers  or  stops  bringing  them  under  control. 

Dissonance.    Discord.  [Harmony.] 

Dissonare  {It.)    To  jar,  to  make  discord. 

Distanza  (It.)    Distance,  an  interval. 

Distinto  {It.)    Clear,  distinct. 

Dithyrambus  (G^.)  A  song  in  honour  of 
Bacchus,  from  which  arose  the  first  dramatic 
representations  in  Athens.  The  choruses  to 
the  early  tragedies  were  in  dithyrambic  form. 

Dito  {It.)    A  finger. 

Dito  grosso  (7^.)    The  thumb. 

Ditone.  An  interval  of  two  major  tones. 
This  interval  exceeds  the  major  third,  which 
consists  of  a  major  and  minor  tone,  and  is 
discordant. 

Ditonus  {Lat.)  [Ditone.] 

Ditty.  A  short,  simple  air,  implying  or 
containing  a  moral  application.  The  word 
is  said  to  be  derived  from  the  Latin  word 
dictum,  and  signified  a  saying  or  sentence, 
not  always  connected  with  rhythm  or  music. 
[Ballad.] 

Divertimento  (It.)  A  composition  of  a 
light,  pleasing  cliaracter,  whether  vocal  or 
instrumental,  written  to  engage  the  attention 
in  a  cheerful  manner. 

Divertissement  (Fr.)  [Divertimento.] 

{  i; 


Division.  An  elaborate  variation  for  voices 
or  instruments  upon  a  simple  theme  ;  a  course 
of  notes  so  connected  that  they  form  one 
series.  Divisions  for  the  voice  are  intended 
to  be  sung  in  one  breath  to  one  syllable.  The 
performance  of  this  style  of  music  is  called 
running  a  division  : 

Handel. 


Division  viol.  A  violin  with  frets  upon 
the  finger-board.  [Violin.] 

Divotamente,  divoto  {It.)  Divozione. 
con  {It.)    Devoutly,  devotedly,  with  devotion. 

Dixieme  {Fr.)    The  interval  of  a  loth. 

D  moll  {Ger.)    The  key  of  D  minor. 

Do.  The  first  of  the  syllables  used  for 
the  solfeggio  of  the  scale.  The  note  c,  to 
which  it  is  applied,  was  originally  called  Ut 
[Aretinian  syllables],  and  is  still  called  so  in 
France.  Its  introduction  dates  from  the  17th 
century.  Lorenzo  Penna  in  his  "  Albori 
Musicale,"  1672,  uses  do  for  ut,  and  speaks 
of  it  as  a  recent  practice.  [Solfeggio.]  [Nota- 
tion.] 

Doctor  of,  or  in,  music.  [Bachelor.] 
[Degree.] 

Dodecachordon  {Gh.)  An  instrument 
with  twelve  strings. 

Dodecuplet.  A  collection  or  group  of 
twelve  notes  to  be  played  in  the  time  of  eight. 

Doigte  {Fr.)  (from  Doigter,  to  finger). 
Marking  by  signs  or  numerals  the  manner  in 
which  a  piece  of  music  should  be  played  by 
the  fingers.  [Fingering.] 

Dolcan.  [Dulciana.] 

Dolce.    A  soft-toned  8-ft.  organ  stop. 

Dolce  (7^.)  Sweet ;  dolce  maniera,  in  a 
sweet  style. 

Dolcemente,  Dolcezza,  con  (It.)  With 
softness  and  sweetness. 

Dolciano,  Dolcino  (7^),  Dulcan  (Ger.), 
Dulzaginas  {Sp.)  [Dulciana.] 


DOLCISSIMO  DOUBLE  BASS. 


Dolcissimo  (It.)  With  the  utmost  degree 
of  sweetness. 

Dolente,  dolentemente,  dolentissimo, 
con  dolore,  con  duolo,  doloroso  {It.)  In 
a  plaintive,  sorrowful  style  ;  with  sadness. 

Dolzflote  {Ger.)  The  old  German  flute, 
with  seven  ventages  and  one  key. 

Domchor  [Ger.)  The  choir  or  body  of 
singers  in  a  cathedral  church,  usually  consist- 
ing of  boys  and  men. 

Dominant,  (i)  The  fifth  degree  of  the 
scale.  [Harmony.]  (2)  The  reciting  note  of 
Gregorian  chants.  [Chant.] 

Dominante  {Fr.)  Dominant. 

Donna,  prima  (It.)  The  principal  female 
singer  in  an  opera. 

Doppelbe  [Ger.)    A  double  flat, 

Doppelfldte  [Ger.)  An  organ  stop,  con- 
sisting of  wood  pipes  having  each  two  mouths. 

Doppelfuge  [Ger.)  A  double  fugue  ;  a 
fugue  with  two  subjects.  [Fugue.] 

Doppelgeige  [Ger.)  One  of  the  names  by 
which  the  viol  d'amour,  9.7;.,  is  known  in  Ger- 
many. 

Doppelgriffe  (Ger.)  Double-stopping  on 
a  violin  ;  playing  on  two  strings  at  once. 

Doppelkreuz  [Ger.]    A  double  sharp  x. 

Doppelschlag  [Ger.)  A  double  beat  or 
grace  note.  [Beat.] 

Dopio  [It.)  Double,  e.g.,  doppio  movi- 
tneiito,  at  double  the  pace  ;  doppio  pedale,  the 
pedal  part  in  octaves. 

Dope  [It.)  After. 

Dorian  mode.  [Greek  Music]  [Plain 
Song.] 

Dorien  [Fr.)  Dorian. 

Dot.  (i)  A  point  added  to  a  note,  or  rest, 
which  lengthens  its  value  by  one-half,  e.g.  : 
^  ,  is  equal  to       <=::i       ;  ^  .  is  equal  to 

1  T  When  a  second  dot  follows  the  first 
(when  the  note  or  rest  is  doubly  dotted),  the 
second  dot  adds  one-half  of  the  value  of  the 
previous  dot  e.g. :  ^  .  .is  equal  to  s::)^  ^  ; 
f-  .  .  is  equal  to  [•  q  A  dot  was  called  the 
point  of  addition  (punctus),  hence  a  dotted 
note  was  called  formerly  a  pricked  note  ;  this 
expression  must  not,  however,  be  connected 
with  prick-song,  which  signifies  written  music, 
as  opposed  to  music  sung  by  ear. 

(2)  When  placed  over  a  note,  the  dot  is  a 
direction  that  the  note  is  to  be  played  or  sung 
staccato. 

(3)  When  two  or  four  dots  are  placed  in  the 
spaces  of  the  stave,  on  either  side  of  a  double 
bar,  they  are  a  direction  to  repeat  so  much  of 
the  music  as  is  enclosed  between  them. 

(4)  When  placed  under  a  slur,  dots  are  a 
direction  to  play  spiccato,  that  is,  in  violin 
playing,  played  by  the  same  bow,  but  the  bow 
must  remain  stationary  between  each  sound. 
From  violin  music  the  term  has  been  trans- 


ferred to  that  for  the  pianoforte,  and  sometimes 
for  the  voice. 

(5)  A  system  of  Tablature  for  wind  instru- 
ments, the  dot  system.  [Tablature.] 

(6)  Dots  were  formerly  placed  over  a  note  to 
show  its  subdivision  into  lesser  repeated  notes, 
e.g.,  would  be  equal  to  ^  ^  #  ^ 

Double  [Fr.)    A  turn  : 

Written.  "^^^^-^Performed^^jE^^^ 

Double,    (i)  An  old  term  for  a  variation. 

In  some  of  Handel's  harpsichord  lessons,  thr; 

variations  of  a  theme  are  marked  Double  i, 

Double  2,  &c.  A  variation  on  a  dance  tune 
j  is  called  a  double.  (2)  The  repetition  of  words 
'  in  singing  was  also  called  the  "doubles  or  in- 
;  geminations   thereof."     (3)   An  artist  who 

understudies  a  part  in  an  opera,  that  is,  who 

prepares  a  part  on  the  chance  of  the  accidental 
j  absence  of  the  principal.  (4)  That  which  is 
1  an  octave  below  the  unison  in  pitch,  e.g., 
j  dotible  bass ,  an  instrument  whose  sounds  are 
;  an  octave  below  those  of  the  violoncello  ; 

double-bassoon,  an  instrument  similarly  sound- 
[  ing  an  octave  below  the  bassoon ;  double- 
j  diapason,  an  organ  stop  of  i6-ft.  pitch. 
Double  action.  [Harp.] 
Double  backfall.    An  ornam.ent  in  old 

music,  e.g.  : 


Written. 


Played. 


Double  bar.  A  sign  formed  of  two  single 
bars  showing  (i)  the  end  of  a  piece,  (2)  the 
end  of  a  movement  of  a  work,  (3)  the  end  of 
a  portion  to  be  repeated,  (4)  the  commence- 
ment of  a  change  of  key,  (5)  the  commence- 
ment of  a  change  of  time,  (6)  the  end  of  a 
line  of  words  set  to  music,  as  in  a  hymn  tune, 
[Bar.] 

Double-bass.     Violone  [It.)  Contre-basse 
[Fr.)   The  largest  of  the  stringed  instruments 
i  played  with  a  bow.    The  strings  are  usually 
tuned  a  fourth  apart  to  the  following  notes 
when  three  strings  are  employed  : 


with  the  addition  of  the  lower  E : 


when  there  are  four  strings.  The  compass 
generally  written  for  the  instrument  extends 
to  the  upper  F ; 


with  every  intermediate  semitone  from  its 
lowest  note.  The  actual  sounds  produced  are 
an  octave  lower  than  written,  hence  the  double 


(  '36  ) 


DOUBLE  BASSOON  DOUBLE  REED. 


bass  is  sometimes  called  a  transposing  in- 
strument. The  four-stringed  double  bass  is 
more  common  abroad  than  in  England,  so  it 
is  not  unusual  to  find  passages  written  below 
the  lower  A,  which  a  three-stringed  bass  per- 
forms on  the  octave  above.  Double  notes  are 
possible  upon  the  instrument,  but  are  rarely 
employed  as  they  are  ineffective.  Continuous 
rapid  passages  are  best  divided  between  two 
instruments,  but  short  quick  runs  are  very 
telling  especially  when  in  unison  or  at  the 
octave  with  the  violoncello.  Beethoven  in 
the  Pastoral  Symphony  takes  his  double  bass 
down  to  C,  an  octave  below  the  violoncello : 


a  passage  which  is  impracticable  upon  the  in- 
strument as  now  generally  constructed. 

Beethoven  also  wrote  passages  for  the  in- 
strument which,  in  his  time,  were  considered 
too  difficult  for  performance,  and  it  was  the  j 
custom  for  the  players  to  "simplify  "  whenever 
his  works  were  performed.  But  the  improved  ] 
skill  of  the  players  of  the  present  time  has 
justified  the  composer's  foresight,  and  all  the 
so-called  difficult  passages  are  given  with 
ease  and  distinctness,  even  by  the  least  dis- 
tinguished double-bass  player  in  the  orchestra. 
The  bow  employed  is  the  only  representative 
now  in  use  of  one  of  the  primitive  forms,  and 
although  it  has  the  advantage  of  producing  a 
thick,  heavy  quality  of  sound  in  slow  move- 
ments, it  is  not  always  successful  in  eliciting 
an  even  tone  in  quick  passages. 

The  harmonics  on  the  double  bass  are  of  a 
beautiful  flute-like  character,  and  have  been 
made  available  by  solo  players  in  exciting 
wonder  and  admiration. 

The  mute  is  rarely,  if  ever,  employed,  but 
the  pizzicato  on  the  mstrument  has  a  very 
fine  effect,  as  in  the  overture  to  "  Der  Frei- 
schiitz,"  and  elsewhere. 

The  invention  of  the  double  bass  is  attri- 
buted to  Gaspar  di  Salo,  1580;  but  as  the 
members  of  the  Confrerie  de  St.  Julien  were 
distinguished  as  players  upon  "high  and  low" 
instruments,  it  is  probable  that  the  reputed 
invention  was  after  all  only  an  improvement. 
The  introduction  of  the  instrument  into  the 
orcliestra  is  due  to  Michael  Monteclare,  about 
the  year  1696.  Before  this  time  the  Bass- 
vial  or  Viola  da  Gamba  was  the  deepest-toned 
stringed  instrument  employed.  The  "  Contra 
Basso  di  Viola,"  mentioned  in  the  score  of 
Jacopo  Peri's  "  Eurydice,"  is  held  to  have 
been  a  larger  sort  of  tenor  violin,  less  in  size 
than  a  bass-viol,  and  not  a  double  bass. 

Double  Bassoon.  The  deepest-toned 
instrument  cf  the  Bassoon  family.  It  stands 
in  the  same  relation  to  the  bassoon  as  a 


double  bass  does  to  the  violoncello,  that  is  to 
say,  its  sounds  are  actually  an  octave  below 
those  written.    Its  compass  is 


that  is  to  say,  from  the  Bb  below  CCC  to 
tenor  F.  It  forms,  in  the  orchestra,  a  mag- 
nificent support  to  the  wind  band,  but  good 
players  are  not  commonly  to  be  met  with, 
partly  because  the  large  size  of  the  instru- 
ment renders  it  very  unwieldy,  partly  on 
account  of  the  fatigue  which  the  performer 
necessarily  must  undergo.  The  common 
habit  of  replacing  it  ky  an  ophicleide  should 
be  discouraged,  as  the  quality  of  the  two 
instruments  differs  greatly. 

Double  beat.  An  ornament  of  old  music, 
consisting  of  a  beat  repeated. 

Double  bourdon.  An  organ  stop  of  32-ft. 
tone.  On  the  manuals  it  rarely  goes  below 
middle  C  ;  on  the  pedals  it  extends  of  course 
through  the  whole  compass.  It  consists  of 
stopped  wood-pipes.  It  is  found  difficult  to 
produce  a  pure  tone  in  the  longer  pipes,  as  the 
first  harmonic  has  a  strong  tendency  to  assert 
itself.  [Bourdon.] 

Double  chant.  [Chant.] 

Double  chorus.  A  chorus  for  two  sepa 
rate  choirs  :  the  several  themes  may  be  dis- 
tinct, or  so  constructed  that  united  they  form 
one  harmony.  [Chorus.] 

Double  counterpoint.  [Counterpoint.] 

Double  croche  {Fr.)    A  semiquaver. 

Double  demisemiquaver.  A  note  whose 
value  is  one  half  of  a  demisemiquaver. 

Double  diapason.    [Double,  §  4.] 

Double  dieze  {Fr.)    A  double  sharp. 

Double  drum.  A  drum  with  two  heads, 
used  in  the  bands  of  foot  regiments,  and  being 
suspended  from  the  neck  of  the  player  is 
struck  with  drumsticks  held  in  the  right  ard 
left  hands.  [Drum.] 

Double  flageolet.  A  flageolet  having  two 
tubes  and  one  mouth-piece,  admitting  of  the 
performance  of  simple  music  in  thirds  and 
sixths,  &c. 

Double  flat.  A  sign  (Ijj?)  used  in  music 
before  a  note  already  flattened  in  the  signa- 
ture, which  depresses  the  note  before  which  it 
is  placed  another  half  tone.  It  is  contradicted 
by  a  natural  and  a  flat. 

Double  octave.  The  interval  of  a  15th. 

Double  pedal  point.  A  portion  of  a 
fugue  or  melody  in  which  two  notes  are  long 
sustained,  generally  the  tonic  and  dominant. 
[Fugue.  I    [Sustained  note.] 

Double  quartet.  A  composition  for  two 
sets  of  four  voices  or  instruments  soli. 

Double  reed,    (i)  The  vibrating  reed  of 


(  i37  ) 


DOUBLE  RELISH  DRUM-MAJOR. 


instruments  of  the  oboe  class.  (2)  A  reed- 
stop  on  an  organ  of  i6-ft.  pitch. 

Double  relish.  An  ornament  in  old 
music  : 


Written. 


Double  root.    [Sharp  sixth.] 

Double  sharp.  A  sign  (x)  used  before 
a  note  already  sharp,  to  indicate  that  it  is 
desired  to  raise  the  pitch  by  a  semitone.  It 
is  contradicted  by  a  natural  and  a  sharp. 

Double  sonata.  A  sonata  for  two  solo 
instruments,  as  pianoforte  and  violin,  or  two 
pianofortes,  &c. 

Double  stopped  diapason.  [Bourdon.] 

Double-stopping.  The  stopping  of  two 
strings  simultaneously  with  the  fingers  in 
violin  playing.  The  practice  was  first  sug- 
gested by  John  Francis  Henry  Biber  in  1681, 
in  a  set  of  solos  for  a  violin  and  a  bass  :  one 
of  these  pieces  is  written  in  three  staves,  two 
for  the  violin  playing  in  double-stopping,  and 
the  third  for  the  bass.  He  also  in  the  same 
work  suggests  a  varied  tuning  in  fourths  and 
fifths  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  double- 
stopping  easy. 

Double-tongueing.  A  peculiar  action  of 
the  tongue  against  the  roof  of  the  mouth 
used  by  flute  players,  to  ensure  a  brilliant 
and  spirited  articulation  of  staccato  notes. 
The  term  is  sometimes  applied  also  to  the 
rapid  repetition  of  notes  in  cornet  playing. 

Double  travale.  A  direction  in  tam- 
bourine playing.  [Tambourine.] 

Down  beat.  The  first  beat  in  each  bar 
is  so  called,  because  in  counting  time  th§ 
hand  or  conducting  stick  is  allowed  to  fall  at 
that  place. 

Down  bow.  The  bow  drawn  over  the 
strings  from  the  heel  or  holding  part  of  the 
bow  to  the  point ;  the  greatest  power  of  tone 
in  the  strings  is  elicited  by  the  down  bow. 
[Bowing.] 

Double  trumpet.  An  organ  reed-stop 
similar  in  tone  and  scale  to,  but  an  octave 
lower  in  pitch  than,  the  8-ft.  trumpet. 

Doublette  (Fr.)  A  compound  organ-stop 
consisting  of  two  ranks,  generally  a  twelfth 
and  fifteenth. 

Doucement  (Fr.)    Softly,  sweetly. 

Doux  (Fr.)    Soft,  sweet. 

Douxieme  (Fr.)    A  twelfth. 

Doxology  (Gk.)  The  hymn  or  song  of 
praise — the  Gloria  Patri — used  at  the  end  of 
the  Psalms  in  the  Christian  church  ;  also  any 
metrical  form  of  the  same. 

Doxologia  magna  {Lat.)  The  version  of 
the  angels'  hymn,  "Gloria  in  excelsis  Deo," 


sung  at  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Eucha- 
rist.   The  greater  doxology. 

Doxologia  parva  [Lat.)  [Doxology.] 
Drag.     (i)   An  ornament  consisting  of 
descending  notes  in  lute-music  ;  strascino, 
portamento,  glissade.    (2)  A  rallentando. 

Dramma  lyrica,  or  per  musica  (It.) 
[Opera.] 

Drammaticamente  (/<.)[  In   a  dramatic 

Drammatico  {It.)  j  style. 

Dreichorig  {Ger.)  The  triple  stringed 
grand  pianoforte.    A  trichord. 

Dreiklang  (Ger.)  A  chord  of  three  sounds. 
[Triad.] 

Drei-stimmig  {Ger.)  Music  in  three 
parts. 

Dritta  {It.)    The  right  hand. 

Driving  notes.  Syncopated  notes.  Notes 
driven  through  the  ensuing  accent. 

Droite  {Fr.)  Right ;  as  tnain  droits,  right 
hand. 

Drone.  (i)  The  monotonous  bass  pro- 
duced from  the  larger  of  the  three  tubes  of 
bag-pipes.  As  there  are  no  governing  holes 
in  the  drone  the  sound  it  gives  forth  serves  as 
a  continuous  bass  to  any  melody  ;  the  pipe 
second  in  size  is  tuned  to  give  out  the  fifth 
above  the  drone  ;  and  the  smaller  pipe,  called 
the  chanter,  has  ventages  by  which  the  melody 
is  made.  [Bagpipes.]  (2)  The  chorus  or 
burden  of  a  song. 

Druckbalg  {Ger.)  A  reservoir  of  wind, 
as  in  an  organ,  &c. 

Drum.  An  instrument  of  percussion,  of 
cylindrical  form,  having  discs  of  vellum  or 
parchment  at  each  end,  so  made  that  the 
discs  can  be  tightened  or  slackened  at  pleasure 
by  means  of  braces  acted  upon  by  sliding 
knots  of  leather,  or  by  the  later  application  of 
screws.  There  are  three  kinds  of  drums  : 
(i)  The  long  drum,  with  two  heads,  held 
laterally  and  played  on  both  ends  with  stuffed- 
nob  drumsticks  held  in  the  hands  of  the  per- 
former. (2)  The  side-drum  having  two  heads, 
the  upper  one  only  being  played  upon  by  two 
sticks  of  wood  ;  the  lower  head  has  occasion- 
ally strings  of  catgut  stretched  over  its  surface, 
and  then  it  is  called  a  snare  drum.  (3)  The 
kettle  drum,  always  employed  in  pairs. 

The  drum  is  a  very  ancient  instrument,  of 
Eastern  origin  ;  it  was  employed  by  the 
Hebrews,  Romans,  Parthians,  and  other  na- 
tions in  religious  dances,  and  as  signals  of 
war,  and  was  probably  first  brought  to  Western 
Europe  by  the  Crusaders  or  their  followers,  the 
old  name  for  the  drum  and  drummer  being 
almost  purely  Eastern.  [Naker,  nakerer.] 
[Kettledrum.] 

Drum-major.  The  name  of  an  officer  in 
the  British  army  who  is  responsible  for  the 
instruction  of  drummers  in  the  various  roll- 
calls,  and  for  the  invention  and  construction 


(  »38) 


DRUM  SLADE  DULCIMER. 


of  new  beats,  communicated  by  order  of  the 
major  of  the  regiment  to  the  drummers.  The 
office  does  not  appear  to  be  older  than  the 
time  of  Charles  II.  There  was  formerly  an 
officer  in  the  Royal  Household  called  the 
drum-major  general,  who  granted  licenses  to 
other  than  the  royal  troops  for  the  use  of 
drums  in  their  regiments. 

Drum  slade.    A  drummer. 

D  string.  The  third  open  string  on 
violins,  the  second  on  tenors,  violoncellos, 
and  three-stringed  double  basses,  the  fourth 
on  the  guitar. 

Duan  (Gaelic).    A  verse,  stanza. 

Due,  a  (It.)  [Divisi.] 

Due  corde  (It.)  Two  strings,  A  direc- 
tion that  the  same  note  is  to  be  played  simul- 
taneously on  two  strings  of  a  violin  or  other 
instrument  of  its  class.  The  bow  is  made  to 
impinge  upon  two  strings,  one  open,  the 
other  stopped  to  the  pitch  of  the  open  string. 

Duet.  A  composition  for  two  voices  or 
instruments,  or  for  two  performers  upon  one 
instrument. 

Duetto  (It.)    A  duet. 

Duettino  {It.)    A  little  duet. 

Due  volte  {It.)  Twice. 

Dulqaynas  {Sp.)  The  name  of  a  larger 
sort  of  oboe,  or  small  bassoon,  "  Se  usa 
un  genera  de  Dul^aynas  que  parecen  nues- 
tras  Chirimias." — Don  Quixote.  As  it  is  sup- 
posed that  the  instrument  was  brought  into 
Spain  by  the  Moors,  the  word  may  be  derived 
from  the  same  root  as  the  Egyptian  Dalzimr, 
both  instruments  being  of  the  oboe  or  reed 
kind. 

Dulcian,  or  dulcino  {It.)  The  name  of 
a  species  of  small  bassoon.  [Bassoon.] 
[Dulciana.]  [Dul9aynas.] 

Dulciana.  A  word  now  applied,  in  this 
country,  solely  to  a  soft  and  delicate-toned 
organ  stop  consisting  of  very  small-scale 
flue  pipes.  Originally,  a  dulciana  (dulcan, 
dulcian,  dolcan,  dolcin,  or  dulzain)  was  a  kind 
of  hautboy  [Waits],  and  these  terms  are 
still  found  on  some  foreign  organs  as  the 
names  of  soft  reed-stops,  as  at  Rotterdam, 
the  Hague,  and  elsewhere,  but  in  some  cases 
the  stop  is  not  actually  reed,  but  the  pipes  by 
their  peculiar  shape,  narrow  at  the  mouth  and 
widening  gradually  towards  the  top,  produce 
a  reedy  quality  of  tone.  The  dulciana  stop 
was  introduced  into  this  country,  or  perhaps 
invented,  by  the  celebrated  organ-builder 
Snetzler.  The  first  known  specimen  was 
included  by  him  in  the  specification  of  the 
organ  of  St.  Margaret's  Church,  Lynn,  in 
^754-  Stops  of  this  class  are  universally 
used,  and  are  of  great  utility.  They  are  most 
commonly  found  on  the  Choir  organ. 

_  Dulcimer.  One  of  the  most  ancient  mu- 
sical instruments,  used  by  various  nations  in 


almost  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  which,  in 
shape  and  construction,  has  probably  under- 
gone fewer  changes  than  any  other  instrument. 
In  its  earliest  and  simplest  form,  it  consisted 
of  a  flat  piece  of  wood,  on  which  were  fas- 
tened two  converging  strips  of  wood,  across 
which  strings  were  stretched  tuned  to  the 
national  scale.  The  only  improvements  since 
made  on  this  type  are  the  addition  of  a  series 
of  pegs,  or  pins,  to  regulate  the  tension  of 
the  strings  ;  and  the  use  of  two  flat  pieces  of 
wood  formed  into  a  resonance-box,  for  the 
body.  The  word  dulcimer  is  probably  con- 
nected with  dolce,  sweet,  through  the  inter- 
mediate word  dolcimela ;  but  the  German 
name,  Hackbret  {chopping-board),  points  to 
the  manner  in  which  it  is  played,  the  wires 
being  struck  by  two  hammers,  one  held  in 
each  hand  of  the  performer.  Perhaps  the 
greatest  divergence  of  form  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  Japanese  goto,  or  koto,  an  illustration  of 
which  is  now  given  : 


The  next  figure  shows  a  dulcimer  of 
Georgia  : 


The  Italians,  who  have  ever  been  note- 
worthy for  combining  beauty  with  utility, 
have  not  failed  to  improve  upon  the  original 
simplicity  of  the  dulcimer,  as  the  following 
illustration  will  shew  : 


The  form  of  the  instrument  given  in  the 
next  figure,  the  dulcimer  of  Benares,  suggests 


(  139  ) 


DULCIMER  DUMP. 


that  it  is  not  placed,  for  use,  in  the  ordinary 
position : 


But,  the  fact  which  makes  the  dulcimer  of 
the  greatest  interest  to  musicians  is,  that  it 
is  the  undoubted  forefather  of  our  pianoforte. 
A  modern  grand  pianoforte  is,  in  reality, 
nothing  more  than  a  huge  dulcimer,  the 
wires  of  which  are  set  in  vibration,  not  by 
hammers  held  in  the  pianist's  hands,  but 
by  keys:  it  is  a  keyed-dulcimer. 

It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  immediate  fore- 
runners of  the  pianoforte  (the  spinet,  harpsi- 
chord, &c.)  the  strings  were  plucked,  so,  the  j 
invention  of  "hammers"  which  constitutes  j 
the  real  difference  between  a  pianoforte  and  a  | 
harpsichord,  was  in  truth  a  return  to  a  primi- 
tive type. 

At  one  period  the  dulcimer  came  to  be 
called  in  Italy  a  cembalo,  possibly  from  its 
"ringing"  cymbal-like  tone,  hence  the  same 
term  was  afterwards  bestowed  upon  a  harpsi- 
chord (clavi-cembalo).  In  full  scores  it  is  not 
even  now  an  unusual  thing  to  find  the  piano- 
forte part  marked  cembalo.  The  dulcimer  is 
much  less  commonly  met  with  in  England 
than  formerly,  but  it  is  still  to  be  heard  in 
some  rural  districts,  as  the  musical  accom- 
paniment of  a  puppet-show. 

The  following  Swiss  dance  of  the  Canton 
of  Appenzell,  as  arranged  for  a  violin,  dulci- 
mer, and  bass  (from  a  collection  of  Swiss 
songs,  &c.,  Berne,  1826),  will  give  a  fair 
notion  of  the  capabilities  of  the  dulcimer : 

Violin. 


f 

Dulcimer 

i 

Bass.  ^ 

Dump  or  dumpe.    The  name  of  an  old 
dance  in  slow  time  with  a  peculiar  rhythm. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  it  was  entirely  "  dull 
j  and  heavy,"  or  merely  the  slowness  of  the 
!  measure  that  made  the  title  of  the  dance 
I  synonymous  with  wearisomeness,  for  Shake-  ^ 


(  140  ) 


DUMP  DUODENE. 


speare  makes  Peter,  in  "  Romeo  and  Juliet," 
say,"  O  play  me  some  merrydump,"whichmay 
either  have  been  descriptive  of  the  character 
(if  the  dance,  or  it  may  be  a  humorous  contra- 
diction in  terms.  Some  authors  have  supposed 
that  the  dance  is  called  diunp  from  a  trick  of 
lute  players  who  struck  the  open  strings  with 
the  fist  at  certain  marked  intervals  of  the 
rhythm. 

"  Mv  Ladye  Carey's  Dumpe."         (cir.  1600.) 


Duo  {It.)    A  duet. 

Duodecimole.    A  group  of  twelve  notes. 
Duodecimo   [It.)      The   interval    of  a 
twelfth. 

Duodene.    A  group  of  twelve  notes  suit- 
able for  playing  on  ordinary  manuals,  with 
\  definite  relations  of  pitch,  arranged  for  show- 
ing relations  of  harmony  and  modulation,  and 
1  for  precisely  fixing  the  theoretical  intonation 
!  of  any  chords  and  passages  without  altering 
the  ordinary  musical  notation,  first  introduced 
by  Mr.  A.  J.  Ellis,  F.R.S.,  in  the  "  Proceed- 
'  ings  of  the  Ro3  al  Society,"  vol.  xxiii.  pp.  3-31, 
and  subsequently  more  fully  explained  in  an 
additional  appendix  (xix.)  to  his  translation  of 
Prof.  Helmholtz's treatise  "On  the  Sensations 
of  Tone,"  1875.    The  intention,  construction, 
,  and  notation  of  duodenes  will  be  best  under- 
j  stood  from  a  brief  account  of  their  generation, 
j      Let  C  represent  not  only  a  note,  but  its 
i  vibrational  number,  in  Roman  letters  indepen- 
dently of  octave.    Italic  letters  show  octaves 
thus:  C„,  C,,  C,  c,  c  ,  c" ,  c"\  where  C  is  the 
lowest  note  on  the  violoncello.    Let  the  fol- 
lowing letters  and  marks  have  the  values 
written  under  them  : 

DEFGABjftJt: 
9  r*    5  r>    4(''    3  r*    sp    isp  135  128  ei  so 

Then  JD,  read  "  low  D  "  =  |«  x  |  C  =  V  C 
—  I  X  s  C  =  §  A;  t  A,  read  "  high  A  =  |J 
x6C  =  f^  C  =  3x9C  =  3D;tA&  read 
"highAflat"=|Jxi2|  X  §C  =  «C=t  X  2  C 
=  I*  A,  and  so  on.  The  exact  pitch  of  every 
41  ) 


DUODENE. 


■note  in  relation  to  that  of  C  is  therefore  given 
by  its  symbol. 

The  marks  x  quint,  +  major,  —  minor, 
I  Greek  minor,  placed  between  two  symbols, 
show  that  they  form  a  Fifth  3,  a  major  Third  |, 
a  minor  Third  |,  or  a  Pythagorean  minor 
Third  respectively,  or  their  alterations 
consequent  on  changing  either  note  byoctaves. 
f  E?  G  An  harmonic  cell,  as  in  the  mar- 
C  E  gin,  contains  C  x  G  vertical, 

C  4-  E  and  t  E!?  +  G  horizontal,  and  C  -  f  E7, 
E  —  G  oblique  from  bottom  up  to  lef  ,  and 
hence  all  the  elements  of  tertian  harmony  {i.e., 
excluding  harmonic  Sevenths)  and  its  triads 
C  -|-  E  —  G  major,  and  C  —  t  E7  -f  G  minor. 
C  is  called  the  First,  G  the  Fifth,  E  the  major 
Third,  and  f  E  t?  the  minor  Third  of  the 
C  cell. 

t  EC*  G  An  harmonic  heptad,  as  in  the 
t  Ab  C  E  margin,  consists  of  two  cells, 
FA  the  Fifth  of  the  lower  cell 
being  the  First  of  the  upper  cell.  It  contains 
four  cell  triads,  major  F  +  A  —  C,  C  +  E 
—  G  ;  minor  F  — t  A  9  f  C,  C— t  E  ?  f  G  ; 
and  two  union  triads,  resulting  from  the 
union  of  the  two  cells  into  a  heptad,  major 
t  A  t?  +  C  —  t  E  7.  and  minor  A  —  C  +  E. 
It  has  therefore  all  the  six  consonant  triads 
containing  C,  its  First,  and  all  the  con-disso- 
nant triads  containing  two  notes  consonant 
with  C  and  dissonant  with  each  other  (of 
which  the  trine  t  A?  H-  C  +  E  must  be  noted), 
and  hence  all  the  elements  of  chord-relation- 
ship. 

f  B?  D       An  harmonic  decad,  as  in  the 
t  Ef  G  B       margin,  consists  of  two  hep- 
t  A?  C  E     .  tads  (of  C  and  G)  having  a 
F  A       common   cell   (of   C),  and 
hence  contains  three  cells,  having  3  major 
and  3  minor  cell  triads,  and  2  major  and  2 
minor  union  triads,  and  hence  all  the  related 
elements  of  scalar  harmony  of  Thirds,  Fifths 
and  Sevenths.    The  First  of  the  central  cell 
is  called  the  tonic  of  the  decad. 

A  trichordal  consists  of  three  cell  triads, 
selected  one  from  each  cell  in  a  decad,  form- 
ing 8  combinations  of  7  notes,  giving  all  the 
scales  in  use,  with  their  harmonies,  named  by 
using  ma,  mi  (with  Italian  vowels)  for  major 
and  minor  cell  triads,  and  reading  them  in 
order  from  lowest  to  highest,  thus — 

C.  Mamama. 
B  — D  i  F-t- A— C  +  E  — G +  B— D  [  F -I- A 

C.  Mimima. 
B— D  F-fAlJ+C— fE^  +  G  +  B— D!F— fAl? 

To  show  with  what  note  the  scale  begins, 
change  the  m  of  the  name  of  the  chord  con- 
taining it  to  p  (for  pv\ma.),  or  t  (for  ^ertia),  or 
qu  (for  qiiiniSL),  as  in  C  mapdma  (ordinary 
major),  C  tnipUna  and  mapima  (two  ordinary 
forms  of  a.scending  minor),  C  mipimi  (ordi- 


nary descending  minor),  C  mimipt  (Helm- 
holtz's  mode  of  the  minor  Sixth).  Thus  56 
scales,  including  all  the  old  ecclesiastical  modes 
and  their  harmonies,  may  be  succinctly  de- 
scribed. 


t  dP 

t  f 

t  a 

t 

t  B7 

D 

fjf 

t  ct7 

t  Et7 

G 

B 

+  f  9 

t  Ab 

C 

E 

d!7 

F 

A 

bb     Jd        I  f Jf 

An  harmonic  hepta-decad,  as  above,  where 
the  capital  letters  indicate  the  decad  of  C,  and 
the  small  letters  the  newly-added  notes,  and 
the  oblong  contains  the  duodene  of  C,  consists 
of  seven  decads,  having  for  their  tonics  the 
notes  of  a  heptad  (of  C  in  the  example).  It 
shows  six  new  decads,  of  each  of  which  the 
original  decad  forms  the  larger  part,  and  hence 
constitutes  the  first  step  in  a  more  general  pro- 
cess of  modulation,  consisting  of  change  into 
a  related  decad,  and  called  decadation.  The 
heptadecad  introduces  tetrachordal  scales,  with 
chords  of  the  extreme  sharp  Sixth.  The 
duodene  represents  a  decad  in  the  act  of 
changing,  by  means  of  the  two  new  notes 
(d  and  f$  in  example)  called  mutators,  each 
forming  part  of  two  new  decads. 

A  duodene  is,  therefore,  formed  on  any 
root  (as  C),  by  taking  the  major  thirds  above 
and  below  it  (as  E  and  t  A  t?)  to  form  the 
initial  trine  (as  f  A9  +  C  +  E),  and  then 
taking  two-fifths  above,  and  one-fifth  below 
each  of  the  notes  in  that  trine.  It  consists 
therefore  of  four  trines  of  major  thirds,  and 
three  quarternions  of  fifths,  and  has  three 
tonics,  namely  that  of  fAb  mapdma,  that 
of  C  decad,  and  that  of  E  mipimi.  Its 
notes  have  a  strict  relation  of  pitch,  and  it 
contains  no  interval  less  than  the  small 
semitone  or  low  sharp,  ||  (as  fA?  to  A). 
But  if  the  trine  above,  astf+t^  +  cjf  were 
introduced,  two  intervals  of  a  comma  H  (as 
f  to  f  f,  and  a  to  f  a)  and  one  of  a  diaskhisma, 
(almost  exactly  lo-iiths  of  a  comma,  as 
c  5  to  db),  would  be  introduced,  and  similarly 
for  a  trine  below.  If  we  took  a  quaternion 
to  the  right  (as  JcgxtgJfX  Jdj^xaJ), 
four  intervals  of  a  diesis  [H  (almost  exactly 
2i-iiths  of  a  comma,  as  J  cj  to  dl7)  would  be 
introduced.  Hence  if  we  write  the  duodenal, 
that  is  the  symbol  of  the  root  of  a  duodene, 
at  the  commencement  of  any  piece  of  music, 
we  determine  the  exact  pitch  which  every  one 
of  its  notes  must  receive,  until  we  change  the 
duodenal,  and  thus  change  the  pitch  of  its 
notes  to  a  definite  amount.  If  we  assume 
for  the  root  named  by  the  duodenal,  the  tonic 
of  the  decad  of  the  duodene,  the  change  of 


(  142  ) 


DUODENE  DYSTONIC. 


duodenal  points  out  the  actual  decadations  in 
the  composition,  that  is,  the  actual  process  of 
the  modulation.  Thus,  to  take  a  simple  but 
crucial  example  from  "  God  Save  the  Queen," 
where  the  duodenals  are  written  above :  — 


10       II      12       13      14  15 

Observe  chords  3,  9,  and  13.  The  duo- 
denal G  makes  chord  3  from  D  —  f  F  +  f  A 
(in  the  dominant  duodene),  because  the  melody 
requires  the  true  D  in  order  to  sink  by  a  per- 
fect minor  Third  to  B,  and  the  harmony  does 
not  treat  chord  3  as  the  dissonance  D  |  F-l- A. 
But  the  duodenal  F,  makes  chord  9  from 
— F  +  A  (in  the  subdominant  duodene), 
because  chord  8  contains  A,  and  the  change 
A  to  f  A  is  unmelodic.  But  chord  13,  in 
duodene  of  C,  is  marked  as  the  dissonance 
D  I  F  +  A,  which  is  duly  resolved  by  the  fall 
of  D  to  C  in  14,  A  being  retained  from  12. 
It  would  of  course  be  possible,  and  smoother, 
to  use  the  F  duodenal,  making  chord  13  from 
J  D  —  F  +  A.  In  this  way,  three  theoretical 
methods  of  treating  the  triad  on  the  second 
of  a  major  scale  are  accurately  shown. 


For  further  details  and  illustrations,  refe- 
rence must  be  made  to  the  citations  at  the 
commencement  of  this  article. 

Duodramma  (It.)  A  dramatic  piece  for 
two  performers  only. 

Duolo,  con  (It.)  With  grief,  sadness, 
pathos. 

Dur  {Ger.)    Major,  as  C  dur,  C  major. 

Dur  {Fr.)    Hard,  coarse. 

Durate,  duramente,  duro  [It.)  With 
harshness,  roughly. 

Durchfiihrung  {Ger.)  The  development  of 
a  theme  or  subject.  [Form.] 

Durchgehend  {Ger.)     Passing,  transient. 

Durezza  {It.)    Rigour,  harshness. 

Dutch  concert.  A  so-called  concert  in 
which  every  man  sings  his  own  song  at  the 
same  time  that  his  neighbour  is  also  singing 
his,  a  practice  not  necessarily  so  national  as 
convivial.  There  is  another  form  of  Dutch 
concert,  in  which  each  person  present  sings 
in  turn  one  verse  of  any  song  he  pleases, 
some  well-known  chorus  being  used  as  a 
burden  after  each  verse.  When  every  person 
has  sung  his  song,  all  sing  their  respective 
songs  simultaneously  as  a  grand  finale. 

Dux  {Lat.)  The  proposition,  theme,  or 
subject  of  a  fugue,  the  answer  being  called 
Cofnes. 

Dystonic  {Ger.  from  Gk.)  False  intona- 
tion or  discord. 


(  143) 


E  EAR. 


E. 


E.  (i)  The  note  Hypate  in  Greek  music. 
[Greek  music] 

(2)  The  key-note  of  the  Church  mode  called 
Phrygian. 

(3)  The  note  Elami  in  the  system  of  Hexa- 
chords.  [Notation.] 

(4)  The  E  above  tenor  C,  the  octave  above 
it  being  represented  by  e,  the  octave  below  it 
by  EE. 

(5)  The  key  having  four  sharps  in  its 
signature. 

Ear.  The  Ear  is  the  organ  of  hearing,  in 
other  words,  the  organ  for  the  appreciation  of 
sound,  i.e.,  of  vibrations  of  the  air  or  water. 
All  that  is  necessary  to  form  an  ear  is  a  nerve- 
mass  capable  of  appreciating  these  vibrations. 
Its  simplest  actual  expression  is  a  sac,  filled 
with  fluids,  containing  "otoliths"  (oJc,  wtoq, 
an  ear,  and  XIQoq,  a  stone),  and  supplied  with  a 
nerve,  a  condition  best  exemplified  in  the 
sub-kingdom  of  Mollusca,  represented  fami- 
liarly by  the  oysters,  the  mussels,  snails  both 
terrestrial  and  aquatic,  and  the  octopus.  The 
"  otoliths  "  are  masses  of  carbonate  of  lime, 
as  may  readily  be  seen  by  placing  one  of 
them  dissected  out  from  any  of  the  above 
mentioned  animals  {e.g.  a  snail)  on  a  glass 
slide,  covering  it  with  an  object  glass  with 
sufficient  water  to  fill  the  interspace  between 
the  two,  and  adding  at  the  side  of  the  cover- 
ing-glass a  drop  of  any  acid  (acetic  acid,  or 
indeed  ordinary  vinegar  will  do  very  well) 
while  the  experimenter  observes  it  through 
the  microscope.  Air  bubbles — really  bubbles 
of  carbonic  acid  gas — will  be  seen  to  pour  out 
from  the  otolith,  and  when  these  have  ceased, 
that  body  will  have  entirely  disappeared. 

It  is  true  that  we  are  suspicious  of  a 
specialised  organ  of  hearing  even  in  such 
animals  as  possess  no  specialised  nerve 
system.  This  is  somewhat  apparently  of  a 
paradox,  for  it  may  be  asked,  How  can  an 
animal  without  nerves  feel  at  all  ?  and  is  it 
not  highly  improbable  that  if  no  nerve  system 
exists,  any  special  sense-organ  can  be  de- 
veloped ?  The  answer  to  the  first  of  these 
objections  is  very  plain  :  all  animals,  even 
those  who  possess  no  specialised  organs  i 
whatever  manifest  the  simple  phenomena  of  j 
sensation;  all,  even  the  Infusoria  and  the 
Amoeboe,  of  which  we  hear  so  much  now-a-  | 


days,  and  which  are  very  little  more  than 
simple  masses  of  protoplasm,  manifest  this 
faculty.  Any  one  who  has  observed  these 
occupants  of  almost  any  drop  of  water,  with 
a  microscope  of  low  power,  will  have  seen 
enough  to  convince  himself  of  this.  As  to 
the  second  objection,  the  fact  remains  that  in 
I  some  animals  which  have  no  undoubted 
I  nerves,  in  some  medusas*  or  jelly-fish, f  we 
find  in  the  mass  forming  their  body  crystals 
of  carbonate  of  lime,  which  substance  must 
intensify  the  vibrations  of  the  water  in  which 
they  live,  and  must,  when  put  into  a  state  of 
motion  as  a  whole,  or  into  one  which  affects 
its  particles  inter  se,  cause  by  its  relative 
density  greater  disturbance  of  the  soft  matter 
in  which  it  lies,  than  would  be  the  case  if  it 
were  absent. 

But  leaving  this  as  somewhat  problematical, 
and  taking  the  hearing  organ  of  molluscs  as 
the  type,  we  shall  find  this  type  essentially 
adhered  to  in  the  higher  animals  in  spite  of 
endless  complications.  Let  us  propound  the 
bold  paradox  without  fear  of  contradiction, 
that  a  man  as  well  as  a  snail  hears  in  water, 
and  that  the  essential  parts  of  his  marvellous 
hearing  apparatus  are  a  sac  containing  fluid 
in  which  are  otoliths,  and  round  which  are 
distributed  the  ultimate  filaments  of  a  nerve. 

The  typical  physiology,  as  well  as  the 
typical  anatomy  of  hearing,  is  very  simple. 
These  "  ear-stones,"  by  the  vibrations  con- 
ducted to  them,  are  made  to  rattle  in  this  bag 
containing  fluid,  and,  by  beating  against  its 
sides,  cause  more  disturbance  to  the  nerve  fila- 
ments there  distributed  than  would  be  caused 
by  the  same  vibrations  if  they  acted  directly 
on  the  nerve. 

The  power  of  hearing  must  be  very  widely 
if  not  universally  distributed  through  the 
animal  kingdom,  though  the  hearing  organ  is 
not  always  easy  to  find.  Von  Sieboldf  has 
however  discovered  this  organ  in  the  Euro- 
pean field-cricket,  situated  in  the  front  legs 


*  These  medusae  are  by  some  said  to  possess  a  ring 
of  nerves,  but  this  is  disputed. 

t  "  Gegenbaur,  Grundziige  der  Vergleichenden  Ana- 
tomie,"  p.  129,  fig.  15  e,  and  p.  131. 

X  "  Lehrbuch  von  Vergleichender  Anatomic,"  von 
Siebold  und  Stannius.  Berhn,  1848.  Erster  Theil,  p. 
582. 


f  144) 


EAR. 


of  both  sexes.  That  the  lower  animals  have 
the  power  of  making  music  very  widely  dis- 
tributed among  them  is  a  fact  of  which  any 
one  who  reads  Mr.  Darwin's  "  Descent  of 
Man,"  part  ii.,  can  very  easily  convince  him- 
self; the  references  to  this  work  would  be  too 
numerous  to  give  with  completeness,  and 
extracts  would  be  impossible,  seeing  that  the 
subject  occupies  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
whole  work.  It  is,  however,  sure  that  this 
power  is  possessed  by  some  spiders  (vol.  i. 
p.  339) ;  by  many  insects,  as  e.g.  of  the  order 
Homoptera  (p.  350^ — 352),  including  the  Cica- 
dos  ;  of  the  order  Orthoptera  (352 — 360),  in- 
cluding crickets  and  grasshoppers  ;  of  the 
order  Hymenoptera  (366),  including  bees  and 
wasps;  of  the  order  Coleoptera  (378 — 385),  or 
beetles;  of  the  order  Lepidoptera  (387),  or 
moths  and  butterflies.  All  these  animals 
possessing  the  power  of  music,  which  they  use 
principally  for  attracting  the  other  sex  (the 
male  being  generally  the  mi  sician),  must 
jjossess  also  organs  capable  oi  appreciating 
such  music — auditory  organs. 

When  we  reach  the  sub-kingdom  of  Verte- 
brata  we  find  the  same  type  throughout, 
gradually  becoming  more  complicated  as  we 
proceed  from  the  lowest  fish  to  the  highest 
mammal,  man  ;  and  it  will  be  convenient  to 
reverse  the  philosophical  order  and  to  describe 
the  human  ear  first,  since  after  the  description 
of  this  it  will  be  easy  to  allude  to  deficiencies 
or  modifications  in  the  less  complicated  organs 
of  the  lower  vertebrata. 

The  Human  Ear  may  be  divided  into  three 
parts — the  external,  middle,  and  internal  ear. 
The  two  former  have  the  function  of  convey- 
ing vibrations  to  the  latter  which  appreciates 
them. 

Fig.  I. 

LEFT  EAR. 
(Transverse  section). 


I.  Pinna;  2.  external  auditory  meatus  or  canal; 
3.  cavity  of  tympanum  and  membrane  of  tympanum 
(between  3  and  6  chain  of  small  bones)  ;  4.  eustachian 
tube;  5.  internal  auditory  canal  or  meatus  giving  pas- 
sage to  the  auditory  and  facial  nerves  ;  6.  bony  labyrinth 
(above  fenestra  ovalis)  ,  a.  apex  of  petrous  bone  ;  b.  in- 
ternal carotid  artery ;  c.  styloid  process  ;  d.  facial 
nerve  passing  to  supply  muscles  of  face  ;  e.  mastoid 
process. 


The  external  ear  (see  fig.  i.)  consists  of 
two  parts,  the  "pinna,"  or  auricle  (i),  and 
the  external  auditory  canal  or  "  meatus  "  (2). 

The  pinna  (i)  is  that  part  which  is  quite 
external,  and  which  we  unscientifically  call 
"  the  ear,"  as  when  we  say  that  a  certain 
person  has  large  or  small  "  ears."    It  is  com- 
posed almost  entirely  of  cartilage  or  gristle, 
and  has  complicated  foldings,  to  all  of  which 
j  names  have  been  given,  but  which  it  is  not 
our  business  to  give  here  in  detail.  The 
general  shape  is  that  of  an  irregular  funnel, 
having  its  apex  in  the  auditory  canal.  The 
only  part  of  wnich  we  shall  speak  particularly 
is  the  "  helix,"  or  the  margin  which  is  folded 
i  in.    At  the  upper  and  posterior  part  of  this  is 
j  to  be  found,  in  many  individuals,  a  small 
point  or  process,  generally  folded  in  like  the 
.  rest  of  the  helix,  but  sometimes  projecting 
:  outwards.   This  is  considered  by  Mr.  Darwin 
to  be  a  strong  fact  in  determining  the  gene- 
alogy of  man  ("Descent  of  Man,"  vol.  i.  p. 
22,  fig.  2),  for  this  point  is  well  marked  in 
many  of  the  lovv^er  monkeys,  as  baboons  and 
,  some  species  o.  macacus,  and  in  them  is  not 
folded  inwards,  but  stands  erect.    He  thus 
considers  it  a  reminiscence  of  some  pointed- 
eared  progenitors.    He  remarks  (p.  23,  note 
26)  :  "  This  rudiment  apparently  is  somewhat 
larger  in  negroes  and  Australians  than  in 
;  Europeans  (see   Carl  Vogt,  "  Lectures  on 
\  Man,"  Eng.  transl.,  p.  129),  these  races  being 
j  confessedly  lower  and  more  like  the  lower 
animals  than  Europeans."    The  pinna  is  fur- 
nished with  nine  muscles,  three  of  which  are 
'  called  extrinsic  and  move  it  as  a  whole,  while 
the  remaining  six  would,  if  they  contracted, 
move  its  parts  on  one  another,  and  are  called 
intrinsic. 

The  extrinsic  muscles  are  situated  in  front, 
above  and  behind,  and  move  the  pinna  there- 
fore forwards,  upwards  and  backwards  re- 
spectively. The  anterior  muscle  is  called  the 
"  attrahens  aurem,"  the  superior  is  called  the 
"  attollens  aurem,"  and  the  posterior  the 
"  retrahens  aurem."  These  muscles  are  in 
man  without  any  function  whatever;  they  do 
not  have  any  effect  on  his  hearing  powers; 
they  are  capable  of  moving  the  ear  only  in 
some  individuals,  and  are  only  rarely  move- 
able at  will.  The  "  retrahens  aurem,"  which 
is  the  strongest,  is  also  the  most  commonly 
moveable ;  in  some  people  it  is  contracted 
involuntarily  in  fright,  just  as  in  a  timid 
horse  who  throws  back  his  ears  ;  it  is  much 
more  rarely  under  the  control  of  the  will,  but 
is  less  seldom  so  than  the  other  muscles. 
Mr.  Darwin  ("  Descent  of  Man,"  vol.  i.  p.  20) 
says  :  "  I  have  seen  one  man  who  could  draw 
his  ears  forwards,  and  another  who  could 
draw  them  backwards;"  but  this  gives  too 
great  an  idea  of  the  rarity  of  such  an  accom- 


(  H5  ) 


K 


EAR. 


plishment.  A  case  has  been  observed  in 
which  a  boy  was  able  to  move  his  scalp  from 
side  to  side  by  alternately  contracting  the 
"  attollens  aurem"  of  either  side,  this  muscle 
rising  from  the  "  aponeurosis  "  (or  flat  tendon) 
of  the  "  occipito-frontalis  "  muscle,  which 
has  the  power  of  moving  the  scalp  forwards 
and  backwards. 

The  intrinsic  muscles  are  situated,  four  on 
the  outer,  two  on  the  inner  side  of  the  pmna. 
They  have  never  been  known  to  contract.  In 
some  animals,  however,  they  are  functional, 
as  any  one  can  see  who  carefully  watches  the 
pinna  of  the  ear  of  a  cat  when  intent  on 
some  sound. 

In  spite  of  the  complicated  structure  of  the 
pinna,  it  is  nearly  sure  that  it  possesses  no 
effect  on  our  powers  of  hearing,  either  by 
collecting  sound  to  a  focus  or  by  conducting 
it  along  its  substance  ;*  that  it  is  in  fact  of 
no  use  as  far  as  hearing  is  concerned.  This 
is  the  result  of  the  observations  of  no  less  an 
authority  than  Mr.  Toynbee.f  It  seems  also 
that  the  nearly  precisely  similar  ears  of  the 
orang  and  chimpanzee  are  equally  function- 
less  ("  Descent  of  Man,"  vol.  i.  p.  21). 

The  external  auditory  canal  (fig.  i.  2)  is 
about  in.  long;  rather  less  than  the  external 
half  is  formed  of  cartilage  or  gristle,  the 
remainder  of  bone.  Its  direction  is  not 
directly  inwards,  but  slightly  forwards  also. 
It  is  closed  at  its  inner  end  by  the  "  mem- 
brana  tympani "  (fig.  i.  3),  or  membrane  of  the 
drum.  The  glands  which  secrete  the  wax 
(ceruminous  glands)  are  situated  in  the  carti- 
laginous part  of  the  canal,  and  agree  in  their 
structure  with  the  sweat-glands. 

Fig.  n. 

SMALL  BONES  OF  TYMPANUM  OR  OSSICULA  AUDITUS. 


A.  Malleus. — i.head;  2.  handle;  3.  processus  gra- 
cilis; 4.  short  process.  B.  Incus. — i.  body;  2.  long 
process  with  orbicular  process;  3.  short  or  posterior 
process  ;  4.  articular  surface  receiving  head  of  malleus. 
C.  Stapes. — I.  head;  2.  posterior  leg;  3.  anterior  leg; 
4.  base.  C*.  Base  of  stapes.  D.  Bones  in  natural 
mutual  relations. 

The  middle  ear  or  tympanum  (fig.  i.  3)  is 
separated  from  the  external  ear  by  the  mem- 

*  In  using  a  stethoscope,  however,  we  use  the  con- 
ducting power  of  the  cartilage  of  the  ear. 

+  "  The  Diseases  of  the  Ear,"  by  J.  Toynbee,  F.R.S. 
i860,  p.  12. 


brana  tympani  (fig.  iii.  m,  and  fig.  1.  3),  which 

inclines  outwards,  making  an  angle  of  45° 
with  the  floor.  It  is  a  cavity  which  is  not 
shut  off  from  the  air,  for  the  "  Eustachian 
Tube "  (fig.  I.  4)  forms  a  communication 
between  it  and  the  "  pharynx,"  the  upper 
part  of  the  cavity  of  the  throat. 

Fig.  III. 

OSSICULA  AUDITUS  AND  MEMBRANA  TYMPANI  IN  SITU. 


a.  Malleus;  a.  tip  of  handle  of  malleus,  the  letter 

lies  in  the  cavity  of  the  tympanum ;  b.  incus ;  c, 
stapes;  tn.  external  auditory  canal;  tfi.  membrane  of 
tympanum  ;  /.  line  of  tension  of  tensor  tympani  muscle 
pulling  lower  part  of  malleus  inwards;  /.  line  of  tension 
of  laxator  tympani  muscle  pulling  upper  part  of  malleus 
inwards ;  g.  slender  process  of  malleus.  The  axis 
round  which  the  chain  of  bones  rotates  passes  through 
its  base. 

In  the  tympanum  are  situated  three  small 
bones  (fig.  i.  3  to  6,  and  figs.  11.  and  iii,),  the 
Malleus  (A),  Incus  (B),  and  Stapes  (C),  the 
names  being  derived  from  their  shape.  The 
malleus  (hammer)  has  a  round  head  (i),  and 
a  handle  (2),  and  from  the  base  of  the  head,  a 
thin  spike  of  bone,  the  "  processus  gracilis" 
(3)  projects.  The  Incus  (anvil),  B,  is  more 
Hke  a  tooth  with  two  fangs,  a  long  and  a 
short  one.  The  long  process  (2)  carries  a 
knob  or  tubercle  which  is  originally  a  sepa- 
rate bone,  as  it  remains  in  some  animals 
through  life.  The  stapes  (stirrup),  C,  is  just 
like  a  stirrup.  It  is  very  difficult  to  under- 
stand the  arrangement  of  these  little  bones 
from  description  or  even  from  drawings,  a 
model  or  the  actual  objects  being  almost 
necessary.  It  may,  however,  give  a  general 
idea  of  their  position  to  say  that  the  handle  of 
the  malleus  and  the  long  process  of  the  incus 
are  directed  vertically  downwards ;  the  slender 
process  of  the  malleus  and  the  short  process 
of  the  incus  are  horizontal,  the  former  being 
directed  forwards,  the  latter  backwards  ;  th»^ 
stapes  is  also  horizontal,  but  with  its  base 
horizontal  and  directed  inwards.  The  malleus 
is  anterior  in  position  to  the  incus.  The 
head  of  the  malleus  fits  on  to  the  body  of  the 
incus  (the  crown  of  the  tooth),  the  long  pro- 
cess of  the  incus  fits  on  to  the  head  of  the 
stapes  (the  part  where  the  stirrup-leather 
would  be  attached),  and  the  base  of  the  stapes 
fits  loosely  into  the  "  Fenestra  Ovalis,"  an 
oval  window  in  the  bony  wall  of  the  internal 
ear  or  labyrinth.    The  whole  chain  of  bones 


( 


EAR. 


turns  round  an  axis  formed  by  the  slender 
process  of  the  malleus  and  the  short  process 
of  the  stapes.  The  handle  of  the  malleus  is 
firmly  fixed  to  the  membrana  tympani  on  its 
inner  aspect  a  little  below  the  middle.  There 
are  three  muscles  m  connection  with  this 
chain  of  bones,  two  are  attached  to  the  mal- 
leus, one  to  the  stapes.  The  two  attached  to 
the  malleus  are  the  tensor  and  laxator  tym- 
pani. The  former  is  attached  just  below,  the 
latter  just  above  the  origin  of  the  processus 
gracilis  (see  fig.  in.  t,  I),  which,  as  we  ob- 
served, is  the  axis  of  this  chain  of  bones. 
The  stapedius  muscle  is  attached  to  the  neck 
of  the  stapes.  These  bones  are  exceedmgly 
important  from  the  point  of  view  of  compara- 
tive anatomy,  since  their  homologies  play  very 
differerkt  parts  in  the  lower  animals.  The  homo- 
logue  of  the  malleus,  for  instance,  in  fish, 
amphibia,  reptiles,  and  birds,  is  the  "  os  quad- 
ratum  "  which  suspends  the  lower  jaw ;  and 
the  stapes  is  in  batrachia,  reptiles,  and  birds, 
the  "  columella,"  a  long  bone,  shaped  some- 
what like  a  straight  post-horn,  or  stethoscope, 
which  alone  discharges  the  function  which 
these  three  bones  discharge  in  mammalia. 
Other  interesting  points  will  be  related  later 
on  in  connection  with  development. 

The  cavity  of  the  tympanum  is  practically 
enlarged  by  communicating  with  the  "  Mas- 
toid Cells,"  air  cavities  which  occupy  the 
mastoid  process  of  the  temporal  bone,  that 
process  of  bone  which  may  be  felt  behind  and 
below  the  pinna,  and  is  supposed  by  phreno- 
logists to  be  the  residence  of  "  Pugnacity," 
though  they  have  never  explained  the  connec- 
tion between  that  propensity  and  the  function 
which  these  air-cells  really  discharge,  that  of 
increasing  the  tympanic  cavity. 

The  internal  ear  or  labyrinth  (fig.  iv.)  is  the 
essential  part  of  the  organ.  It  consists  of 
two  parts,  a  bony  cavity  enclosed  in  the 
thickness  of  the  base  of  the  skull,  and  a  mem- 
branous sac  within  this. 


Fig.  IV. 

RIGHT    BONY  LABYRINTH 
(Smaller  figure  real  size). 


I.  Vestibule;  2.  fenestra  ovalis  ;  3.  superior  semi- 
circular canal ;  4.  horizontal  or  external  semi-circular 
canal ;  5.  posterior  semi-circular  canal ;  6.  first  turn  of 
cochlea ;  7.  second  turn  ;  8.  apex  ;  g.  fenestra  rotunda ; 
•  ampullse  of  semi-circular  canals. 


The  bony  labyrinth  may  be  briefly  described 
as  a  chamber,  the  "Vestibule"  (fig.  iv.  i), 
which  sends  one  prolongation  forward  (the 
"cochlea,"  6,  7,  8),  three  others  backwards 
("  semi-circular  canals,"  3,  4,  5),  and  has  its 
outer  and  inner  walls  perforated,  the  outer 
by  the  fenestra  ovalis  (2),  in  which  lies  the 
base  of  the  stapes,  and  by  a  round  hole  closed 
by  membrane,  and  called  the  fenestra  rotunda 
(9);  the  inner  by  a  series  of  holes  in  a  depres- 
sion called  the  "  Fovea  hemispherica,"  which 
transmit  branches  of  the  auditory  nerve  from 
the  internal  auditory  meatus  in  which  lie  the 
auditory  and  facial  nerves.  By  these  two 
lateral  perforations  it  communicates  with  the 
cavity  of  the  tympanum  externally,  and  with 
that  of  the  cranium  internally.  Close  behind 
the  "Fovea  hemispherica"  is  a  small  canal, 
the  "  Aquasductus  Vestibuli,"  to  which  refer- 
ence will  be  given  later,  in  describing  the 
course  of  the  development  of  the  ear. 

The  bony  semi-circular  canals  (fig.  iv.  . 
3,  4,  5)  are  three  tubes  bent  so  as  to  form 
about  two-thirds  of  a  circle.  They  are  situated 
at  the  upper  and  back  part  of  the  vestibule 
with  which  they  communicate  by  five  open- 
ings, one  end  of  the  superior  having  an  opening 
common  also  to  the  posterior  semi-circular 
canal.  Each  tube  at  one  end  has  an  expan- 
sion, called  an  "  Ampulla"  (fig.  iv.*)  These 
canals  are  called  from  their  position,  superior, 
posterior,  and  external.  The  superior  canal 
is  vertical  and  transverse,  the  posterior  is  ver- 
tical and  longitudinal,  and  the  external  is 
horizontal.  The  directions  of  these  canals,  or 
the  planes  in  which  they  lie,  will  be  best 
understood  by  placing  a  book  with  the  two 
covers  at  right  angles  to  one  another,  up- 
right on  end  on  a  table,  so  that  one  of  the 
covers  faces  the  reader,  the  other  being  at 
right  angles  to  the  side  of  the  table  at  which 
he  is  seated.  Then  the  reader  will  be  on 
the  outer  or  tympanic  side,  the  side  of  the 
table  opposite  to  him  will  be  the  side  of 
the  cranial  cavity.  The  plane  of  the  table 
will  represent  the  plane  of  the  external  or 
horizontal  canal,  the  plane  of  the  cover  oppo- 
site to  the  reader  the  posterior,  and  that  at 
right  angles  to  the  side  of  the  table  at  which 
he  is  seated  the  superior  canal,  which  is  also 
the  most  anteriorly  placed  of  the  three. 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  planes  of  these 
three  canals  are  the  three  planes  of  a  cube, 
a  fact  to  which  allusion  will  be  made  here- 
after. 


*  With  regard  to  the  terms  anterior,  posterior,  ex- 
ternal, and  internal,  it  may  be  necessary  to  explain  that 
anterior  means  on  the  side  towards  the  face  ;  posterior 
on  the  side  towards  the  back  of  the  head,  and  external 
and  internal  remote  from  or  near  to  an  antero-posterior 
axis  drawn  from  the  face  to  the  back  of  the  head. 


(  ) 


EAR. 


Fig.  V. 

VERTICAL  SECTION  OF  COCHLEA,  SHOWING  ITS  THREE 
PASSAGES  OR  SCALiB. 


$v.  Scala  vestibuli ;  cm.  canalis  membranea,  or 
canalis  cochleae,  or  ductus  cochlearis  ;  st.  scala  tym- 
pani ;  m.  modiolus. 

The  cavity  of  the  vestibule  is  prolonged 
anteriorly  by  the  cochlea  (fig.  iv.  6,  7,  8), 
so-called  from  its  likeness  to  the  shell  of  a 
snail.  As  a  whole,  it  forms  a  blunt  cone  with 
its  apex  outwards ;  this  cone  is  formed  by  a 
gradually  tapering  spiral  tube,  the  first  curve 
having  its  concavity  upwards  ;  it  is  coi4ed  2^ 
times  round  a  central  column  or  "  Modiolus" 
(fig.  v.  jii),  which  sends  an  incomplete  parti- 
tion into  the  cavity  of  the  tube  (fig.  vi.  3). 
This  partition  is  called  "  Lamina  spiralis 
ossea,"  and  winds  in  the  cavity  of  the  spiral 
cochlea  like  the  thread  of  a  screw  or  the  stair- 
case in  a  turret ;  it  is  wanting  at  the  apex  of 
the  tube.  This  lamina  is  completed  by  two 
membranes,  that  nearer  the  apex  of  the 
cochlea  called  the  "  Membrane  of  Reissner" 
(hg.  VI.  i),  that  nearer  the  base,  the  "  Mem- 
brana  basilaris  "  (fig.  vi.  vib),  so  that  three 
canals  are  formed,  that  on  the  side  of  the 
apex  of  the  cochlea  being  called  the  "  Scala 
vestibuli  "  (fig.  v.  and  vi.  sv.),  that  next  the 
base  called  the  "Scala  tympani "  (fig.  v. 
and  VI.  st),  and  the  intermediate  one,  belong- 
ing to  the  membranous  labyrinth  (here  on  the 
outer  wall  of  the  cochlea  not  lying  free), 
called  the  "  Canalis  membranacea,  vel 
Cochleae, "  or  "  Ductus  Cochlearis"  (fig.  v.  cm 
VI.  a).  The  scala  vestibuli  and  scala  tympani 
communicate  at  the  apex  of  the  cochlea,  for 
the  lamina  spiralis  does  not  extend  quite  to  the 
apex,  the  scala  vestibuli  communicates  below 
with  the  cavity  of  the  vestibule  as  its  name 
iciplies,  the  scala  tympani  would  communi- 
cate below  with  the  cavity  of  the  tympanum 
through  the  fenestra  rotunda,  but  that  this  is 
closed  by  a  membrane.  Thus  it  would  be 
possible  to  get  through  the  fenestra  ovalis  into 
the  vestibule,  thence  enter  into  the  semi-cir- 
cular canals  posteriorly,  or  anteriorly  through 
the  scala  vestibuli  to  the  apex  of  the  cochlea, 
there  into  the  scala  tympani,  through  it  to  the 
fenestra  rotunda,  and  through  it  again  into 


the  tympanum.  Most  books  describe  the 
cochlea  as  divided  into  two  passages,  the 
scala  vestibuli  and  scala  tympani,  but  it  is 
both  more  :  ccurate  and  plainer  to  describe 
three  passages  from  the  first,  otherwise  it 
is  impossible  to  account  for  the  canalis 
membranacea  in  the  description  of  the 
membranous  labyrinth.  The  difficulty  in 
understanding  this  part  consists,  as  will 
be  presently  seen,  in  the  fact  that  whereas 
all  other  parts  of  the  membranous  labyrinth 
lie  freely  in  the  bony  labyrinth,  the  canalis 
membranacea  is  not  free  at  its  outer  side, 
the  side  farthest  from  the  modiolus,  but  is 
there  attached  to  the  bony  labyrinth. 

The  membranous  labyrinth  lies,  except  in 
one  part  already  alluded  to,  freely  in  the  cavity 
of  the  bony  labyrinth,  and  corresponds  almost 
exactly  with  it.  Between  the  two  is  a  fluid, 
the  "  perilymph,"  or  "  liquor  Cotunnii ;"  and 
within  the  membranous  labyrinth  is  the 
"  endolymph,"  another  fluid.  The  membra- 
nous labyrinth  is  the  part  of  the  internal  ear 
which  is  essential  to  hearing,  the  bony  laby- 
rinth serving  to  enclose  and  protect  it.  The 
membranous  vestibule  is  divided  by  a  con- 
striction into  two  halves,  which  do  not  com- 
municate. The  posterior  and  larger  is  called 
the  "common  sinus,"  or  "  utricle  ;"  with  it 
communicate  the  membranous  semicircular 
canals,  which  correspond  in  arrangement 
with  their  bony  cases.  The  anterior  and 
smaller  chamber  is  called  the  "saccule;"  it 
becomes  constricted  anteriorly  into  a  narrow 
canal,  called  the  "  canalis  reuniens,"  which 
opens  into  the  "  canalis  membranacea"  of  the 
cochlea.  This  latter  canal  is,  as  above  de- 
scribed, interposed  between  the  scala  vestibuli 
and  scala  tympani.  It  ends  blindly  above  at  the 
apex  of  the  cochlea.  "Otoliths,"  or  "oto- 
conia" (ear-dust,  Gr.  oZq,  wroc,  an  ear,  and 
(cov/o,  dust),  are  found  in  the  common  sinus  or 
utricle,  in  the  saccule,  and  in  the  ampullas  of 
the  semicircular  canals  ;  and  besides  them, 
the  ampullae  are  lined  with  long,  stiff,  hair- 
like  filaments,  called  "  fila  acustica."  They 
are  six-sided  crystals  of  carbonate  of  lime,  with 
pointed  ends,  and  lie  in  the  walls  of  these 
parts  of  the  membranous  labyrinth.  They 
are  occasionally  absent.  In  these  parts  we 
also  find  pigment  cells,  which  seem  in  some 
mysterious  manner  to  be  essential  to  the  sen- 
sitive parts  of  nearly  all  the  special-sense 
organs  ;  for  they  are  present  in  the  olfactory 
region  of  the  nose,  as  well  as  in  the  globe  of 
the  eye,  and  only  in  the  latter  is  their  func- 
tion known.  It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that 
white  cats  (cats  which  have  no  pigment)  are 
deaf. 

Within  the  canalis  membranacea  cochleae, 
and  separated  from  it  by  a  membrane  called 
the  "  membrana  tectoria,"  lies  an  assemblage 


f  148  ) 


EAR. 


of  structures  known  as  the  "  organ*  of  Corti," 
after  its  describer.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful,  as  well  as  marvellously  complicated, 
of  all  the  structures  in  the  body. 

Fig.  VI. 

TRANSVERSE  SECTION  OF  ONE    COMPLETE  PASSAGE  OF 
COCHLEA. 


I.  membrane  of  Reissner :  2.  auditory  nerve  ;  3.  la- 
mina spiralis  ossea;  4.  spiral  ligament ;  sv.  scalavesti- 
buli;  5^.  scala  tympani ;  a.  canalis  membranacea  or 
ductus  cochlearis,  or  canalis  cochleae  ;  be.  sulcus  spiralis ; 
p.  membrana  tectorra ;  d.  rods  of  Corti ;  /.  cells  of  Corti 
and  Deiters;  i.  cells  of  Claudius  ;  mb.  membrana  basi- 
laris;  sm.  scala  media. 

The  organ  of  Corti,  then,  has  a  floor  called 
the  "  membrana  basilaris,"  attached  at  the 
inner  side  to  the  lower  lip  of  the  free  edge  of 
the  lamina  spiralis  ossea,  and  at  the  outer 
side  to  the  circumferential  wall  of  the  cochlea. 
This  membrane  separates  it  from  the  scala 
tympani.  Its  roof  is  a  membrane  attached 
on  the  inner  side  to  the  upper  lip  of  the  free 
edge  of  the  lamina  spiralis  ossea,  and  at  the 
outer  side  to  the  circumferential  wall  of  the 
cochlea.  This  membrane  separates  it  from 
the  canalis  membranacea  vel  cochlea,  or  duc- 
tus cochlearis.  The  essential  part  of  the 
organ  of  Corti  is  a  double  series  of  rods, 
whose  bases  are  separated  by  some  distance, 
while  their  upper  ends  meet  at  an  angle,  the 
continuous  series  of  rods  forming  a  sort  of 
spiral  gabled  roof,  gradually  diminishing  as  it 
follows  the  spiral  course  of  the  cochlea.  The 
regularity  of  their  arrangement,  seen  from 
above,  suggests  the  key-board  of  a  pianoforte. 
They  have  been  estimated  by  Kolliker  as  about 
3,000  in  number,  and  are  composed  of  a  dense 
material.  The  inner  series  are  more  closely 
set  and  more  numerous  than  the  outer,  which 
they  overlap  Both  series  are  enlarged  at 
their  bases  and  heads,  especially  the  latter. 
The  space  between  their  bases  and  below 
their  junction  is  called  the  "  scala  media"  of 
the  cochlea.  Thus  there  are  four  canals  in 
the  cochlea,  though  this  last  belongs  really  to 
the  canalis  membranacea.  Besides  these 
rods,  there  are  other  bodies  called  "  Cells  of 
the  organ  of  Corti."  Some  are  placed  be- 
tween the  inner  series  of  rods  and  the  free 


edge  of  the  lamina  spiralis  ossea,  and  are 
called  the  "  Cells  of  Claudius."  They  stand 
in  a  single  line ;  their  upper  ends  are  provided 
with  stiff  bristle-like  prolongations,  or  "  cilia." 
The  outer  set  are  like  them,  but  are  placed 
between  the  outer  series  of  rods  and  the  cir- 
cumferential wall  of  the  cochlea.  They  are 
called  the  "pedunculated  cells  of  Corti,"  and 
are  set  three  deep,  their  cilia  projecting  through 
holes  in  a  membrane  extending  from  the  junc- 
tion of  the  rods  of  Corti  over  the  outer  ceils  of 
the  organ  of  Corti  to  the  circumferential  wall 
of  the  cochlea,  and  called  by  Kolliker  the 
"  membrana  reticularis."  Between  the  rows 
of  the  pedunculated  cells  of  Corti  are  inter- 
posed the  "  spindle-shaped  cells  of  Deiters," 
which  are  fusiform,  as  their  name  implies. 
All  of  the  basilar  membrane  not  otherwise 
covered,  is  covered  by  six-sided  cells  of  epi- 
thelium. 

The  auditory  nerve,  by  which  we  appreciate 
sounds,  does  not  rise  from  the  brain,  properly 
so  called,  but  from  the  medulla  oblongata,  or 
that  uppermost  part  of  the  spinal  marrow 
which  is  enclosed  in  the  skull,  in  company 
with  the  facial  nerve,  which  supplies  all  the 
muscles  of  the  face  with  motor  power.  The 
fibres  of  the  auditory  nerve  can  be  traced  to 
the  floor  of  the  fourth  ventricle,  i.e.,  the  ex- 
panded upper  end  of  the  tube  which  the  spinal 
marrow  really  forms  ;  and  across  this  floor, 
to  the  fissure  or  furrow  which  separates  it 
into  two  halves.  Here  they  are  found  to  rise 
from  a  mass  of  gray  matter,  i.e.,  an  assem- 
blage of  nerve  cells  called  the  "  auditory 
nucleus."  Other  inconsiderable  fibres  are 
added  from  nerve  centres  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  some  fibres  are  said  to  be  connected 
with  the  sensory  roots  of  the  fifth  or  trigeminal 
nerve,  the  nerve  of  facial  sensation. f  It  is 
connected  by  a  small  filament  with  the  facial 
nerve.  These  two  nerves  run  together  along 
the  floor  of  the  cranial  cavity  outwards  and 
forwards,  and  leave  that  cavity  by  the  "  in- 
ternal auditory  meatus,"  a  hole  in  the  petrous 
part  of  the  temporal  bone.  The  facial  nerve 
traverses  a  canal  in  that  bone,  and  leaves  the 
bone  to  emerge  by  a  hole  just  behind  the 
socket  of  the  lower  jaw.  While  in  the  tem- 
poral bone,  it  gives  off"  a  slender  branch  called 
the  "  chorda  tympani,"  which  crosses  the 
membrana  tympani  and  handle  of  the  malleus, 
and  gives  a  twig  to  the  laxator  tympani 
muscle.  It  subsequently  joins  the  gustatory 
nerve,  the  nerve  of  taste.  Besides  this,  the 
facial  nerve  gives  a  twig  to  the  stapedius 
muscle.  In  the  internal  auditory  meatus,  the 
auditory  nerve  divides  into  two  portions,  both 
of  which  contain  nerve  cells.  One  division  is 
supplied  to  the  cochlea,  the  other  to  the  vesti- 


•Zeitschrift  fiiv  Wissenschaftliche  Zoologie,  torn.  iii.  f  Hirschfeld  and  Leveille,  pi  15,  6g.  v.  5. 

(  ) 


EAR. 


bule.  The  division  which  goes  to  the  cochlea 
pierces  the  bony  wall  of  the  internal  auditory 
meatus,  not  by  one  but  by  many  foramina  in 
the  centre  of  the  base  of  the  cochlea.  The 
central  foramen  is  larger  than  the  rest,  and 
contains  a  nerve  destined  for  the  last  half-turn 
of  the  lamina  spiralis.  The  rest  of  the  nerve 
fibres  surround  this,  and  ascending  in  the 
substance  of  the  modiolus,  they  are  distri- 
buted to  the  rest  of  the  spiral  lamina,  piercing 
its  substance,  and  running  outwards  to  the 
scala  media.  These  nerves  form  a  continuous 
spiral  ganglion,  i.e.,  a  plexus  or  network  of 
nerve  fibres,  with  the  addition  of  nerve  cells 
near  the  edge  of  the  spiral  lamina.  It  is  pro- 
bable, but  not  proven,  that  their  ultimate  ends 
are  connected  with  the  organ  of  Corti. 

The  vestibular  division  of  the  auditory  nerve 
is  distributed  to  the  saccule,  utricle,  and  am- 
pullae of  the  semi-circular  canal  ,  i.e.,  the  parts 
containing  otoliths. 

The  development  of  the  Ear  is  conducted, 
in  its  first  stages,  like  that  of  the  eye  or  nose. 
The  skin  becomes  bulged  in  on  the  side  of  the 
nead,  and  forms  a  pit  which  sinks  deeper  and 
deeper,  while  the  opening  gradually  narrows, 
and  at  last  closes.  Thus  a  closed  cavity  is 
formed,  and  this  becomes  the  membranous 
labyrinth.  Towards  it  the  auditory  nerve  | 
grows  from  the  developing  medulla  oblongata. 
Next  a  prolongation  grows  upwards  and  back- 
wards, persistent  in  the  lower  vertebrata  but 
not  in  mammals,  except  as  the  rudiment 
called  the  "  Aquaeductus  vestibuli."  Next, 
three  portions  of  the  sac  get  pinched  up  in  an 
elongated  form,  these  ridges  rise  higher,  and 
by-and-by  the  middle  or  most  elevated  por- 
tion of  each  becomes  separated  from  the 
under-lying  sac,  by  its  walls  coalescing  in  this 
part.  Thus  three  tubes  are  formed  open  at 
each  end,  and  one  end  of  each  becomes 
dilated.  These  are  the  three  membranous 
semi-circular  canals.  Another  prolongation 
grows  forward  and  gradually  becomes  spiral. 
This  is  the  canalis  membranacea  cochleae. 
The  bony  case  becomes  developed  round 
these  from  cartilage  or  gristle,  from  three 
originally  separate  pieces  called  "  prootic," 
"  opisthotic,"  "epiotic"  respectively;  i.e., 
anterior,  posterior,  and  superior  ear-bones  or 
cartilages.  These  are  separate  in  cold-blooded 
vertebrata  throughout  life.  The  space  be- 
tween the  membranous  labyrinth  and  its  bony 
case  is  filled  up  by  connective  tissue  which 
gradually  liquefies  and  forms  the  perilymph. 

The  cavity  of  the  tympanum,  the  external 
passage  and  the  eustachian  tube  are  developed 
out  of  what  is  called  "  the  first  branchial 
cleft  ;  "  for  in  the  embrj'O  there  are  formed 
four  arches  which  lie  on  the  sides  of  the  neck 
exactly  like  the  arches  of  the  gills  of  a  fish, 
and  between  them  are  similar  slits  so  that 


the  cavity  of  the  gullet  here  communicates 
with  the  outer  world.  These  all  close  except 
the  first,  which  remains  as  the  external  ear, 
cavity  of  the  tympanum,  and  eustachian  tube. 
Some  of  the  clefts  however  remain  occa- 
sionally during  life.  Out  of  the  first  arch  are 
developed  in  order  from  above  downwards, 
the  malleus,  a  piece  of  cartilage  called 
"  Meckel's  cartilage,"  and  the  lower  jaw,  an 
arrangement  persistent  in  fish  ;  out  of  the 
second  arch  the  stapes,  stapedius  muscle, 
incus,  besides  other  structures  which  in- 
directly suspend  the  larynx,  viz.,  the  styloid 
process,  stylo-hyoid  ligament,  and  part  of  the 
hyoid  bone.  During  the  whole  of  foetal  life, 
according  to  Kolliker,  the  tympanic  cavity  is 
filled  with  connective  tissue  which  embeds 
the  little  bones,  and  this  only  becomes  ab- 
sorbed after  the  child  begins  to  breathe.  The 
pinna  is  a  lappet  developed  behind  the  first 
branchial  cleft. 

Propagation  of  Sound. — In  order  correctly 
to  understand  the  sense  of  hearing  we  must 
have  acquaintance  with  the  principal  laws  of 
acoustics  involved.  Sound  travels  through 
air  at  about  the  rate  of  1050  ft.  a  second,  in 
water  at  about  four  times  this  velocity,  and 
in  very  elastic  solid  bodies  eighteen  times  as 
rapidly.  In  passing  from  solids  to  water  the 
velocity  is  diminished,  and  from  solids  to  air 
still  more  so ;  the  passage  from  water  to 
solids  is  easy,  but  that  from  water  to  air  or 
from  air  to  water,  very  difficult.  Vibrations 
lose  much  of  their  intensity  in  passing  from 
air  to  solids.  The  cases  of  passage  therefore 
from  the  medium  of  least  to  that  of  greatest 
density,  i.e.,  from  air  to  solid,  or  from  the 
medium  of  least  to  that  of  considerably 
greater  density,  i.e.,  from  air  to  water,  are  the 
cases  of  greatest  difficulty  in  the  transmis- 
sion of  vibration.  A  dry  stretched  membrane 
easily  receives  and  transmits  vibrations 
of  the  air ;  and  such  a  membrane  placed  on 
the  surface  of  water  overcomes  in  a  great 
degree  the  difficulty  of  the  passage  between 
air  and  water.  This  assistance  is  enhanced 
when  the  membrane  is  combined  with  some 
solid  body.  Any  membrane  conducts  sounds 
well  when  only  in  water.  Sounds,  like  light, 
are  liable  to  be  reflected  whether  travelling 
in  water  or  air. 

Certain  terms  require  explanation.  Sounds 
are  "  communicated  "  when  they  are  merely 
conveyed  from  one  sounding  body  to  another, 
and  this  can  take  place  in  a  noise  as  well  as  a 
musical  sound.  Sounds  are  "  excited  "  *  under 
two  circumstances  :  when  the  body  which  is 
sounding  and  that  to  be  excited  have  the  same 
note  and  the  vibration  of  one  produces  sym- 


•  This  property  has  been  utilized  in  such  instruments 
as  the  viola  d'amore. 


(  150  ) 


EAR. 


pathetic  vibration  of  the  other,  the  bodies  are 
mutually  called  "  reciprocating,"  while  if  the 
vibration  of  one  produces  its  harmonics  in 
the  other,  the  latter  is  said,  with  regard 
to  the  exciting  body,  to  be  "  resonant."  Ac- 
cording to  Helmholtz,  "  timbre  "  or  "  quality  " 
depends  on  definite  combinations  of  certain 
secondary  sounds  or  harmonics  with  a  primary 
or  fundamental  sound,  and  such  combinations 
he  calls  "  sound  colours." 

Hearing. — Sounds  may  reach  the  auditory 
nerve  either  through  the  combination  of  spe- 
cialized structures  lying  between  the  tym- 
panum and  the  filaments  of  that  nerve,  or 
through  the  bones  of  the  skull.  In  the  normal 
state  the  latter  road  is  so  much  less  effica- 
cious that  it  may  be  disregarded  ;  but  when 
the  other  route  is  obstructed  or  rendered  im- 
pervious, it  then  becomes  the  medium  of  the 
communication  of  sound.  That  sounds  do 
however  reach  the  auditory  nerve  in  health 
by  this  way,  anyone  may  learn  by  closing  his 
ears  and  then  speaking  or  singing.  Under 
some  circumstances  the  bones  of  the  skull 
are  the  better  conductors  of  the  two ;  a  tuning- 
fork  held  between  the  teeth  gives  a  distinctly- 
audible  note  long  after  its  vibrations  have 
become  inaudible  through  the  air.  Sounds 
are  heard  under  water  by  this  means. 

The  External  liar. — The  pinna  or  auricle 
is  said  by  some  authors  to  help  us  to  hear  by 
reflecting  sound  into  the  meatus  and  by  pro- 
pagating it  through  its  substance  to  the  bony 
part  of  the  meatus  and  thence  to  the  mem- 
brana  tympani.  Reflection  can  only  be 
helped  by  the  large  hollow  behind  the  meatus 
called  the  concha,  and  by  the  point  in  front 
of  the  meatus  called  the  tragus,  the  concha 
reflecting  the  vibrations  on  to  the  tragus,  and 
this  reflecting  them  in  turn  into  the  meatus. 
The  other  parts  of  the  pinna  have  been  sup- 
posed to  assist  sound  by  conduction,  their 
various  folds  having  the  function,  according 
to  this  view,  of  receiving  vibrations  in  various 
planes  perpendicularly  and  thus  most  favour- 
ably for  propagation.  Another  view  regards 
these  folds  as  instrumental  in  neutralizing 
conflicting  sound  waves,  that  the  principal 
vibrations  may  be  able  to  enter  the  meatus 
without  interruption.  All  these  are  mere 
speculations.  An  animal  with  moveable  ears, 
such  as  a  horse,  turns  his  ears  to  the  source 
of  sound,  but  we  have  no  such  power,  the 
extrinsic  muscles  of  our  ear  are  generally 
quite  functionless,  and  never,  in  any  case,  pos- 
sess this  power,  the  only  one  which  would 
help  us  to  utilize  our  pinna.  Mr.  Toynbee 
believed  the  pinna  to  be  quite  functionless 
in  man  (see  above). 

The  External  Meatus  is  undoubtedly  func- 
tional in  conducting  sounds,  its  closure  will 
instantly    prove   this.     Its   curved  course 


proves  that  the  vibrations  must  reach  the 
tympanum  after  manifold  reflection  from  its 
walls  and  not  directly.  It  serves  to  conduct 
vibrations  without  dispersion  to  the  tympanic 
membrane.  The  column  of  air  which  it  con- 
tains increases  the  strength  of  the  vibrations 
which  reach  it,  and  by  lengthening  the  tube 
of  the  meatus  by  adding  a  tube  externally, 
and  thus  lengthening  the  column  of  air,  the 
sounds  are  much  increased  in  intensity.  Its 
walls  must  conduct  vibration  to  the  mem- 
brane of  the  tympanum,  but  this  function  is 
so  inconsiderable  that  we  may  practically 
neglect  it. 

The  Middle  Ear  or  Tympanum.  —  The 
Membrana  Tympani  serves  to  conduct  vibra- 
tions received  from  the  external  air  to  the 
three  small  bones,  the  malleus,  incus,  and 
stapes,  and  thus  to  the  internal  ear.  It  is 
usually  in  a  state  of  moderate  relaxation,  and 
is  made  more  tense  by  the  action  of  the 
tensor  tympani  muscle,  and  less  tense  pro- 
bably by  that  of  the  stapedius  and  perhaps 
the  laxator  tympani.  The  vibrations  which 
it  receives  are  derived  from  the  air  in  the 
external  meatus,  and  perhaps  also  from  the 
bony  ring  in  which  it  is  set. 

The  state  of  moderate  relaxation  which  is 
usual  to  it,  is  the  most  favourable  state  for 
vibrating  in  sympathy  with  sounds  of  a  wide 
range.  The  membrane  vibrates  reciprocally 
as  a  whole  if  the  sound  is  in  unison  with  the 
note  to  which  it  is  (so  to  say)  tuned  by  the 
muscles  of  the  small  bones,  i.e.  its  funda- 
mental ;  or  in  resonance  in  divisions,  if  the 
note  sounded  is  higher  than  this,  one  of  its 
harmonics.  That  it  is  not  always  tuned  to 
the  very  note  sounded  is  obvious,  when  we 
consider  that  this  can  only  be  the  case  when 
one  note  only  is  sounded.  It  cannot,  of 
course,  vibrate  reciprocally  to  a  note  lower 
than  its  fundamental.  A  membrane  has  a 
large  power  of  vibrating  sympathetically  since 
its  harmonics  are  very  numerous.  The  effect 
of  increasing  the  tension  of  the  membrane 
may  be  easily  tested  by  closing  the  nose  and 
mouth  and  either  blowing  air  out  from  the 
lungs  or  drawing  it  in.  By  the  former  w-e 
blow  air  through  the  eustachian  tube  into  the 
cavity  of  the  tympanum,  and  force  the  mem- 
brane outwards,  by  the  latter  we  decrease  the 
pressure  in  the  tympanic  cavity,  and  the  ex- 
ternal air  forces  the  membrane  still  more 
inwards  than  is  naturally  the  case.  The 
result  is  in  either  case  the  same,  the  sense  of 
hearing  is  on  the  whole  impaired,  though  very 
high  sounds  are  heard  better  than  before.  We 
have  stretched  the  membrane,  raised  its  fun- 
damental note,  and  diminished  its  power  of 
vibrating  in  sympathy  with  low  notes,  though 
we  have  at  the  same  time  increased  its  range 
of  sympathy  upwards.    Still  it  is  chiefly  im- 


(  1.51  ) 


EAR. 


proved  for  reciprocal  vibrations,  for  a  lax 
membrane  divides  itself  far  more  readily  into 
segments  which  vibrate  in  sympathy  with 
harmonics,  the  strength  of  such  vibrations 
being  increased  by  the  number  of  the  seg- 
ments into  which  it  divides  itself. 

The  tensor  tympani  (perhaps  the  laxator 
tympani,  though  some  deny  that  this  is  a 
muscle  at  all)  and  the  stapedius  are  the 
muscles  which  regulate  the  tension  of  the 
membrane.  These  two  muscles  are  generally 
considered  antagonists,  and  are  supplied  by 
different  nerves  ;  the  former  renders  the 
membrane  tenser,  the  latter,  more  lax.*  They 
simply  tune  the  drum  of  the  ear,  making  the 
membrane  tenser  for  high,  laxer  for  low 
sounds  ;  there  being  practically  a  degree  of 
tenseness  which  is  most  fit  for  perceiving 
vibrations  of  a  certain  average  pitch.  For 
exceedingly  loud  noises,  as  explosions,  the 
probability  is  that  the  membrane  is  made 
tense,  since  in  this  state  it  cannot  vibrate 
so  freely.  Thus  is  probably  explained  the 
sense  of  effort  which  we  feel  when  expecting 
a  loud  noise  which  may  never  occur. 

The  ossicula  auditiis  or  small  bones  of  the 
tympanum,  that  is,  the  malleus,  incus  and 
stapes,  move  as  one  piece,  though  they  are 
not  so  tightly  joined  together  but  that  they 
can  play  on  one  another.  It  is  possible 
that  their  particles  may  also  vibrate,  but 
they  are  not  adapted  for  this,  seemg  that 
much  vibration  must  be  lost  at  the  joints 
between  them.  The  direction  of  the  applica- 
tion of  the  force  to  the  malleus  is  the  same  as 
that  in  which  it  acts  through  the  stapes  ;  a 
line  perpendicular  to  the  membrane  is  parallel 
with  the  long  axis  of  the  stapes,  or  perpen- 
dicular to  the  membrane  closing  the  fenestra 
ovalis.  Each  time  the  membrane  of  the 
tympanum  is  bent  inwards  the  base  of  the 
stapes  is  driven  more  deeply  into  the  fenestra 
ovalis.  The  axis  of  the  chain  of  bones  is 
described  above.  Since  the  tensor  tympani 
is  attached  to  the  malleus  below,  the  laxator 
tympani  above  this  axis,  as  far  as  their  action 
on  the  membrane  of  the  drum  is  concerned, 
the  malleus  is  worked  by  the  former  muscle 
as  a  lever  of  the  third,  by  the  latter  as  a  lever 
of  the  first  order.  These  bones  are  covered 
with  mucous  membrane  which  must  insulate 
them  and  tend  to  prevent  the  propagation  of 
vibrations  from  them  to  the  air  in  the  tym- 
panum. 

The  Eustachian  Tube  serves  to  equalize 
the  pressure  on  the  outer  and  inner  sides  of 
the  membrane  of  the  tympanum.  It  is 
naturally  closed,  being  only  open  during 
swallowing  or  yawning,  when  the  muscles  of 


Some,  however,  consider  both  as  tensors  of  the 
nembrane. 


the  palate,  inserted  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
tube  are  put  into  action  and  pull  its  sides 
apart,  thus  temporarily  opening  it.  During 
a  bad  cold  in  the  head  we  often  become  deaf, 
especially  after  blowing  the  nose.  We  simply 
perform  the  experiment  mentioned  above  of 
blowing  air  through  the  eustachian  tube  into 
the  tympanum,  forcing  the  membrane  out- 
wards, and  also  rendering  it  too  tense.  The 
eustachian  tube,  however,  is  often  swollen 
during  a  cold,  and  is  pervious  only  to  great 
pressure  of  air;  it  therefore  collapses  and 
imprisons  this  extra  amount  of  air.  Some 
people  know  that  their  best  chance  of  relieving 
this  uncomfortable  state  is  to  swallow  or  yawn, 
though  they  do  not  know  the  reason.  This 
sometimes  opens  the  eustachian  tube,  and 
the  much  compressed  air  escapes,  the  hearing 
being  at  once  regained.  If  this  does  not 
succeed  it  is  sometimes  necessarj'  to  pass  a 
catheter,  a  tube  appropriately  bent,  along  the 
floor  of  the  nose  and  into  the  eustachian  tube, 
thus  opening  it.'  A  very  ingenious  method 
was  invented  by  Politzer  for  this  purpose  ; 
the  patient,  whose  eustachian  tube  is  imper- 
vious, is  given  a  glass  of  water,  and  the 
surgeon,  having  closed  one  of  his  nostrils 
with  one  hand,  inserts  a  tube  into  the  other; 
the  patient  is  then  told  to  drink.  As  he  does 
so,  the  surgeon  blows  through  the  tube,  and 
while  the  muscles  of  the  palate  open,  or  tend 
to  open  the  tube,  the  additional  pressure  dis- 
lodges the  plug  of  mucus  or  whatever  was 
closing  the  tube  ;  it  becomes  pervious,  and 
hearing  is  at  once  restored. 

The  air  of  the  tympanic  cavity  probably 
plays  little  or  no  part  in  the  production  of 
sound,  though  some  effect  must  theoretically 
be  produced  through  it  on  the  membrane 
closing  the  fenestra  rotunda,  and  through  it 
in  turn  on  the  labyrinth,  especially  the  scala 
tympani  of  the  cochlea,  by  means  of  the 
perilymph.  That  this  effect  must,  however, 
be  very  small  is  shown  by  experiment  ;  for 
vibrations  are  very  ill-conducted  from  the 
moist  side  of  a  membrane  to  air,  and  from 
this  air  to  water  through  a  membrane  stretched 
on  its  surface,  i.e.  from  the  inner  moist  side 
of  the  membrana  tympani,  to  the  air  of  the 
tympanic  cavity,  and  from  it  to  the  perilymph 
by  means  of  the  membrane  of  the  fenestra 
rotunda  ;  whereas  they  travel  with  remarkable 
intensity  between  air  and  water  when  con- 
ducted from  the  first  membrane  vibrating  in 
air  to  the  second  membrane  stretched  over 
water  through  a  chain  of  insulated  solid 
bodies  capable  of  vibrating  as  a  whole,  the 
last  of  which  communicates  with  a  solid  body 
in  close  apposition  with  the  second  membrane. 
i.e.  from  the  membrana  tympani  to  the  mem- 
brane of  the  fenestra  ovalis  through  the 
!  ossicula,  covered  with  moist  mucous  mem- 


■(  ) 


EAR. 


brane,  the  last  of  which,  the  stapes,  has  its 
base  in  close  apposition  with  the  membrane  \ 
of  the  fenestra  ovalis,  being  in  fact  imbedded 
;n  it.  This  is,  therefore,  the  principal  route 
of  the  vibrations  in  their  passage  through  the 
tympanum. 

The  membranous  labyrinth  is,  as  above 
said,  the  essential  part  of  the  auditory  ap- 
paratus, and  hearing  remains  even  if  all  the 
structures  between  it  and  the  external  air  are 
disorganized. 

As  to  the  special  function  of  its  constituent 
parts,  we  know  nothing  certainly ;  suppositions 
have  been  made,  but  the  theories  propounded 
on  the  question  have  not  advanced  beyond 
the  region  of  hypothesis.  The  vestibule  is 
probably  the  most  essential  part,  inasmuch  as 
it  is  not  only  the  first  part  of  the  ear  to  be 
developed  in  man,  but  is  also  the  first  part  to 
appear  in  the  series  of  vertebrate  animals, 
being  present  in  the  lowest  fishes,  except  the 
amphioxus,  which  has  no  distinct  organ  of 
hearing 

The  senii-circnlar  canals  are  supposed  to 
help  us  to  determine  the  direction  of  sounds, 
since  they  would,  if  prolonged,  intercept  vibra- 
tions in  any  direction,  being  in  the  three 
planes  of  a  cube,  and  this  arrangement  is 
found  in  nearly  all  cases  where  they  are 
present  at  all.  But  whether  they  actually 
fulfil  this  function  is  quite  unproved.  M. 
Flourens  *  has  experimented  on  the  subject 
by  cutting  one  or  other  of  these  canals,  but 
has  not  removed  the  difficulty. 

The  otoliths  are  supposed  to  intensify  sound 
by  striking  against  the  fine  endings  of  the 
auditory  nerve  as  they  vibrate. 

The  cochlea,  by  far  the  most  complicated 
part  of  the  ear,  is  involved  in  the  same 
obscurity  as  regards  its  functions  as  the  rest 
of  the  ear.  The  complicated  structures  of 
the  scala  media  have  been  supposed  merely 
to  deaden  vibrations  after  they  have  produced 
their  effect  on  the  auditory  nerve,  thus  pre- 
venting confusion.  But  it  is  by  far  more 
likely  that  they  have  a  higher  office  to  fill, 
and  it  is  now  generally  believed  that  they 
serve  to  distinguish  pitch.  The  rods  of  corti 
especially  seem  adapted  to  this  function, 
arranged  as  they  are  in  regular  graduated  . 


*  Solucha.  PflUger's  Archiv,  vol.  viii.,  quoted  in  the 
London  Medical  Record,  Feb.  ii,  1874.  Solucha  has 
made  further  experiments  which  make  this  still  more 
probable.  On  cutting  one  or  more  of  these  canals  the  ani- 
mal executes  certain  disorderly  movements.  These  are 
probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  animal  has  lost  proper 
conceptions  as  to  the  position  of  its  head,  since  some- 
what similar  movements  follow  from  merely  fixing  the 
head  unsymmetrically.  These  canals,  probably,  possess 
the  function  of  informing  the  animal,  by  a  series  of 
unconscious  impressions  as  to  the  exact  position  of  its 
head  in  space,  and  each  canal  has  an  exact  relation  to 
a  dimension  of  space. 


series,  dense  as  they  are  in  structure,  and 
elaborate  as  is  the  distribution  of  the  cochleal 
nerve  in  their  neighbourhood.  They  are  sup- 
posed to  vibrate  each  in  sympathy  with  one 
note,  and  to  transmit  the  vibrations  to  the 
special  twig  of  the  auditory  nerve  with  which 
each  is  supposed  to  be  connected.  Not  only 
would  they  thus  appreciate  pitch,  but  since 
"timbre"  or  "  quality "  depends  on  the  de- 
finite combination  of  harmonics  with  a  fun- 
damental note  (as  Helmholtz  has  shown)  they 
would  thus  convey  what  he  well  calls  "  sound- 
colours  "  to  the  sensorium,  these  sound- 
colours  being  combinations  of  a  fundamental 
tone  with  harmonics,  various  both  in  pitcli 
and  relative  intensity.  Duges,  who  first  pro- 
pounded the  theory  that  the  cochlea  was  the 
organ  by  which  we  appreciate  "  pitch,"  called 
attention  to  the  concomitant  variations  in  the 
evolution  of  the  cochlea  and  the  range  of  the 
voice  in  the  three  classes  of  mammals,  birds 
and  reptiles ;  the  former  having  the  largest,  the 
latter  the  smallest  development  of  both  cochlea 
and  vocal  range. 

A  "musical  ear"  consists  in  the  power  of 
appreciating  and  distinguishing  aerial  vibra- 
tions both  simple  and  compound,  just  as  "  the 
good  eye  for  colour"  consists  in  the  power  of 
appreciating  and  distinguishing  the  simple 
and  compound  vibrations  of  light. 

When  we  hear  a  sound  all  that  is  proven  is 
that  particular  filaments  of  the  auditory  nerve 
have  been  excited,  not  necessarily  that  there 
has  been  any  external  cause  for  the  sensation. 
Aural  delusions  occur,  though  not  so  com- 
monly as  optical  delusions.  The  singing  in 
the  ears  which  people  often  hear  when  they 
are  out  of  health,  overworked,  when  the  blood- 
vessels of  the  head  are  congested,  when  blood 
is  extravasated,  when  they  are  under  the 
influence  of  a  narcotic  poison,  when  they  are 
about  to  faint ;  all  belong  to  this  category. 
Many  people  are  painfully  conscious,  even  for 
many  hours  after  a  long  railway  journey,  of 
the  note  to  which  their  carriage  has  been 
vibrating. 

Comparative  Anatomy. — The  lowest  sub- 
kingdom  in  which  we  find  any  specialised  hear- 
ing organ  is  that  of  the  coelenterata,  the 
familiar  representatives  of  which  are  the 
jelly-fish  and  sea-anemones.  In  them  the 
ear  is  simply  a  sac  filled  with  fluid,  in  which 
are  crystals  of  carbonate  of  lime,  the  whole 
called  a  "  lithocyst  "  or  "  stone-sac,"  by  which 
the  vibrations  are  intensified.  This  is  analo- 
gous with  the  primitive  auditory  vesicle  of 
man. 

A  similar  structure  is  found  in  the  sub- 
kingdom  "Vermes,"  or  worms,  in  certain 
marine  worms  called  "  Turbellaria,"  a  fami- 
liar representative  of  which  is  the  worm 
often  seen  on  the  sea-shore  and  called  the 


(  153  ) 


EAR. 


"  sea-man's  bootlace.''  Many  of  the  higher 
worms,  or  ;tnneHds,  represented  by  the  leech 
and  earthworm,  have  a  pair  of  such  organs  in 
the  head,  connected  by  a  nerve  with  the 
nerve-ring  surrounding  the  gullet. 

Arthropoda,  the  sub-kingdom  containing 
Crustacea  (crabs,  lobsters,  shrimps,  prawns, 
and  the  wood-louse)  ;  Insecta  ;  Arachnida 
(spiders  and  scorpions)  ;  and  Myriapoda  (cen- 
tipedes), have  not  all  of  them  distinct  hearing 
organs.  In  Crustacea  both  closed  and  open 
hearing  organs  are  found.  In  the  higher 
Crustacea  they  are  found  at  the  base  of  the 
inner  or  smaller  pair  of  antennae  or  feelers, 
and  in  them  they  are  open.  In  another  crea- 
ture called  Mysis  they  are  placed  in  the  tail, 
and  are  composed  of  an  otolithic  sac  lined 
with  hair-like  bodies,  reminding  us  of  the 
human  "  fila  acustica,"  which  are,  like  them, 
connected  with  the  endings  of  a  nerve.  In 
those  which  have  open  hearing  sacs,  the  par- 
ticles of  sand  which  are  washed  in  are 
utilized  for  otoliths,  being  fastened  in  regular 
order  to  certain  of  these  hairs.  This  variety 
of  hearing  sacs  among  Crustacea  is  very  in- 
structive ;  whether  closed  or  open  they  are 
closely  connected  with  the  integument,  and 
the  fact  of  their  being  sometimes  open,  some- 
times closed,  reminds  us  of  the  gradual 
development  of  the  human  ear,  which  is  at 
first  merely  a  pit  in  the  integument,  and  after- 
wards becomes  a  closed  sac  (Gegenbaur,  loc. 
cit.  p.  388). 

Among  Insects  the  power  of  hearing  must 
be  almost  universal,  since  music  is  so  widely 
distributed  among  them,  but  the  organs 
themselves  have  not  been  satisfactorily  made 
out  in  many  cases.  Some  have  thought  them 
to  be  represented  by  a  tight  membrane  near  the 
base  of  the  feelers,  others  by  the  feelers  them- 
selves; among  the  grasshoppers  and  crickets 
by  a  sac  filled  with  fluid,  connected  with  a  nerve, 
enlarged  as  it  spreads  over  the  sac,  the  whole 
sac  being  placed  below  a  delicate  membrane 
forming  the  floor  of  a  pit  on  both  sides  of  the 
first  abdominal  ring.  In  some  locusts  it  is 
placed  on  the  basal  division  of  the  front  pair 
of  legs,  and  is  composed  of  a  vibrating  mem- 
brane like  the  tympanum,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  which  is  an  air-chamber  connected 
with  one  of  the  trachese  or  air-tubes  which 
pervade  the  body.* 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  insert  a  de- 
tailed description  of  a  very  elaborate  hearing 
organ  which  is  found  in  some  orthoptera. 
The  passage  is  translated  from  "Von  Siebold 
and  Stannius,  "  Lehrbuch  der 'Vergleichenden 
Anatomic,"  part  i.  p.  582  : 

"  Only  in  certain  orthoptera  has  a  paired  organ  been 
■uccessfuUy  discovered  which  seems  provided  with  the 


•  Gegenbaur,  loc.  cit.  p  389. 


necessary  apparatus  of  a  sense  of  hearing.  This  organ 
is  represented  in  the  Acrididae  by  a  depression  or 
pinna  surrounded  by  a  horny  ring  and  more  or  less 
vaulted  over,  in  the  bottom  of  which  a  tympaniform 
membrane  is  spread  out ;  on  the  inner  surface  of  the 
latter  a  pair  of  horn-like  appendages  rise,  between 
which  a  vesicle  filled  with  clear  fluid,  extremely  deli- 
cate, is  fastened  as  a  membranous  labyrinth.  Con- 
nected with  this  is  a  special  auditory  nerve,  coming 
from  the  third  thoracic  ganglion,  which  swells  to  a 
ganglion  on  the  tympanic  membrane,  and  ends  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  labyrinth  with  a 
number  of  little  and  extremely  slender  club-shaped  rods; 
loosely  surrounded  with  ganglion  cells  (?  are  these  end- 
ings primitive  nerve  fibres).  The  locusts  and  achetida; 
(grasshoppers)  possess  a  similar  hearing  organ  in  the 
'shins'  of  both  forelegs.  Some  of  the  locusts  possess 
on  both  sides  of  the  'foreshins,'  close  under  the  knee- 
joint,  a  depression,  while  others  of  this  family  of  the 
orthoptera  are  provided  on  the  same  spot  with  two 
more  or  less  spacious  hollows,  opening  forwards  by  an 
aperture  (auditory  capsules).  In  these  pits  and  also 
in  the  hollows  of  both  anterior  tibiae  of  the  locusts 
an  oval  tympanic  membrane  is  fitted.  Between  the 
two  tympanic  membranes  the  main  tracheal  stem  of 
the  forelegs  forms  a  vesicular  swelling,  on  the  superior 
end  (if  which  the  auditory  nerve  rising  from  the  first 
thoracic  ganglion  and  running  down  with  the  main 
crural  nerve  swells  to  a  ganglion.  From  this  ganglionic 
enlargement  a  band-like  nerve  mass  runs  down  on  the 
gentl\  excavated  anterior  side  of  the  tracheal  vesicle, 
upon  which  nerve  mass  a  linear  series  of  vesicles  with 
watery  contents  rise  which  again  contain  those  remark- 
able club-shaped  and  slender  rods  (?  primitive  nerve 
fibres).  The  two  great  tracheal  trunks  of  the  forelegs 
open  with  two  wide  funnel-shaped  openings  at  the 
posterior  edge  of  the  Prothorax,  so  that  here  also  part  of 
the  tracheal  system  as  in  acrididae  allows  of  a  compari- 
son with  a  tuba  eustachii.  In  the  achetidae  an  opening 
closed  by  a  silvery  membrane  (membrana  lympani) 
may  be  seen  on  the  external  side  of  both  forelegs  close 
under  the  knee-joint,  behind  which  a  similar  hearing 
organ  is  concealed. 

'  Note. — In  acheta  achatina  and  italica  an  equally 
large  tympanic  membrane  is  situated  also  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  forelegs  which,  in  acheta  sylvestris,  domestica, 
and  campestris  is  only  feebly  indicated  on  this  inner 
side  of  the  tibia." 

Hearing  organs  are  also  found  in  cock- 
chafers in  the  root  of  the  posterior  wings, 
j  In  the  larva  of  crabs  Heusen  has  described 
an  ear  consisting  of  an  otolithic  sac,  in  the 
adult  the  otoliths  disappear  and  the  sac  is 
curiously  composed  of  three  demi-canals.  In 
the  diptera  or  flies  they  are  situated  in  the 
rudimentary  wings  called  halteres. 

Auditory  organs  are  found  in  all  classes  of 
molluscs  either  connected  with  the  nerve 
ganglia  in  the  "foot"  or  motor  organ,  as  in 
the  lower  forms  (oysters,  muscles,  snails,  and 
slugs),  or  with  the  ganglia  below  the  oesopha- 
gus, as  in  the  higher  forms.  In  the  cepha- 
lopoda (octopus,  &c.)  they  are  placed  in  the 
mass  of  gristle  which  composes  the  head,  and 
in  them  the  sac  is  complicated.  In  all,  the 
type  is  essentially  the  same,  viz.,  a  mem- 
branous sac  containmg  fluid  and  an  otolith  or 
otoliths  and  supplied  by  a  nerve.  In  certain 
mollusca  called  brachiopoda,  hearing  organs 
are  found  only  in  the  larval  state.  In  all 
molluscs  the  otolithic  sac  seems  to  be  lined 


(  154  ) 


EAR. 


with  ciliated  epithelium,  i.e.,  epithelium 
which  is  furnished  with  eyelash-like  hairs 
which  continually  lash  the  fluid  in  which  they 
live.* 

Vertebrate  Animals  (Fish). — No  hearing 
organ  has  been  found  in  the  lowest  fish,  the 
amphioxus  or  lancelot.  In  all  other  fish  it  is 
present,  and  it  is  very  interesting  to  trace  its 
gradual  evolution  as  we  proceed  towards  the 
higher  representatives.  In  the  myxinoids  the 
vestibule,  the  only  part  of  the  ear  constant 
in  fishes,  consists  of  a  simple  ring-shaped 
tube  lined  with  cilia,  and  lies  freely  at  the 
sides  of  the  head,  like  the  primitive  auditory 
vesicle  of  the  human  embryo.  In  the  lamprey 
the  ear  consists  of  a  vestibule  with  two  semi- 
circular canals  each  of  which  has  an  ampulla. 
In  all  the  higher  fishes  the  labyrinth  is  en- 
closed in  the  bony  or  cartilaginous  skull,  and 
consists  of  three  semi-circular  canals,  the 
vestibule  being  divided  into  two  divisions  as 
in  man,  with  "  endolymph  "  and  "  otoliths." 
The  otoliths  are  often  very  large,  as  in  the 
cod  tribe.  In  the  whiting,  for  instance,  they 
may  easily  be  found  as  two  porcelain-like 
bodies,  somewhat  crescent-shaped  and  grooved 
transversely.  In  the  rays  the  vestibule  is 
prolonged  by  a  tube  which  opens  on  the 
upper  flat  surface  of  the  head.  No  fish  has 
an  external  ear,  tympanum,  membrana  tym- 
pani,  or  cochlea,  but  the  labyrinth  is  often 
connected  with  the  air-bladder,  either  by  a 
tube  or  by  a  chain  of  bones.  The  air-bladder 
is  thus  pressed  into  the  function  of  assisting 
the  hearing  (Weber,  "  De  aure  et  auditu,"  p. 
1245).  In  typical  fishes  we  thus  get  the 
representatives  of  the  vestibule,  saccule  and 
utricle,  each  with  its  otolith,  and  three  semi- 
circular canals  of  man. 

Amphibia.— In  those  amphibians  which 
retain  their  gills  through  life,  such  as  the 
newt  and  salamander,  we  have  very  little 
more  than  we  found  in  fishes.  They  possess 
an  internal  ear  only,  which  consists  of  a 
vestibule,  three  semi-circular  canals  ;  and  as 
an  addition  to  the  ear  of  fishes,  a  "fenestra 
ovalis,"  with  a  small  plate  closing  it,  repre- 
senting the  base  of  the  stapes.  In  one  called 
the  axolotl  (that  animal  on  which  Cortez  fed 
his  army)  this  plate  is  connected  with  a  little 
bone,  but  none  of  these  creatures  have  a 
middle  or  external  ear. 

In  those  amphibians  which  when  adult 
have  lost  their  gills,  we  find  the  following 
additions.  The  labyrinth  or  internal  ear  has 
an  otolithic  saccule ;  in  addition  to  the  plate 
of  cartilage  closing  the  fenestra  ovalis,  which 
has  a  small  muscle  to  move  it  (like  the  stape- 
dius in  man),  we  find  a  long  thin  bone 
"  columella  "   running   through  a  tympanic 


*  Gegenbaur,  loc.  cit.  p.  513. 


cavity  and  connected  with  a  third  member,  a 
small  cartilage  which  is  attached  to  a  tym- 
panic membrane,  and  has  another  muscle 
attached  to  it  (like  the  tensor  tympani  in 
man).  In  these  animals  the  middle  ear  or 
tympanum  first  appears  ;  this  cavity  is  filled 
with  air  and  communicates  by  an  eustachian 
tube  with  the  cavity  of  the  mouth.  The  tym- 
panic membrane-is  on  the  level  of  the  surface 
of  the  body — there  is  no  external  passage  or 
meatus. 

Reptiles. — We  divide  reptiles  into  ophidia 
or  serpents,  lacertilia  or  lizards,  chelonia,  or 
turtles  and  tortoises,  and  crocodilia,  crocodiles 
and  alligators. 

In  serpents  we  seem  to  have  an  ear  in- 
ferior to  that  of  frogs  ;  they  have  no  eustachian 
tube,  the  tympanum  does  not  contain  air,  but 
a  sort  of  packing  material  called  cellular  or 
connective  tissue,  the  tympanic  membrane, 
as  such,  is  absent,  the  tympanum  being 
closed  externally  by  skin.  This  substitution 
of  cellular  tissue  for  air  is  very  interesting 
when  we  remember  that  in  the  human  embryo 
the  reverse  change  takes  place.  With  this 
exception  the  ear  is  the  same  as  that  of 
frogs. 

In  lizards  we  again  find  a  tympanic  mem- 
brane and  cavity,  a  eustachian  tube,  and  in 
some  the  commencement  of  an  external  ear. 
In  the  iguana,  for  instance,  there  is  a  slight 
fold  of  skin  beyond  the  tympanic  membrane, 
and  this  is  again  instructive,  for  in  the  human 
embryo  the  tympanic  membrane  is  at  first  on 
the  level  of  the  skin  ;  and  the  external  ear, 
both  the  bony  and  cartilaginous  parts  of  the 
meatus  and  the  pinna,  are  subsequent  ad- 
ditions. 

In  turtles  and  tortoises  we  find  the  tym- 
panic cavity  divided  into  two  by  a  bony  septum 
or  partition,  which,  however,  is  incomplete. 
The  cochlea  makes  its  first,  appearance  as  a 
slight  conical  bud,  as  it  does  in  the  human 
embryo,  and  there  is  a  fenestra  rotunda. | 

In  crocodiles  the  cochlea  becomes  bent  and 
divided  into  two  scalcc.  The  tympanic  mem- 
brane is  placed  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  fissure, 
and  protected  by  a  flap  of  integument  con- 
taining cartilage  and  capable  of  closing  the 
slit  by  muscles  attached  to  it;  thus  we  have 
an  external  ear.  The  tympanic  cavity  com- 
municates with  air-cells  in  many  of  the  bones 
of  the  head  as  in  birds.  Indeed,  to  the  com- 
parative anatomists  to  whom  the  striking  dif- 
ference between  feathers  and  scales  is  the 
least  difference  in  the  world  and  quite  unim- 


f  There  is  one  lizard  of  very  exceptional  structure 
which  possesses  a  cochlea  with  an  indication  of  the 
spiral  curve  which  afterwards  produces  the  form  which 
we  find  in  man.  Its  name  is  Hatteria,  but  it  is  indeed 
so  full  of  anomalies  that  it  is  best  mentioned  in  a  note, 
and  not  as  a  representative  of  lacertilia. 


(  ) 


EAR  E  DUR. 


portant,  the  crocodile  is  nothing  but  a  bird 
with  certain  practically  unimportant  distinc- 
tions. 

The  ear  of  birds  is  composed  of  an  internal 
ear  consisting  of  a  vestibule  with  a  foramen 
rotundum,  and  a  foramen  ovale,  a  cochlea  with 
an  incipient  spiral  turn,  three  semi-circular 
canals,  and  two  cartilaginous  bands  represent- 
ing the  lamina  spiralis  ossea;  of  a  middle  ear 
consisting  of  a  cavity,  filled  with  air,  com- 
municating with  air-cells  in  most  of  the  bones 
of  the  head,  provided  with  a  membrana  tym- 
pani  and  eustachian  tube,  and  with  a  colu- 
mella or  stapes.  This  columella  which  we 
have  seen  from  amphibia  upwards,  is,  as  we 
have  said,  the  stapes  of  man.  It  is  shaped 
like  a  long  post-horn,  or  like  a  stethoscope. 

The  external  ear  consists  of  an  external 
auditory  meatus,  and  an  indication  of  a  pinna 
in  the  form  of  a  fold  of  skin  just  in  front  of 
the  meatus  ;  this  is  largest  in  the  owls.  In 
some  birds  as  the  bustards  the  meatus  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  ring  of  specialized  feathers, 
which  perhaps  serve  to  reflect  vibrations  to- 
wards the  tympanum. 

The  Ear  of  Mammals  is  in  the  main  so 
like  that  of  man  that  it  will  be  sufficient  to 
mention"  such  differences  as  we  find  in  dif- 
ferent classes. 

In  the  internal  ear  we  find  that  the  cochlea 
has  a  very  variable  number  of  turns.  The 
hedgehog  has  one-and-a-half  turns,  the  seal 
two,  many  ruminants  somewhat  more,  next 
the  camel,  horse,  and  elephant,  and  many 
bruta  (ant-eaters,  sloths,  &c.)  ;  the  bats,  apes, 
and  man,  two-and-a-half ;  most  carnivora 
three,  the  pigs  nearly  four  ;  the  guinea-pig 
and  agouti  quite  four;  and  the  paca  (a  rodent) 
five;  marsupials  have  a  very  varying  number 
of  turns,  the  kangaroo  two-and-a-half  (like 
ruminants  which  they  represent  among  mar- 
supials), and  the  opossum  nearly  five.* 

The  otoliths  are  not  universally  found 
among  mammals.  The  labyrinth  has  many 
variations,  for  which  reference  must  be  made 
to  the  larger  treatises.  The  "  ossicula  audi- 
tus"  are  very  variable  in  shape  ;  in  the  lowest 
order  of  mammals,  the  monotremata,  mclud- 
ing  the  ornithorhynchus  (duck-billed  platypus), 
and  echidna  (Australian  ant-eater),  the  stapes 
is  shaped  like  that  of  amphibia,  reptiles,  and 
birds  ;  it  is  a  long  and  thin  bone  without  any 
division— a  "  columella,"  in  fact.  In  cetacea 
or  whales,  dolphins  and  porpoises,  the  ear  is 
very  remarkable ;  the  external  auditory  meatus 
is  almost  obliterated,  in  one  dolphin  hardly 
admitting  a  pig's  bristle.  It  is  probable  that 
the  vibrations  of  sound  are  communicated  in 
them  to  the  auditory  nerve,  not  by  the  meatus 
but  by  the  bones  of  the  head,  as  in  fish,  and 


Gegenbaur,  p.  773. 


in  them  the  tympanic  bone,  forming  the  wall 
of  the  tympanum  and  supporting  the  drum, 
is  very  dense  and  hangs  almost  independently, 
reminding  one  of  the  large  otoliths  of  fish 
(Owen),  though  whether  it  really  fulfils  the 
same  office  it  is  difficult  to  say. 

The  pinna  is  absent  in  most  seals,  the 
mole,  cetacea,  and  the  ornithorhynchus,  in 
most  diving  animals  it  is  very  sm.all.  In 
some  bats  it  is  enormously  developed,  and 
has  vibratile  movements  by  which  it  seems 
to  act  as  a  sort  of  tactile  organ  "  relating  to 
the  perception  of  atmospheric  impulses  re- 
bounding from  surfaces  near  which  the  bat 
approaches  in  flight."t  Spallanzani  says  that 
a  bat,  after  being  deprived  of  the  power  of 
sight,  hearing,  and  smell,  by  having  the  eyes 
put  out,  and  the  ears  and  nostrils  plugged, 
was  still  able  to  avoid  obstacles  and  to  pass 
through  openings  only  just  large  enough  to 
admit  its  body. 

Some  animals  have  the  power  of  volun- 
tarily closing  their  external  meatus — the  ele- 
phant and  the  water  shrew,  for  instance. 

Ecbole  (Gk.)  The  terms  eclvsis  (ticXvau) 
and  ecbole  (e/c/joXr;)  refer  to  the  flattening  and 
sharpening  of  sounds  to  adapt  them  to  a 
change  of  key-note. 

Eccedente  {It.)  Exceeding,  augmented,  a 
term  applied  to  intervals. 

Ecclesiastical  modes.    [Plain  song.] 

Echeion.  fixtiov  {Gk.)  (i)  A  hollow 
vessel,  generally  of  metal  (xaXctiov)  used  as  a 
drum  or  gong.  (2)  Metallic  vases  so  ar- 
ranged behind  the  seats  of  the  ancient  theatre 
as  to  reinforce  the  sound  of  the  actors' voices. 
An  account  of  them  is  to  be  found  in  Vitru- 
vius.    (3)  The  resonance  box  of  a  lyre. 

Echelle  {Fr.)  A  scale,  as  echelle  chro- 
matiqne,  echelle  diatonique;  chromatic  scale, 
diatonic  scale. 

Echo.  A  sound  produced  by  reverbera- 
tion, an  imitation  of  a  sound  so  produced, 
(i)  In  old  organ  music  the  use  of  this  term 
signified  that  a  passage  so  marked  was  to  be 
played  upon  the  echo-organ,  a  set  of  pipes 
enclosed  in  a  box,  by  which  a  soft  and  distant 
effect  was  produced,  incapable  however  of 
so  great  expression  as  that  obtained  by  the 
use  of  the  swell,  which  is  an  improvement 
upon  the  echo-organ.  (2)  Echo-stop  on  a 
harpsichord  was  a  contrivance  for  obtaining 
a  soft  and  distant  effect. 

Eclisses  {Fr.)  The  sides  of  a  lute,  guitar 
or  violin. 

Eclysis.  [Ecbole.] 

Ecole  {Fr.)    A  school  or  style  of  music. 

Ecossais  {Fr.)    In  the  Scotch  style. 

E  dur  {Gcr.)  The  key  of  E  major,  the 
key  having  four  sharps  in  its  signature. 


Owen,  Anat.  of  Vertebrates,  vol.  iii.  p.  189. 


(  ) 


EFFECT  ENHARMONIC. 


Effect.  Effet  (Fr.)  Effetto  (It.)  The 
mental  impression  produced  by  the  perform- 
ance of  music,  arising  from  the  genius  of  the 
composer  in  the  novel  invention  of  pleasing 
or  striking  remedies,  or  telling  harmonies, 
and  the  happy  fitness  of  choice  of  certain 
passages,  vocal  or  instrumental,  in  certain 
understood  situations ;  or  the  clever  inter- 
pretation of  those  passages  by  the  performers. 

Eguaglianza  {It.)    Equality,  evenness. 

Eguale  (It.)  Equal,  as  voci  eguali,  equal 
voices. 

Egualmente  {It.)    Equally,  evenly. 

Eighth.    The  interval  of  an  octave. 

Einfach  (Ger.)  Simple;  as,  ein/ache  In- 
tervalle,  simple  intervals  ;  ein/acher  Contra- 
punkty  simple  counterpoint. 

Einfait  {Ger.)  Simplicity  ;  as,  mit  Einfalt 
und  Wiirde,  with  simplicity  and  dignity. 

Eingang  {Ger.)  Introduction,  as,  Eingang 
schliissel,  introductory  key. 

Eingestrichen  {Ger.)  Having  one  stroke, 
as  c',  d',  &c.  [Pitch.] 

Einheit  {Ger.)  Unity. 

Einleitungs-satz  {Ger.)  An  opening 
phrase,  or  introduction  ;  an  overture. 

Einschlafen  {Ger.)  To  slacken  pace  and 
diminish  the  power. 

Einschlagend  {Ger.)  Lit.  striking  in- 
wards, as  is  the  case  with  a  percussion  reed  ; 
whereas  aii/schlagend  is  used  with  reference 
to  a  free  reed.  [Reed.] 

Einschnitt  {Ger.)  An  incomplete  musical 
sentence  or  motive. 

Eis  {Ger.)    E  sharp. 

Eisenvioline  {Ger.)  Lit.,  iron  fiddle.  A 
nail  violin,  an  instrument  the  sounds  of  which 
are  produced  from  pointed  pieces  of  iron. 
Ger.,  Nagel  -ge  ige . 

Eisteddfod  {Welsh).  A  congress  or  session 
for  the  election  of  chief  bards,  called  together 
for  the  first  time  at  Caerwys  by  virtue  of  a 
commission  granted  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  May 
26th,  156S.  Eisteddvodau  have  been  since 
held  in  various  places  at  uncertain  intervals, 
and  now  (1875)  will  probably  take  place  an- 
nually in  localities  made  known  some  time 
before  the  assembly.  The  object  is  the 
encouragement  of  native  poetry  and  music. 

Eklysis  or  Eclysis  {Gk.)    [See  Ecbole.] 

Ela.  The  name  given  by  Guido  to  the 
highest  note  in  his  scale. 


Electric  organ.  An  organ,  the  key  and 
stop-action  of  which  are  connected  with  the 
pallets  and  sliders  by  the  force  of  an  electric 
current. 

Elegant  {Fr.)  Elegantemente  {It.)  Ele- 
ganza,  con  {It.)  Elegantly,  with  elegance  of 
style. 


Elegiac.  In  the  style  of  an  elegy ;  of  a 
mournful  character. 

Elegy,  iktyiiov  (Gk.)  (i)  A  distich  con- 
sisting of  an  hexamet(;r  and  pentameter.  (2) 
A  poem  in  elegiacs.  (3)  A  composition  of  a 
mournful  and  commemorative  character. 

Elevatio  (Lat.)  (i)  Arsis  q.v.  (2)  A 
motett  sung  at  the  elevation  of  the  host.  (3) 
The  raising  of  a  mode  beyond  its  ambitus. 

Elevato  {It.)    Raised,  exalted. 

Elevazione  {It.)  A  composition  founded 
upon  a  special  theme,  as  Elevazione  sopra  il 
Pattge  lingua. 

Eleve  {Fr.)    A  pupil. 

Eleventh.  The  interval  of  an  octave  and 
a  fourth.    A  compound  fourth. 

Embouchure  {Fr.)  The  mouth-piece  of 
a  wind  instrument. 

Emmeleia,  e^iulXtta  {Gk.)  (i)  Consonance, 
concord  in  musical  sounds.  (2)  A  Tragic 
dance  accompanied  by  music.  (3)  The  music 
of  the  Tragic  dance. 

E  moll  {Ger.)  The  key  of  E  minor.  The 
relative  minor  of  G  major. 

Empater  les  sons  (Fr.)  To  sing  legato, 
or  with  a  portamento. 

Empfindung  (Ger.)  Emotion,  passion, 
feeling. 

Emphasis.    Accent.   [Arsis.]  [Accent.] 
Emporte  {Fr.)    Passionate,  hurried. 
Empresse  {Fr.)    Eager,  hurried. 
Enarmonico  {It.)  Enharmonic. 
Enbadinant(F;'.)  Scherzando.  [Scherzo.J 
Encore  {Fr.)    Again,  more.    A  word  used 
in  England  when  a  repetition  of  a  piece  is 
desired.    It  is  used  both  as  a  noun  and  as  a 
verb  in  common  writing ;  as,  an  encore,  to 
encore. 

Encoenia.  Dedication  festivals ;  in  old 
English,  chyrche-holy ;  Anglo-Sax.,  cyric- 
halgung,  church  hallowing. 

Energia,  con  ;  energicamente  ;  ener- 
gico  {It.)    With  energy,  forcibly. 

Enfant  de  Choeur  {Fr.)  A  chorister-boy. 

Enfatico  {It.)    With  emphasis,  earnestly. 

Enfler  {Fr.)  To  swell,  to  increase  in 
sound. 

Enfasi,  con  {It.)    With  emphasis. 

Enge  {Ger.)  Narrow,  close,  straight.  A 
term  used  in  reference  to  the  small  scale  of 
organ  pipes,  or  to  the  closeness  of  subject 
and  answer  in  a  stretto. 

Engel-stimme  {Ger.)    [Vox  Angelica.] 

Engraving  of  music.  [Printing  of 
music] 

Enharmonic,  (i)  One  of  the  three  genera 
of  Greek  music,  the  other  two  being  the 
Diatonic  and  Chromatic.  (2)  Having  inter- 
vals less  than  a  semitone,  e.g.,  an  enharmonic 
organ  or  harmonium  is  an  instrument  having 
more  than  twelve  divisions  in  the  octave,  and 
capable,  therefore,  of  producing  two  distinct 


(  157  ) 


ENOPLIUS  ENTREMETS. 


sounds  where,  on  the  ordinary  instrument, 
one  only  exists,  as,  for  instance,  Gff  and  A?, 
&c.  An  enharmonic  scale  is  one  containing 
intervals  less  than  a  semitone.  (3)  An  enhar- 
monic modulation  is  a  change  as  to  notation, 
but  not  as  to  sound,  e.g.  : 


It  is  important  to  notice  that  an  enhar- 
monic modulation  is  not  so  termed  in  strict 
propriety,  because,  it  is  only  feasible  on  an 
ordinary  keyed-instrument  by  actually  ignor- 
ing the  existence  of  intervals  smaller  than  a 
semitone. 

Enoplius.  ivonXioa  {Gk.)  Warlike  music. 
Music  of  the  war-dance. 

Ensemble  (Fr.)  Together.  The  whole, 
(i)  The  general  effect  of  a  musical  perform- 
ance. (2)  The  union  of  the  whole  company  of 
performers  in  a  concerted  piece. 

Entr'acte  (Fr.)  Music  played  between  the 
acts  or  divisions  of  an  opera,  drama,  or  other 
stage  performance. 

Entrata  (7^.)  Entree  (Fr.)  Entry,  intro- 
duction, or  prelude.  Scena  d' entrata,  the 
first  scena  allotted  to  a  vocalist  in  an  opera. 
{Fr.)  scene  d'entree. 

Entrechats  {Fr.)  The  peculiar  bounds 
with  which  a  dancer  leaps  across  the  stage 
on  entering. 

Entremese  {Span.)  A  short  musical 
interlude,  in  one  or  two  scenes,  played  by  a 
few  actors,  rarely  more  than  four.  Entre- 
meses  were  mostly  of  a  burlesque  character,  and 
when  performed  between  the  preludes  and  the 
plays,  Autos,  or  Loas,  made  an  interlude  of  a 
nature  peculiarly  acceptable  to  the  Spanish 
mind.  The  subjects  were  chosen  from  pos- 
sible events  of  a  droll  character  in  common 
life,  and  were  mostly  written  in  verse.  They 
cannot  be  traced  to  a  higher  antiquity  than 
the  17th  century,  and  are  still  popular  in  re- 
mote parts  of  Spain.  When  more  than  ordi- 
nary prominence  is  given  to  the  music,  the 
name  Saynetes  (the  Spanish  for  dainties)  is 
given  to  them. 

Entremets  {Fr.)  Short  dramatic  or  alle- 
gorical entertainments.  A  remote  antiquity 
is  claimed  for  this  species  of  diversion,  which 
some  writers  declare  to  be  the  origin  of  the 
opera  and  drama.  The  date  of  their  inven- 
tion has  been  fixed  at  an  epoch  during  the 
reign  of  Saint  Louis  (1226-1270). 

The  king  desired  to  re-awaken  the  en- 
thusiasm of  his  nobles  and  warriors  that  they 
might  join  him  in  the  endeavour  to  wrest  the 
Holy  Land  from  the  hands  of  the  infidels. 
He  sought  the  aid  of  the  Di  ke  of  Burgundy, 


who,  flattered  by  the  preference  shown  to  him 
in  being  selected  as  the  king's  agent  in  the 
matter,  sought  every  means  to  carry  his 
wishes  into  effect.  He  gave  a  series  of 
banquets  and  entertainments  to  the  nobility, 
who  at  that  time  were  noted  for  their  luxury, 
not  to  say  licentiousness;  and  in  the  course 
of  these  feasts  certain  allegorical  poems, 
commemorating  the  deeds  of  the  old  warriors 
and  kings,  their  ancestors,  were  recited  or 
sung.  Appeals  were  made  to  the  chivalric 
spirit  still  supposed  to  exist  in  the  breast  of 
the  scions  of  a  warlike  stock,  and  they  were 
implored  to  unite  in  aiding  the  defenders  of 
their  religion  in  a  crusade  against  the  un- 
believing occupants  of  the  sacred  cities.  The 
stratagem  succeeded,  the  nobles  and  princes 
joined  with  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  and  bound 
themselves  by  oath  to  follow  and  support 
him. 

The  Entremets  thus  originated  were  con- 
tinued on  great  occasions,  and  ultimately 
became  diverted  from  their  primary  intention. 
The  performers,  mimes,  farceurs,  baladins, 
menetriers,  &c.,  as  they  are  variously"  called, 
followed  the  fortunes  of  their  lords,  and  in 
course  of  time  invented  new  entremets,  no 
longer  confining  themselves  either  to  patri- 
otic or  religious  subjects.  These  entremets 
suggested  more  extended  performances,  and 
what  can  now  be  gathered  of  their  charactei 
has  led  many,  not  unreasonably,  to  assume, 
that  in  them  was  the  germ  of  the  modern 
opera. 

In  later  times  when  acting  was  better  un- 
derstood, a  further  change  was  made  in  the 
style  of  the  subjects  selected,  and  the  entre- 
mets were  almost  always  of  a  humorous 
character,  though  heroic  subjects  were  some- 
times chosen.  In  1237,  upon  the  occasion 
of  a  marriage,  Alberic,  in  his  chronicle,  speaks 
of  the  entremets  then  and  there  performed, 
and  also  adds  that  "  Illi  qui  dicuntur  minis- 
trelli  in  spectaculo  vanitatis  multa  ibi  fecerunt, 
sicut  ille  qui  in  equo  super  cordam  in  aere 
equitaret,  et  sicqt  illi  qui  duos  boves  de  scar- 
late  vestitos  equitabant  cornitantes  ad  singula 
fercula  quae  apponebantur  regi  in  mensa." 
In  1378,  at  a  feast  given  by  Charles  V.  to 
his  uncle  in  the  castle  of  St.  Germain,  two 
entremets  representing  the  conquest  of  Jeru- 
salem, by  Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  were  per- 
formed. And  at  the  marriage  of  Charles  IX. 
in  1572,  the  entremets  were  on  the  subject  of 
the  destruction  of  Troy.  Jean  Antoine  de 
Baif  in  1573  published  "  Mimes,  entremets, 
enseignmenset  Proverbes,"  which  were  simply 
epigrams,  and  the  change  of  opinion  with 
regard  to  the  use  of  the  word  in  De  Baif's 
mind,  shows  that  even  then  a  gradual  altera- 
tion in  the  meaning  and  force  of  the  entre- 
mets was  taking  place.    The  word  is  now 


(  158  ) 


ENTUSIASMO  EQUIVOCAL  CHORDS. 


employed  to  signify  any  small  entertainment 
between  two  greater  ones.    c.f.  Entremeses. 

Entusiasmo.  Entusiastico  {It.)  With 
enthusiasm. 

Entwurf  {Ger.)    A  sketch. 

Eolian  Harp.  A  musical  instrument  made 
of  a  long  narrow  box  of  thin  even-grained  deal, 
about  five  or  six  inches  deep,  having  a  circle 
of  small  holes  drilled  in  the  centre  of  the  upper 
side.  On  this  side  the  strings,  six  or  more,  are 
stretched  in  parallel  lines  over  bridges  fixed 
at  each  end,  the  tension  being  preserved  by 
means  of  screwpins.  The  strings  must  be 
tuned  in  unison,  and  the  box  placed  in  a  free 
current  of  air.  A  delicate  combination  of 
sounds  is  then  produced,  somewhat  resem- 
bling the  effect  of  a  full  orchestra,  without 
instruments  of  percussion,  when  heard  at  a 
distance,  the  sound  increasing  or  decreasing 
in  power  with  the  force  of  the  wind.  The 
usual  method  of  using  the  instrument  is  by 
placing  it  on  the  ledge  of  a  half-opened  win- 
dow ;  but  the  tone  is  best  produced  when  the 
box  is  made  of  the  exact  length  of  the  window 
opening,  and  the  lower  sash  of  the  window 
closed  as  far  as  the  box  will  allow.  The 
Eolian  harp  is  the  invention  of  an  English- 
man of  the  name  of  Pope,  and  was  improved 
by  Kircher,  a  German  (1670).  The  har- 
monics heard  are  due  to  the  overtones  of  the 
strings. 

"  Behoves  no  more, 
But  sidelong,  to  the  gently  waving  wind 
To  lay  the  well-tuned  instrument  reclined; 

From  which,  with  airy  flying  fingers  light. 
Beyond  each  mortal  touch  the  most  refined, 

The  God  of  Winds  drew  sounds  of  deep  delight." 

Thomson's  Castle  of  Indolence. 

Eolian  mode.  The  fifth  of  the  authentic 
Gregorian  modes.  It  consists  of  the  natural 
notes  La,  Si,  Do,  Re,  Mi,  Fa,  Sol. 

Epicedion.  tTndihiov  {Gk.)  A  dirge, 
elegy. 

Epigonion  (Gk.)  ETnyovtLov.  A  musical  in- 
strument, named  after  its  inventor  Epigonus, 
the  date  of  whose  existence  is  matter  of  doubt, 
and  the  character  of  the  instrument  is  alsq 
somewhat  uncertain.  It  is  described  as  hav- 
ing forty  strings,  but  the  method  of  tuning  is 
absolutely  unknown. 

Epilenia,  iniXl^via  (Gk.)    Vintage  songs. 

Epinette  (Fr.)  [Spinet.] 

Epinicium.  iwiviKiov  {Gk.)  A  song  of 
victory. 

Episode.  A  term  in  fugue  writing,  applied 
to  those  phrases  which  are  supplemental  to 
the  main  subjects  or  their  answers.  [Fugue.] 

Epitasis  {Gk.)  i-n-lTaing.  (i)  The  raising 
of  the  voice  from  a  low  to  a  higher  pitch.  (2) 
The  tightening  of  the  strings  of  an  instru- 
ment, as  opposed  *o  aytinc. 


Epithalamium,  tTridnXofiiov  (Gk.)  A 
nuptial  song. 

Epode,  tTTuihk  (Gk.)  (i)  An  after  song, 
the  strain  of  a  lyric  song  after  the  strophe 
and  antistrophe.    (2)  A  burden  or  refrain. 

E  poi  (It.)  And  then,  after  ;  as,  e  poi  la 
coda,  then  go  to  the  coda. 

Equabilmente  {It.)    Equally,  similarly. 

Equal  voices.  A  term  for  an  assortment 
of  men's  voices  or  women's  voices.  Thus,  a 
piece  is  said  to  be  set  for  equal  voices,  when 
the  voices  of  men  only  are  needed,  though  the 
quality  of  those  voices  are  not  equal,  the  alto 
voice  differing  from  the  tenor  as  the  tenor 
does  from  the  bass.  The  like  difference  in  a 
less  marked  manner,  also  exists  among 
women's  voices,  but  when  all  men's  or  all 
women's  voices  are  required,  the  term  equal 
is  applied  to  each  group.  The  union  of  the 
voices  of  the  two  sexes  is  styled  "  mixed." 
In  its  most  true  sense  the  term  should  only 
be  applied  to  groups  of  voices  of  like  register 
and  compass. 

Equisonans  {Lat.)  The  name  given  to 
the  consonance  of  the  unison  and  octave. 

Equivoca  {Lat.)  Equivocal,  or  doubtful, 
nota  equivoca  was,  in  mediaeval  music,  a 
note  whose  value  varied  according  to  the 
length  of  the  notes  on  either  side. 

Equivocal  or  doubtful  chords.  A  name 
given  to  combinations  of  sounds  which  are 
common  to  two  or  more  distinct  keys,  and 
which,  when  heard,  make  the  listener  doubt- 
ful as  to  the  particular  key-tonality  into 
which  they  are  about  to  be  resolved. 

The  simplest  form  of  chords  of  this  class 
is  to  be  found  in  the  so-called  diminished 
triad,  e.g.: 


The  above  chord  may  be  resolved  into  the 
keys  of  C  major,  C  minor,  A  minor,  B  minor, 
or  B  major  (the  last  two  by  means  of  an 
enharmonic  change),  thus: 


The  inversions  of  this  chord  give,  as  might 
be  expected,  greater  scope  for  varied  pro- 
gressions than  can  be  obtained  from  its 
original  position. 

The  next  important  doubtful  chord  is  the 
diminished  seventh,  but  in  this  case  it  will  be 
noticed  that  the  numerous  resolutions  are  the 
result  of  its  possible  enharmonic  change, 
whereas,  in  examples  i,  2,  and  3  above,  no 


(  I5Q  ) 


ERHOHUNG  EXERCISE. 


alteration  has  been  made  in  the  notation  of 

the  chord : 


If  this  chord  be  struck  and  held  down  while 
the  eye  traces  the  various  changes  of  nota- 
tion through  which  it  is  capable  of  passing, 
it  will  be  found  that  an  impression  of  an  en- 
tirely new  key  is  given  at  each  successive 
change. 

Composers  have  not  been  slow  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  sudden  flights  into  remote 
keys,  which  such  combinations  suggest, 
every  key  being  easily  and  naturally  reached 
by  a  judicious  treatment  of  this  chord  in  the 
position  given  above  or  in  its  other  three 
positions.  Another  class  of  chords  are  used 
as  doubtful  chords,  though  less  frequently 
than  those  just  described,  namely,  the  chords 
of  the  extreme  sixth  (called  also  sharp  or 
augmented  sixth),  e.g.  : 


The  use  of  doubtful  chords  is  only  to  be 
traced  in  modern  authors ;  old  writers  used 
them  rarely,  and  then  only  to  produce  some 
startling  effect,  justified  by  the  character  of 
the  words  in  vocal  music,  or  by  the  professed 
drift  of  a  piece  of  orchestral  sound-painting. 

Erhbhung  {Ger.)  Elevating,  enhancing, 
raising ;  a.s  Erhdhungs-zeicJien,  the  sign  of 
chromatic  elevation,  a  sharp  or  natural. 

Erniedrigung  {Ger.)  Lowering,  depress- 
ing, as  Erniedrignngs  'Zeichen,  the  sign  for 
chromatic  depression,  a  flat  or  natural. 

Erst  {Ger.)  First;  as,  ersterSatz,  first  part. 

Ersterben  (Ger.)    To  die  away,  morendo. 

Erweitert  {Ger.)  Extended,  augmented, 
amplified. 

Es  (Ger.)    E  flat. 

Esatto  (//.)  Strict,  exact ;  as,  esatto  in- 
tonazione,  just  intonation. 

Es  dur  iGer.)    The  key  of  E  flat  major. 

Esecuzione  (It.)  Execution. 

Eses  {Ger.)    E  double  flat. 

Es  moll  (Ger.)    The  key  of  E  flat  minor. 

Espace  (Fr.)    A  space  of  the  stave. 

Espagnuolo,  a  (//.)   In  the  Spanish  style. 

Espirando  (It.)    Dying  away  ;  gasping. 

Espressione,  con  (It.)  With  expression. 

Espressivo  (//.)  Expressive. 

Essential  harmony.  Harmony  inde- 
pendent of  grace,  auxiliary,  passing,  synco- 
pated, anticipating,  or  pedal  notes. 


Essential  notes.  Notes  belonging  to  a 
key-chord.  The  essential  notes  of  the  chord 
of  F  major  are  F,  A,  C.  [Chordae  essentiales.] 

Estinguendo.  Estinto  (//.)  Dying  away, 
gradually  reducing  both  power  and  pace. 

Estravaganza  {It.)  A  work  fanciful  and 
far-fetched  in  composition  or  execution. 

Estremamente  (It.)  Extremely. 

Estro  poetico  {It.)  Poetic  rage,  or  fer- 
vency. 

Etendue  {Fr.)  Extended. 

EtoufTe  (Fr.)  Lit.  stifled.  Damped,  by 
means  of  pedal,  mute,  or  palm  of  the  hand. 
[Damp.] 

Etouffoirs  {Fr.)  Dampers. 

Etude  {Fr.)  A  study,  exercise,  or  lessen. 

Et  vitam.  One  of  the  movements  of  the 
mass.  [Mass.] 

Etwas  {Ger.)  Somewhat;  as,  etwas 
langsam,  rather  slow,  &c. 

Euphonia  {Lat.  and  It.)  (i)  Sweet  sound, 
suavitas  vocis.  (2)  A  consonant  combination 
of  sounds. 

Euphonium.  A  brass  bass  instrument, 
properly  belonging  to  a  military  band,  but 
frequently  introduced  into  the  orchestra  as  a 
substitute  for  the  third  or  bass  trombone,  to 
the  tone  of  which  the  sound  of  the  Euphonium 
has  not  the  slightest  affinity.  [Metal  wind 
instruments.] 

Euphony.  Sweet  sound.  An  agreeable 
combination  of  sounds. 

Evacuant  {Ger.)  An  exhaust-valve,  in 
an  organ  or  other  wind  instrument. 

Evacuatio  {Lat.)  Lit.  an  emptying.  In 
mediaeval  music,  the  making  of  a  note  in  out- 
I  line  only,  by  which  its  value  was  reduced  by 
'  one-third,  e.g. : 

♦  O 

Sepiibrevis  plena  Semibrevis  vacua 

et  perfecta.  et  imperfecta. 

Other  notes  were  similarly  affected  by  eva 
cuatio. 

Eveilld  {Fr.)    Sprightly,  quick,  lively. 

Evirato  {It.)  [Castrato.] 

Evolutio  (Lat.)  The  working  out  or 
development  of  a  subject. 

Evovae.  The  vowels  of  the  words  "  secu- 
lorum  amen"  at  the  end  of  the  Gloria  Patri. 
Hence  used  as  a  name  of  the  endings  of 
:  Gregorian  tones,  e.g.,  the  following  are  the 
evovae  of  the  fourth  tones  : 


Evovae 


Evovae 


Evovae 


Evovae 


Exercise.  (i)  Preparatory  practice  in 
order  to  obtain  skill.      (2)    A  composition 


(  160  ) 


EXPRESSION  EXTEMPORE. 


intended  for  ihe  improvement  of  the  singer  or 
player.  (3)  A  composition  or  thesis,  required 
of  candidates  for  degrees  in  music  in  the  uni- 
versities. 

Expression.  The  power  or  act  of  render- 
ing music  so  as  to  make  it  the  vehicle  of  deep 
and  pure  emotion  ;  the  spirit  of  music,  as 
opposed  to  the  mere  mechanical  production 
of  sound.  In  rendering  works  of  a  high  class, 
a  true  expression  involves  the  merging  of  the 
artist's  personality  in  an  enthusiastic  effort  to 
carry  out  to  the  highest  extent,  the  fullest 
meaning  of  the  composer.  Hence  the  diffi- 
culty of  giving  a  reading  of  classical  works 
which  shall  satisfy  those  critics  who  have 
formed  their  own  ideal  of  the  author's  concep- 
tions. Compositions  of  a  low  order,  often 
achieve  great  popularity  owing  to  their  clever 
treatment  by  practised  artists,  who  know  how 
to  create  an  artificial  interest  in  such  a  work, 
which  its  internal  merit  does  not  warrant. 

Marks  of  expression  are  of  comparatively 
modern  use.  It  is  said  that  Locke  [c.  1677) 
was  the  first  Englishman  who  used  signs  for 
crescendo  and  diminuendo,  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  an  expressive  treatment  of  music 
has  at  all  times  been  known  and  appreciated, 
although  the  signs  or  directions  for  this  ex- 
pression were  unwritten.  This  remark  applies 
equally  to  solo  and  concerted  music  ;  in  the 
latter,  whether  vocal  or  instrumental,  sacred, 
or  secular,  the  proper  treatment  of  certain 
passages  would,  if  not  traditionally  received, 
be  suggested  by  the  leading  musicians  among 
the  performers.  If  this  be  true,  directors  of 
modern  choirs  or  orchestras  are  to  some 
extent  justified  in  adding  marks  of  expression 
to  unmarked  works  to  be  performed,  it  being 
a  fact  that,  where  none  exist,  singers  and 
players  now-a-days  sink  into  an  uninteresting 
dead-level  of  production. 

The  absence  of  such  marks  gives  the 
greatest  latitude  to  the  artist  who  renders 
music,  and  allows  him  to  stamp  his  reading 
more  with  his  own  individuality  than  where 
the  expression  required  is  definitely  indicated. 
Thus,  some  of  the  old  simple  songs  or  tunes 
depend  entirely  upon  the  performer  for  their 
true  expression;  whereas  modern  music  is  so 
full  of  directions  that  any  intelligent  reader 
may  see  the  drift  of  the  author's  meaning. 
But  the  fictitious  expression  obtained  only 
by  a  strict  attention  to  orders,  is  vastly  dif- 
ferent from  that  true  expression  which  is  the 
offspring  of  sympathetic  genius,  which  will 
ever  remain  the  real  test  of  the  taste,  culture, 
and  ability  of  an  artist. 

Expression-stop.  In  a  harmonium  the 
expression  stop  when  drawn,  closes  the  waste- 
valve  of  the  bellows.  Any  alteration  of  the 
pressure  of  the  feet  on  the  wind-pedals,  causes 
therefore  a  corresponding  alteration  of  the 


power  of  the  tone  produced.     Hence,  by  a" 
proper  sympathy  between  the  pressure  of  the 
foot,  and  the  force  of  sound  required,  the 
most  delicate  contrasts  of  light  and  shade 
can  be  obtained. 

Extempore.  Musical  improvisation.  The 
art,  or  rather  gift,  of  creating  melody  and  har- 
mony without  premeditation.  The  ancient 
Greeks  were  said  to  have  possessed  the  talent 
of  poetical  improvisation  ;  and  the  gift  is 
found  in  many  races  in  which  the  imagination 
is  free  and  vivid,  such  as  the  Arabs,  and  some 
tribes  of  Negroes.  Among  the  former,  the 
extempore  effusions  relating  to  small  customs 
and  superstitions  such  as  those  contained  in 
the  Sonnah,  among  the  latter,  hymns,  religious 
poems  and  songs  (generally  with  some  rude 
kind  of  vocal  and  instrumental  accompani- 
ment), form  the  themes  improvised  upon. 
Some  of  their  songs,  originally  extempore, 
afterwards  remembered  and  made  traditional, 
are  not  without  a  savage  kind  of  beauty,  but 
like  most  productions  of  the  class  to  which 
they  belong,  do  not  appear  to  produce  the 
effect  upon  paper  it  is  known  they  do  when 
sung  by  an  excited  body  of  singers. 

In  Europe  the  Italians,  above  all  other 
nations,  cultivate  the  gift  of  reciting  extem- 
pore verses,  which  are  not  always  mere  simple 
effusions  of  a  few  stanzas,  but  are  sometimes 
marked  by  extraordinary  talent,  and  are  ex- 
tended to  the  length  of  an  epic  poem.  Even 
tragedies  and  comedies  have  been  made  on 
the  spur  of  the  moment.  It  is  said  that  the 
people  of  Tuscany  and  of  the  Venetian  terri- 
tories possess  the  gift  in  the  strongest  degree, 
and  that  females  as  well  as  males  have  exhi- 
bited powers  of  this  sort. 

Petrarch  is  said  to  have  introduced  the 
custom  of  singing  extempore  verses  to  the 
lute,  and  many  names  of  eminent  improvisa- 
tori  are  preserved,  one  of  the  greatest  being 
Metastasio,  who,  however,  gave  up  the  art  at 
an  early  period  of  his  long  career.  Among 
musicians,  the  gift  of  performing  extempore 
upon  an  instrument  is  more  remarkable  than 
the  power  of  making  verses  ;  for  it  not  only 
requires  a  special  aptitude,  but  also  demands 
an  extensive  knowledge  of  art  at  ready  com- 
mand. John  Stanley,  the  blind  organist,  con- 
temporary with  Handel,  was  an  extraordinary 
impromptu  player,  capable  of  clothing  any 
suddenly  suggested  theme  with  every  resource 
of  art.  ^The  stories  told  of  J.  S.  Bach,  in  this 
respect,  would  be  incredible,  if  his  works  did 
not  show  how  great  and  free  was  his  command 
over  the  technicalities  of  composition.  The 
list  of  eminent  musicians  who  have  excelled 
as  extempore  performers  might  be  swelled  to 
a  large  extent,  if  it  were  necessary;  but  it  will 
be  sufficient  for  the  present  purpose  to  name 
only  one  or  two,  who  may  be  said  to  repre- 


(  161  ) 


EXTEMPORIZE  EXTREME  SIXTH. 


sent  the  historical  sequence  of  the  existence 
of  the  faculty  of  perlorming  at  a  moment's 
notice  a  subject  arranged  according  to  any 
form  that  might  for  the  time  be  selected. 
Mozart  possessed  the  power  in  no  mean 
degree,  for  there  are  records  of  the  fact  of  his 
having  performed  a  concerto  with  only  blank 
sheets  of  paper  before  him,  he  having  been 
either  too  idle  or  too  busy  to  write  out  more 
than  the  accompanying  parts.  Clementi, 
Moscheles,  and  Cramer,  were  famed  for  this 
gift,  in  their  day,  and  the  elder  Samuel 
Wesley  also  was  noted  for  his  skill.  Secular 
or  trifling  melodies  have  frequently  been 
made  themes  for  improvisation  of  an  amusing 
or  grotesque  character. 

One  of  the  greatest  pleasures  Mendelssohn 
gave  to  his  friends  was,  that  of  listening  to  his 
extempore  playing,  and  manyliving  musicians 
of  eminence  have  also  displayed  their  powers 
as  well  in  public  as  in  private. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  many  performers 
highly  gifted  as  extempore  players,  have 
failed,  where  it  might  appear  at  first  sight 
they  were  eminently  qualified  to  shine ;  a 
good  extempore  player  often  proving  an  in- 
different, if  not  wholly  bad  accompanist  or 
composer,  and  the  reverse.  The  union  of  the 
different  qualities  in  one  and  the  same  indi- 
vidual is  rare. 

Extemporize.    To  play  extempore. 

Extended  compass.  A  range  beyond 
the  ordinary  limit  of  a  voice  or  instrument. 
A  pianoforte  was  formerly  said  to  be  of  ex- 
tended compass,  when  a  few  notes  more 
than  the  old  five  octaves  were  employed  ; 
now,  a  pianoforte  is  not  considered  of  ex- 
tended compass  if  it  has  less  than  seven 
octaves. 

Extended  harmony.  [Dispersed  har- 
mony.] 

Extraneous  modulation.  A  modulation 
to  an  extreme  or  unrelated  key.  [Modula- 
tion.] 

Extreme,  (i)  Onis'iie.;  s.?,,  extreme  parts, 
the  highest  and  lowest  parts  in  part-music. 
(2)  Expanded  to  its  furthest  limit  ;  as,  extreme 
intervals,  intervals  greater  than  major  or 
normal ;  e.g.,  C  to  GJJ  an  extreme  fifth.  Such 
intervals  are  called  also  augmented,  super- 
fluous, or  sharp.  (3)  Not  closely  related  ;  a 
modulation  into  an  extreme  key  is  one  into 
any  key,  other  than,  its  own  relative  minor, 
its  dommant,  and  sub-dominant,  and  their 
relative  minors.  (4)  An  old  term  lor 
any  key  having  more  than  three  sharps  or 
flats. 

Extreme  sixth,  chord  of  the.  A  chord 
of  modern  growth,  so  called  because  the  in- 
terval of  an  extreme  or  augmented  sixth  is 
contained  in  it,  either  directly  or  by  inversion. 
It  exists  in  three  principal  forms  : 


Ex.  I.  Ex.  2.  Ex.  3. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  this  chord  occurs  on  the 
sixth  degree  of  the  minor  scale,  but  like  many 
other  chords  originally  formed  of  notes  in  the 
minor  scale,  it  is  as  frequently  resolved  into  th'i 
major  key  of  the  tonic,  as  into  the  minor ;  e.g. : 


Ex.4.  Ex.5.  E"  6- 

-J  i  I  -J   


The  dominant  chord  G,  Bll|,  D,  which  is 
common  to  both  C  major  and  C  minor,  forms 
the  connection  between  the  resolutions  given 
in  Ex.  I,  2,  3,  and  those  in  Ex.  4,  5,  and  6. 

Various  explanations  of  the  origin  of  this 
chord  have  been  suggested.  Some  consider 
it  merely  a  chord  of  §  on  the  sixth  of  the 
minor  scale,  or  the  first  inversion  of  the 
subdominant  common  chord  with  the  6th 
chromatically  raised  (Ex.  i).  Others  look 
upon  it  as  a  chord  of  «  on  the  sixth  of  the 
major  scale,  or  the  first  inversion  of  the  sub- 
dominant  common  chord,  with  the  bass-note 
flattened  (Ex.  4).  These  two  opinions  obtain 
favour  in  proportion  to  the  supposed  major  01 
minor  tonality  of  the  chord. 

Some  authors  find  a  much  more  compli- 
cated solution,  namely,  that  it  contains  the 
minor  ninth  of  the  Dominant,  combined  with 
the  major  3rd,  7th,  and  other  notes  of  the 
fifth  above  the  Dominant.    Hence  it  is  called 

a  double -root-chord,  and  ^  would  be  given 

as  its  derivative  in  all  the  above  examples. 

This  chord,  as  constructed  in  Ex.  i  and  4, 
is  sometimes  known  as  the  Italian  Sixth  ;  as 
constructed  in  Ex.  2  and  5  as  the  French 
Sixth  ;  as  constructed  in  Ex.  3  and  6  as  the 
German  Sixth. 


The  component  notes  of  these  are  often 
converted  and  form  different  inversions  or 
positions,  e.g. : 


Chords  of  this  kind  are  occasionally  met 
with  in  the  works  of  Bach  and  Handel,  but 
are  not  of  frequent  occurrence  at  that  date. 
Among  modern  authors,  Spohr  makes  most 
use  of  them,  and  they  form  an  important  in- 
gredientof  his  flowing  chromatic  progressions. 


(  ) 


F  FAGOTTO. 


P. 


F.  (i)  The  note  called  parhypate  in  the 
Greater  Perfect  system  of  the  Greeks.  The 
letter-name  of  Trite  in  the  upper  tetrachord. 

(2)  The  first  note  of  the  EoHan  mode,  or 
church  scale,  commencing  four  notes  above 
the  hypo-Eolian.    [Greek  music] 

(3)  The  note  called  "Fa  ut"  m  the  hexa- 
chord  system.  [Notation.] 

(4)  The  key-note  of  the  major  scale  requir- 
ing one  flat  in  the  signature ;  and  the  key- 
note of  the  minor  scale  related  to  A  flat. 

Fa.  The  syllable  used  in  solmisation  for 
F.    [Aretinian  Syllables.] 

Fa  bemol  (Fr.)    F  flat. 

Fablier  {Provencal).  [Troubadour.] 

Faburden,  Falsobordone  [It.)  Faux- 
bourdon  {Fr.)  One  of  the  early  systems  of 
harmonising  a  given  portion  of  plain-song, 
or  a  canto  fermo.  As  the  word  implies,  to 
faburden  signified  originally  to  hold  a  drone 
(bordonizai-e).  It  was  afterwards  used  as  a 
term  for  a  sort  of  harmony  consisting  of 
thirds  and  sixths  added  to  a  canto  fermo.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  the  organum  was 
similar  in  construction,  being  only  note  against 
note,  but  consisted  of  fourths,  fifths,  and 
octaves.  [See  Descant.]  But  when  counter- 
point had  superseded  both  diaphony  and 
descant,  the  term  faburden  still  was  retained, 
and  applied  to  certain  species  of  counter- 
point, sometimes  (but  not  always)  note 
against  note. 

The  following  examples  of  Falsobordoni, 
by  Bernabei  (middle  of  17th  century),  (from 
Proske's  M iisica  Divina)  are  specially  interest- 
ing as  showing  that  composers,  even  at 
that  time,  ventured  to  alter  church  song 
when  it  suited  their  convenience.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  FjJ  in  the  tenor  at  the  close  of 
Ex.  I,  to  secure  a  good  cadence,  disturbs 
the  mode  of  the  second  tone ;  and  in  Ex.  2, 
the  introduction  of  Gj  is  equally  fatal  to  the 
tonality  of  the  fourth  tone. 


Con  -  fi  -  tebor  tibi  Domine,  in  toto  corde   me  -   o : 


io  consilio  justorum,  et  congrega  -  ti  -  o  •  ne. 


Mag-na    o-per-a  Do-mi  -  ni,    £x-qui -si  -  ta  in  om-nes 


Lau  -  da    -      -    te     pu  -  e  -  ri    Do  -  mi  -  nnm  : 


IM  -  da  •  te    no  -  men  Do  -  mi  -  ni. 


Ex  hoc  nunc  et  us  -  que  in  sae -cu-lum,insa  -  cn    -  lum. 


Faces  d'un  accord  [Fr.)  The  positions 
or  inversions  of  a  chord. 

Fach  (Ger.)  A  rank  of  pipes,  as  in  an 
organ. 

Facile  (Fr.)  Easy. 

Facility  (It.)  Facilite  (Fr.)  Facility,  readi- 
ness of  execution. 

Facilite  (Fr.)  Made  easy.  An  easy 
arrangement  of  a  difficult  passage. 

Facilement  {Fr.)  Facilmente  {It.)  Easily, 
with  ease. 

Facture  {Fr.)  Fattura  {It.)  (i)  The  con- 
struction of  a  piece  of  music.  (2)  The 
measurement,  dimension,  or  scale  of  organ 
pipes. 

Fa  diese  {Fr.)    F  sharp. 
Fagottista  (It.)    A  bassoon  player. 
Fagotto  (7^.)  [Bassoon.] 


(  ) 


FAGOTTON  E  FA  R  AN  DOLA. 


Fagottone  {It.)  A  large  bassoon  [Double 
bassoon.] 

Fall.    A  cadence. 

"  That  strain  again 
It  had  a  dying  fall." — Shakspeare. 

Fal  las.  Short  songs  with  the  syllables 
fal  la  at  the  end  of  each  line  or  strain. 
Morley  (c.  1580),  who  composed  some,  speaks 
of  them  as  being  a  kind  of  ballet.  The  fal 
las  of  Hilton  (c.  1600)  are  held  in  highest 
estimation  for  the  freedom  of  their  construc- 
tion and  the  beauty  of  their  melodies.  Gas- 
toldi  is  the  reputed  inventor  of  fal  las. 

Falsa  musica  (Lat.)  called  also  musica 
ficta.  False  or  feigned  music  was  that  in 
which  notes  were  altered  by  the  use  of  acci- 
dentals. "  Falsa  musica  est  quando  de  tono 
facimus  semitonium  et  e  converso  "  (Johannes 
de  Garland). 

False  cadence.  [Cadence.] 

False  fifth.  A  fifth  altered  from  its  per- 
fect or  major  state. 

False  intonation,  (i)  The  production  of 
an  unnatural  or  improper  quality  of  tone. 
(2)  Singing  or  playing  out  of  tune. 

False  string.  A  badly  woven  string, 
which  produces  an  uncertain  and  untrue  tone. 

Falsetto  [It.)  The  artificial  or  supplement- 
ing tones  of  the  voice,  higher  than  the  chest 
or  natural  voice.  Falsetto  is  present  in  every 
voice  with  more  or  less  power  or  quality. 
The  similarity  of  the  character  of  the  natural 
and  artificial  voice  in  boys  or  females  renders 
the  two  tones  less  distinct  ;  but  the  chest 
voice  and  head  voice  in  the  man  being  of 
two  qualities,  the  falsetto  has  a  special  char- 
acter. The  control  of  the  falsetto  requires 
great  skill.  The  voce  d'evirato  is  not  falsetto, 
although  high  in  pitch.  [Larynx.] 

Falso-bordone  {It.)  [Faburden.] 

Fancies,  (i)  An  old  name  for  composi- 
tions in  an  impromptu  style  ;  a  fantasy, 
(2)  Short  pieces  of  music  without  words. 

"And  sing  those  tunes  to  the  over-scutched  hus- 
wives that  he  heard  the  carmen  whistle,  and  sware — 
they  were  his  fancies,  or  his  good-nights." — (Shak- 
speare.) 

Fandango  (Sp.)  A  lively  Spanish  dance 
in  triple  time,  derived  from  the  Moors.  It  is 
a  mild  form  of  the  Chica,  q.v.  It  is  danced 
by  two  persons,  male  and  female,  and  accom- 
panied by  the  sounds  of  a  guitar.  The  dancers 
have  castanets,  which  they  beat  in  time  to 
the  measure,  though  sometimes  the  male 
dancer  beats  a  tambourine. 


Fanfare  {Fr.)  A  flourish  of  trumpets,  a 
call. 

Fantaisie  {Fr.)  [Fantasia.] 

Fantasia  (it.)  Fantasia  {Ger.)  A  compo- 
sition in  a  style  in  which  form  is  subservient 
to  fancy.  [Form.] 

Fantasiren  {Ger.)  To  play  as  fancy  di- 
rects ;  to  improvise. 

Fantasticamente  {It.)  Fantastico  {It.) 
Fantastique  {Fr.)  Fantastically,  in  a  gro- 
tesque manner. 

Farandola  {It.)  Farandoule  {Fr.)  A 
dance  popular  among  the  peasants  of  the 
South  of  France  and  the  neighbouring  part 
of  Italy.  It  is  performed  by  men  and  women 
taking  hands,  and  forming  a  long  hne,  and 
winding  in  and  out  with  a  waving  motion. 
The  manner  of  taking  hands  is  peculiar. 
The  men  and  women  are  placed  alternately, 
each  man's  right  hand  is  held  by  a  woman's 
right  hand,  and  his  left  by  the  left  hand  of 
another  woman,  so  that  along  the  line,  when 
seen  from  the  front  of  the  row,  there  is  a 
woman's  face  and  a  man's  back,  and  the 
reverse.  The  dance  is  sometimes  made  the 
means  of  fanning  popular  excitement.  A 
recent  traveller,  describing  his  experience  of  it, 
says  : — "  As  the  night  wore  on  all  the  roughs 
in  the  town  turned  out,  and  began  dancing 
the  farandole — a  kind  of  exciting  dance  pe- 
culiar to  the  south  :  men  and  women,  hand 
in  hand,  form  a  long  chain,  and  to  a  very 
quick  step  turn  and  twist  along  the  various 
thoroughfares.  This  dance  has  the  same 
effect  on  the  fiery  Southerners  that  the  scalp 
dance  has  on  the  Red  Indians,  and  makes 
them  quite  wild.  It  was  after  they  had  thus 
worked  themselves  up  to  a  proper  state  of 


(  164  ) 


FARSA  IN  MUSICA  FIGURED  BASS. 


excitement  that  the  mob  of  Avignon  massacred 
Marshal  Brune  in  1815." 

The  figures  of  the  Farandola  by  the 
name  of  the  "  Spanish  dance,"  were  well 
known  in  English  ball-rooms  thirty  years 
since. 

Farsa  in  musica  (7^.)  A  musical  burletta 
or  farce. 

Fascia  (7^.)  (i)  A  bind  or  tie.  (2)  The 
sides  of  a  fiddle. 

Fastoso,  fastosamente  (7^.)  Proudly, 
haughtily. 

Fattura  {It.)  [Facture.] 

Fausse  corde  [Fr.)    [False  string.] 

Fausset  {Fr.)  [Falsetto.] 

F  clef.  [Clef.] 

F  dur.  {Ger.)    The  key  of  F  major. 

Federclavier  {Ger.)  Spinnet. 

Feier  {Ger.)  A  festival.  Feierlich,  in  a 
festival  style,  grandly. 

Feld  {Ger.)  (i)  The  disposition  of  pipes 
in  an  organ.  (2)  Feld-flbte,  a  rustic  flute  or 
pipe.  (3)  Feld-musik,  military  music.  (4) 
Feld-ton,  the  key  of  E  flat,  in  which  military 
instruments  are  often  set. 

Ferial.  Non-festal ;  as,  ferial  use,  music 
for  use  on  ordinary  days. 

Fermamente,  fermato  (7^.)  Firmly,  with 
decision. 

Fermata  (7/.)  A  pause  (from  fermare,  to 
stay,  or  stop). 

Fermo  (7^.)  Firm,  fast  ;  as,  canto  fenno, 
the  subject  or  part  held  firmly,  while  descant 
or  counterpoint  moved  about  it. 

Feroce,  con  ferocita  {It.)  Wildly, 
fiercely. 

Fertig  {Ger.)    Quick,  dexterous. 

Fervente,  ferventemente  (7^.)  Fer- 
vently, vehemently. 

Fes  {Ger.)    The  note  F  flat. 

Fest  {Ger.)  A  festival ;  as,  Fesigesang, 
a  festival  cantata. 

Fest  {Ger.)  Firm;  as, fester  Gesang,  canto 
*ermo.  [Fermo.] 

Festivamente  (7;.)  Solemnly,  pleasantly. 

Festivita,  con  {It.)    With  joyfulness. 

Festivo  (7/.)    Festive,  solemn. 

FestOSO  (7/.)    Joyous,  gay. 

FF.  ff.,  abb.  of  fortissimo.    Very  loud. 

Fiacco  {It.)    Weak,  weary,  faint. 

F  holes.  The  openings  in  the  upper  plate 
of  a  violin  or  other  instrument  having  a  re- 
sonance-body, so  called  from  their  common 
shape  /. 

Fiasco  {It.)  lit.  a  flask  or  bottle.  A  term 
applied  to  a  failure  in  singing,  playing,  or 
representation.  The  fistula  pastoricia  was 
blown  by  the  Romans  to  signify  their  dis- 
satisfaction, and  it  is  possible  that  the  present 
use  of  the  term  arose  from  the  similarity 
between  the  shape  of  a  flageolet  {flaschinet) 
and  a  flask.    The  Italians  now  blow  some- 


times into  the  pipe  of  a  key,  whence  the 
expression  colla  chiava. 

Fiato  {It.)  (i)  Wind  ;  as,  stromettti  di 
fiato,  wind  instruments.  (2)  Breath,  in  sing- 
ing ;  as  m  the  French  tine  longue  Iialeine,  a 
long  breath,  a  long  note  or  passage  performed 
with  one  respiration. 

Ficta  musica  {Lat.)  [Falsa.] 

Fiddle.  [Violin.] 

Fidicen  {Lat.)  (From  fides  and  cano.)  A 
lute  or  harp  player. 

Fiedel  {Ger.)  Fiddle. 

Fier   {Fr.)    Fiero  {It.)    Proud,  fierce. 

Fieramente,  fiero  (7^)  Proudly,  fiercely, 
boldly. 

Fife.  Fifre  {Fr.),  Querpfeife  {Ger.),  Pif- 
fera  {It.)  An  ancient  musical  instrument, 
the  name  being  cognate  with  pipe.  The  com. 
pass  is  two  octaves  from  D: 


A  combination  of  fifes  and  drums  is  the  only 
music  officially  allowed  in  the  British  army 
and  navy.  Although  of  ancient  use  in  Eng- 
land for  military  purposes,  it  was  discontinued 
in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  and  was  not  restored 
until  the  siege  of  Maestricht  in  1747.  The 
fife  in  the  orchestra  is  called  Flauto  piccolo. 

Fife.  An  organ  stop.  A  piccolo,  generally 
of  two  feet  in  length. 

Fifre.  [Fife.] 

Fifteenth.  The  interval  of  a  double 
octave.  Bis-diapason. 

Fifteenth.  An  organ  stop  of  two  feet  in 
length  on  the  manuals  and  four  feet  on  the 
pedals,  consisting  of  open  metal  pipes. 

Fifth.  A  diatonic  interval  of  five  notes. 
Its  ratio  is  2  :  3,  the  diapente  of  the  ancients. 

Figura  {Lat.)  A  note.  Figura  simplex, 
a  note  standing  by  itself.  Figura  ligata,  a 
ligature,  or  a  single  sign  expressing  more 
than  one  note. 

Figure.  A  form  of  melody  or  accompani- 
ment maintained  throughout  the  phrase  in 
which  it  is  suggested.  In  a  melody,  figure 
is  called  sequence.  In  harmony  a  figure 
relates  to  the  rhythmical  observance  of  a 
certain  form  in  all  the  accompanying  chords 
to  the  melody.  (2)  A  musical  phrase.  (3) 
A  florid  melody. 

Figurato  (7^.)  Figure  {Fr.)  Figured. 

Figured  Bass.  A  bass  having  the  accom- 
panying chords  suggested  by  certain  numbers 
above  or  below  the  notes.  It  is  at  present 
the  most  satisfactory  system  of  musical  short- 
hand. The  whole  of  the  notes  are  not  always 
indicated  by  a  corresponding  number  of 
figures,  because  one  number  generally  implies 
two  or  more  to  complete  the  chord.  When 
there  is  no  figure,  it  is  understood  that  the 
common  chord  of  such  a  note  is  to  be  used  aa 


(  165  ) 


FILAR  LA  VOCE  FINGERING. 


its  harmony.  The  following  table  will  show 
the  manner  in  which  figures  are  used  : 

The  figure  2  implies  a  4th  and  6th. 
„       ,,    3        „       5th  perfect,  or  dimi- 
nished, according  to  the  position  of  the 
note  in  the  key. 
The  figure  4  implies  a  5th,  or  5th  and  8th. 
„       „    5  3rd  and  8th. 

„    6       „  3rd. 
II       II    7       II        5th  and  3rd. 

,,    8       „        3rd  and  5th. 
„       „    9       ,,        3rd  and  5th, 
A  stroke  through  a  figure  directs  the  raising 
cf  the  interval  by  a  natural  or  sharp,  as  the 
case  may  be. 

An  accidental  standing  alone  implies  a  cor- 
responding alteration  of  the  3rd  of  the  chord. 
Horizontal  lines  direct  the  continuance  of  the 
harmony  of  the  previous  chord.  If  there  are 
no  figures  under  the  previous  chord,  the  line 
or  lines  direct  the  continuance  of  the  common 
chord  of  the  first  note  under  which  they  were 
placed. 

Filar  la  voce  (It.),  Filer  le  son  (Fr.)  To 
prolong  a  sound,  swelling  and  diminishing 
the  tone  by  degrees. 

Fin  (Fr.)    The  end. 

Finale  (It.)  The  last  movement  of  a  con- 
certed piece,  sonata,  or  symphony;  the  last 
piece  of  an  act  of  an  opera  ;  the  last  piece  in 
a  programme. 

Fine  (/(.)  The  end ;  used  to  show  the  end 
of  a  piece  or  movement,  after  a  repeat,  or 
partial  repeat. 

Finger-board.  Fingerbrett  (Ger.)  (i) 
The  flat  or  slightly  rounded  piece  of  wood 
attached  to  the  neck  of  instruments  of  the 
violin  and  guitar  class,  on  to  which  the  strings 
are  pressed  when  stopped  by  the  fingers.  (2) 
A  manual  or  clavier. 

Finger  cymbals.  [Cymbals.] 

Fingering.  Applicatura  {It.),  Application 
{Fr.),Doigter{Fr.),  Applicatiir  (Ger.),  Finger- 
setzung  [Ger.)  The  art  of  placing  and  using 
the  fingers  properly  in  performmg  upon  a 
musical  instrument. 

(i)  When  instruments  were  for  the  first  time 
constructed  so  that  the  leverage  of  their  keys 
was  light  and  admitted  of  rapid  and  ready 
motion,  musicians  soon  formed  rules  for  the 
employment  of  the  fingers  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  give  the  greatest  facility  to  the  player. 
These  rules  were  properly  improved  and  ex- 
tended by  each  master  who  taught  the  use  of 
a  keyed  instrument,  and  there  is  reason  to 
suppose  that  they  were  kept  more  or  less 
secret  by  each  teacher,  long  before  it  was 
deemed  expedient  to  set  forth  the  methods  in 
a  general  publication. 

Comparing  the  earliest  published  methods 
of  fingering  with  the  musical  compositions 


belonging  to  the  same  period,  it  is  difficult 
to  conceive  that  a  clear,  distinct,  and  rapid 
performance  could  ever  be  attained  by  those 
methods,  for  they  are  of  a  cramped,  stiff  and 
awkward  character,  while  the  compositions 
are  of  an  opposite  nature,  considering  the 
state  of  the  art  at  the  time. 

Such  a  thing  as  acquiring  a  knowledge  of 
a  keyed  instrument  without  a  master  was  out 
of  the  question,  and  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely 
that  this  was  contemplated  by  the  authors  or 
compilers  of  the  books  of  instruction. 

One  of  the  earliest  printed  books  in  which 
rules  for  fingering  are  laid  down  was  Euse- 
bius  Ammerbach's  "  Orgel  oder  Instrument- 
Tablatur,"  Leipsic  157 1,  where  in  the  fourth 
chapter  a  scale  is  fingered  in  the  following 
manner : — 


Rechte  Hind  (Right  Hand). 


32103210  32121  2123 

o  stands  for  the  thumb,  1  for  the  forefinger, 
2  for  the  middle  finger,  and  so  on. 

The  thumb  of  the  right  hand  was  never 
used  in  scale  passages,  that  of  the  left  hand 
only  occasionally,  the  little  fingers  were  only 
used  with  the  thumbs  in  spanning  chords. 

The  rules  for  fingering  in  striking  or  play- 
ing chords  are  thus  stated :  3rds  in  either 
hand  were  to  be  struck  with  the  first  and  third 
fingers  ;  4ths,  5ths,  and  6ths  with  the  first 
and  fourth  ;  7ths,  octaves,  gths  and  loths 
with  the  thumb  and  third  finger,  and  only 
occasionally  with  the  little  finger  and  thumb. 

Before  saying  anything  further  of  other 
works  on  the  subject,  it  may  be  as  well  to 
lefer  to  a  private  MS.  book  of  lessons  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum,  and  quoted  by 
Stafford  Smith  in  his  Musica  Antiqua,  in 
which  the  master  has  marked  the  fingering  of 
a  passage  in  a  very  different  manner  to  that 
laid  down  by  the  German  author.  It  is  true 
that  there  is  a  difference  of  nearly  thirty  years 
in  the  dates  between  Ammerbach's  book  and 
this,  but  as  treatises  published  later  preserve 
and  teach  the  like  awkward  system  of  finger- 
ing, a  curious  confirmation  of  the  conjecture 
that  there  was  a  considerable  difference  be- 
tween the  theory  and  the  practice  cannot  fail 
to  strike  the  thoughtful  reader.  The  MS. 
referred  to  bears  the  date  1599,  and  the  first 
lesson  with  the  fingering  (i  being  thumb,  2 
forefinger,  &c.)  is  as  follows  : — 

Right  Hand. 


166  ) 


FINGERING. 


Now  in  this  fingering  all  the  fingers  are 
brought  into  play,  and  though  it  is  somewhat 
clumsy  according  to  modern  views,  it  is  less 
unhandy  than  that  of  Ammerbach,  and  as  we 
have  no  ground  for  assuming  that  the  English 
teachers  had  better  principles  to  guide  them 
than  their  German  neighbours,  and  as  it  is 
known  moreover,  by  tradition,  that  the  most 
skilful  players  only  imparted  the  secret  of 
their  power  to  favoured  pupils,  not  only  at 
that  time  but  in  later  years,  the  assumption 
is  not  made  without  reasonable  support. 

A  modern  player  would  find  it  a  very  diffi- 
cult task  to  perform  the  following  extract  from 
a  "  Gagliardo  by  Orlando  Gibbons,"  printed 
in  "  Parthenia,"  1611,  if  he  confined  himself 
to  the  use  of  three  of  his  fingers  in  either 
hand  : 


— r  

 r — \  ^ 

or  to  execute  with  ease  any  such  a  piece  as 
that  by  Frescobaldi  quoted  in  the  article 
Canzona,  belonging  to  about  this  period. 
And  yet  not  only  was  the  peculiarity  of 
fingering  as  set  forth  by  Ammerbach  taught 
at  that  time,  but  was  also  continued  to  a  later 
date. 

There  is  a  lapse  of  more  than  100  years 
before  the  next  important  book  made  its 
appearance,"  Das Musikalische  Kleeblatt"  of 
Daniel  Speer,  1697,  in  which  the  improve- 
ments suggested  are  few,  the  chief  of  which 
was  the  more  frequent  use  of  the  thumb  of 
the  left  hand,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following 
scale  fingered  according  to  his  directions : 


That  there  were  differences  of  opinion  on 
the  subject  with  regard  to  fingering  in  the 
published  books  of  about  the  same  period, 
is  shown  by  the  subjoined  quotation  from 
"  Kurtzer  jedoch  grundlicher  Wegweiser, 
vermittelst  welches  man  aus  dem  Grund  die 
Kunft  die  Orgel  recht  zu  Schlagen,"  Augs- 
burg 1698,  in  which  the  scale  of  C  is  thus 


the  thumb  being  indicated  by  the 


1232323  2312323 
The  well-known  book,  published  by  Walsh, 
under  the  title  of  "  The  Harpsichord  Master, 
containing  Plain  and  Easy  Instructions  for 
Learners  on  the  Harpsichord  or  Spinnet," 
1734,  which,  passing  through  many  editions, 
may  be  fairly  considered  as  correctly  repre- 
senting the  method  of  that  period,  gives  the 
following  directions  for  fingering  : — "  Observe 
in  y^  fingering  of  y''  right  hand,  y"'  thumb  is 
y«  ist,  so  on  to  y«  5th,  and  y""  left  hand 
y  little  finger  is  y«  ist,  and  so  on,  y^  fingers 
to  ascend  are  y^  3rd  and  4th  to  descend  y«  3rd 
and  and." 


Mattheson  ("  Kleine  Generalbasschule," 
1735)  and  Maier  ("  Musiksaal,"  1741)  agree  in 
their  fingering,  their  method  being  as  follows, 
little  or  no  advance  or  alteration  having  been 
devised  in  the  meanwhile  in  other  publica- 
tions. 

R.H.  2323 


It  is  stated  that  J.  S.  Bach  disregarded  the 
ordinary  principles  taught  in  instruction 
books,  and  employed  both  thumb  and  little 
finger  as  frequently  as  the  other  fingers, 
whereby  a  greater  power  was  gained,  and  the 
performer  was  able  to  move  rapidly  in  extreme 
keys.  Some  writers  claim  the  suggestion  for 
the  free  use  of  all  the  fingers,  for  Fran9ois 
Couperin,  who,  in  his  work,  "  L'art  de  toucher 
le  Clavecin,"  17 16,  describes  the  method  of 
fingering  practised  and  taught  by  Bach,  and 
consequently  they  say  that  the  German  is 
indebted  to  the  Frenchman  for  his  ideas  on 
the  subject.  But  Couperin's  fingering  is 
somewhat  different  from  that  of  Bach,  the  only 
similarity  in  their  methods  being  the  constant 
employment  of  the  thumb. 


(  167  ) 


FINGERING. 


Couperin,  in  the  work  alluded  to  above, 


calls  the  fingers  of  either  hand 
commencing  with  the  thumb  ; 


3.  4>  5. 


Main  gauche. 


And  in  order  to  make  his  fingering  acceptable, 
gives  instances  of  the  old  style  of  playing  con- 
trasted with  his  own  improvements.  In  some 
cases  his  suggestions  are  good,  in  others 
there  is  little  if  any  help  out  of  long-standing 
awkwardness,  as  the  following  fingered  scale 
will  show : 


34343  45432323 

His  next  improved  example  is  better,  and 
more  in  accordance  with  modern  methods : 

"  Maniere  ancienne  de  faire  plusieurs  tierces  de  suite." 


Facon  moderne  pour  couler  les  raSmes  tierces.' 
32323 


454545     454545     3         5  43 

Bach  never  published  his  method,  but  it 
was  made  known  through  Forkel,  who  ac- 
quired it  from  Emanuel  Bach.  The  peculiar 
methods  of  fingering  shown  in  the  quotations 
from  the  German  books  seem  to  have  been 
confined  to  the  country  in  which  they  were 
first  given  forth,  the  style  adopted  in  England 
and  France  appearing  to  be  borrowed  from 
Italy.  Many  of  the  harpsichord  instruction 
books  printed  in  England  in  the  early  part  of 
the  last  century  profess  to  be  based  upon  the 
"  Italian  method  of  fingering,"  which  per- 
mitted the  constant  employment  of  all  the 
fingers. 

The  invention  of  the  pianoforte  called  a 
new  set  of  instruction  book  writers  into  ex- 
istence, but  it  required  the  genius  of  Cramer, 
Clementi,  and  Dussek  to  liberate  learners 
from  the  trammels  of  the  harpsichord  finger- 
ing, dementi's  "  Introduction  to  the  Art  of 
Playing  on  the  Pianoforte  "  was  written  soon 
after  his  return  to  England,  in  1784,  and 
went  through  many  editions.  In  1810  he 
greatly  improved  the  work,  and  added  an 
appendix  to  it.  Cramer  made  but  few,  if 
any,  advances  on  the  method  of  fingering 
suggested  by  Clementi  in  his  "  Introduction," 


but  Dussek,  in  his  "  Book  of  Instructions," 
published  about  1798,  when  he  began  business 
as  a  music  publisher,  laid  down  a  code  of 
rules  which  have  served  as  the  basis  of 
teaching  fingering  from  his  time  onward. 

He  recommends  the  pupil  not  to  play  his 
scales  after  the  old  method  of  fingering,  by 
suffering  the  fingers  to  cross  each  other 
unnaturally,  as  in  this  example,  right  hand : 


thereby  implying  that  the  old  clumsy  methods 
were  still  taught ;  but  "  to  set  it  down  as  an 
invariable  rule,  and  without  any  exception, 
that  whether  ascending  or  descending,  the 
assistance,  or  rather,  the  displacing  the 
thumb  only  is  sufficient  to  effect  the  necessary 
change  of  position  in  the  other  fingers,  the 
thumb  being  naturally  formed  to  glide  easily 
under  them,  without  displacing  the  proper 
position  of  the  hand." 


The  free  use  of  all  the  fingers  is  now  common, 
and  the  old  rules  with  regard  to  the  sparing 
of  the  thumb  so  little  observed,  that  there  is 
a  tendency  to  go  the  opposite  extreme  in 
employing  it  more  often  than  is  absolutely 
necessary.  Space  cannot  here  be  allowed,  or 
the  whole  of  Dussek's  rules  for  fingering 
might  be  reprinted  with  advantage  as  a  set-off 
against  modern  extravagance,  but  those  who 
have  leisure  and  inclination  might  study  them 
with  profit,  for  no  better  code  of  rules  for 
pianoforte  playing  have  as  yet  been  given  to 
the  world. 

(2)  In  violin  playing  the  fingers  serve  as 
stops  shortening  the  length  of  the  vibrating 
portion  of  the  several  strings  as  they  are  re- 
quired, a  like  practice  being  followed  in  the 
performance  upon  such  fingerboard  instru- 
ments as  the  lute,  mandoline,  or  guitar,  as 
are  plucked  with  the  right  hand.  Upon  the 
guitar  the  places  of  the  several  degrees  are 
marked  on  the  fingerboard  by  frets,  which, 
when  the  string  is  pressed — always  a  little 
behind  the  one  required — serve  as  a  temporary 
nut. 

(3)  This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  deeply  into 
the  anatomy  of  the  hand,  which  can  be  found 
in  any  text-book  on  anatomy,  and  more  espe- 
cially in  the  elaborate  Treatise  of  Sir  Charles 
Bell.  The  bones  of  the  hand  are  joined  to- 
gether by  various  sorts  of  joints,  some  of 
them  fixed,  some  moveable.  The  joint  by 
which  the  thumb  joins  the  bone  on  which  it 
plays  is  a  remarkable  one,  admitting  of  a 


{  168  ) 


FINGERING. 


most  complex  series  of  movements,  and  since 
the  brain  of  man  is  indebted  to  the  hand  of 
man  as  much  as  the  hand  to  the  brain,  each 
rendering  higher  development  in  the  other 
possible,  and  thus  helping  to  constitute  a 
couple  of  mutually  perfecting  factors — by  far 
the  greater  part  of  this  potentiality  on  the 
side  of  the  hand  is  owing  to  this  articulation 
of  the  thumb.  The  thumb  of  man  is  pre- 
eminent in  the  animal  series. 

From  a  musical  point  of  view  another 
subject  is  of  interest.  If  we  straighten  our 
fingers  we  shall  see  that  no  two  of  them  are  of 
the  same  length.  Now  let  us  bend  the  fingers 
on  themselves,  so  as  to  bring  the  finger-tips 
into  the  middle  of  the  palm,  and  we  shall  find 
that  the  finger-tips  form  an  almost  straight 
line  with  one  another.  The  convenience  of 
this  to  the  musician  is  obvious,  in  playing 
keyed  instruments  such  as  the  pianoforte  or 
organ  ;  or  any  wind  instrument  like  the  oboe, 
flute,  or  clarinet,  we  have  a  series  of  evenly 
arranged  finger-tips  ready  to  the  notes.  This 
is  a  point  of  what  we  may  call  accidental 
convenience,  for  the  hand  of  man  was  not 
especially  adapted  for  playing  instruments. 
The  question  now  arises  how  this  curious  effect 
is  produced,  and  a  few  words  will  explain  it. 
If  any  one  will  take  the  trouble  to  measure  as 
accurately  as  he  can  the  length  of  the  first  and 
of  the  third  joint  of  each  finger  (the  "  proximal 
and  distal  phalanges")  omitting  the  middle 
joint,  he  will  find  that  by  subtracting  the 
length  of  the  end  (distal)  joint  which  carries 
the  nail  from  the  length  of  the  nearest  (proxi- 
mal) joint  which  joins  the  "  krrtackle,"  he  will 
get  a  constant  number,  in  other  words,  if  the 
proximal  phalanx  is  long,  and  would  carry  the 
finger-tip  far  beyond  the  middle  of  the  palm, 
the  distal  phalanx  is  proportionately  long  and 
in  ^  bent  position  of  the  finger  carries  the 
finger-tip  proportionately  far  back  towards 
the  palm,  or  in  yet  other  terms,  the  number 
of  linear  units  outained  by  subtracting  the 
length  of  the  dislal  phalanx  of  each  finger 
from  the  length  of  the  proximal  phalanx  of 
the  same  finger  is  constant  in  all  the  fingers. 
This  is  not  absolutely  correct,  for  the  angles 
at  which  the  phalanges  are  bent  are  not 
exactly  right  anfjles,  so  that  the  middle 
phalanx  cannot  be  quite  neglected,  but  the 
principle  nevertheless  we  believe  to  be  correct. 
The  muscles  which  move  the  fingers  and 
thumb  are  situated  some  in  the  forearm,  some 
in  the  hand.  If  any  one  grasps  his  forearm, 
and  moves  the  fingers,  he  will  feel  the  muscles 
moving  under  his  grasp.  The  thumb  has  the 
greatest  number  of  muscles  attached  to  it,  and 
therefore  takes  the  precedence  in  importance; 
the  first  or  index-finger  has  a  special  muscle 
to  extend  or  straighten  it  called  the  extensor 
indicis  or  "  indicator."  This  muscle  was  said 


to  be  absent  in  all  the  apes,  and  there  was  an 
old  saying,  "  no  ape  can  point,"  which  was 
quoted  in  favour  of  human  superiority — this, 
however,  is  not  true  (Journal  of  Anat.  and 
Phys.,  vol.  vi.  p.  185)  ;  we  trust,  notwith- 
standing, that  the  pre-eminence  of  man  in 
the  animal  kingdom  rests  on  somewhat  more 
important  foundations,  and  need  not  be  ceded, 
however  much  apes  may  point.  The  little 
finger  has  a  special  muscle  to  extend  or 
straighten  it  which  the  old  anatomists  called 
the  "  auricularis,"  because  it  is  used  to 
straighten  the  little  finger  when  the  extremity 
of  that  member  is  inserted  into  the  ear.  Thus 
did  these  ingenious  men  infuse  an  element  of 
humour  into  the  driest  and  apparently  least 
comic  of  all  subjects. 


There  are  a  set  of  muscles  called  "  lumbri- 
cales  "  (from  "  lumbricus,"  a  worm,  because 
they  are  not  unlike  an  earth-worm  in  size 
and  shape),  which  are  of  great  importance  to 
musical  performers,  and  in  pianoforte  players 
become  very  largely  developed.  They  are 
attached  to  the  flexor  tendons  (which  bend  the 
fingers)  as  they  pass  along  the  palm.  They 
help  to  bend  the  fingers,  but  their  individual 
action  is  somewhat  complicated,  viz.,  to 
bend  the  finger  at  the  knuckle-joint,  but  to 
straighten  the  finger. 

But  there  is  one  point  in  the  anatomy  of 
the  hand  which  is  of  great  interest  to  musical 
performers,  especially  to  pianoforte  and  organ 
players.  If  any  one  will  place  the  tips  of 
his  fingers  on  a  table  in  a  bent  position,  as  if 
playing  the  pianoforte,  and  then  try  to  raise 
them  one  at  a  tim^e,  he  will  find  that  he  can 
raise  his  thumb  easily,  say  four  or  five  inches, 
the  forefinger  is  also  very  moveable,  and  can 
be  raised  so  that  the  tip  is  about  three  inches 
from  the  table,  the  middle  finger  about  two- 
thirds  of  that  height,  and  the  little  finger 
rather  higher.  Now  let  him  try  to  raise  the  ring 
finger,  keeping  the  middle  and  little  fingers 


(  '69) 


FINGERLEITER  FISTULA. 


down,  and  he  will  find  a  peculiar  difficulty  in 
doing  so.  If  he  is  a  pianoforte  or  organ- 
player  he  will  probably  call  to  mind  many 
exercises  which  he  has  toiled  at,  all  of  them 
easy  enough  but  for  that  unlucky  ring  finger. 
In  fact,  all  good  writers  of  exercises  have  the 
education  of  the  ring  finger  very  prominently 
in  view.  What  is  the  cause  of  this  ?  It  has 
been  asserted  popularly  that  this  finger  has  a 
tendon  too  little,  but  this  is  just  the  opposite 
of  the  fact. 


Back  of  Hand, 


Fig.  2. 


If  we  look  at  figure  2.  we  shall  see  the  ex- 
tensor tendons  (the  tendons  which  extend  or 
straighten  the  fingers)  running  to  the  fingers, 
but,  in  addition,  we  shall  see  that  the  tendon 
which  goes  to  the  ring-finger  gives  off  a  small 
slip  (*)  on  each  side,  one  of  which  joins  the  ex- 
tensor tendon  of  the  little  finger,  the  other  that 
of  the  middle  finger.  Now  we  observed  that 
none  of  these  three  fingers  is  as  moveable  as 
the  forefinger.  If  we  observe,  also,  the  direc- 
tion of  these  slips  we  shall  see  that  they  do  not 
run  straight  across  from  the  ring  finger  to  the 
two  on  each  side,  but  run  at  the  same  time  a 
little  towards  the  fingers.  Now  if  we  see 
what  happens  when  we  raise  the  middle 
finger  alone,  we  shall  observe  that  the  slip 
will  become  tight  at  a  certain  point,  but  not 
until  it  has  passed  through  a  considerable 
space,  the  first  action  being  to  relax  the 
tendinous  slip;  the  same  with  the  little  finger. 
But  if  we  raise  the  ring  finger  alone,  the  slips 
almost  immediately  become  tight,  and  prevent 
its  being  raised,  and  the  exercises  before 
alluded  to  have  for  their  purpose  the  stretch- 
ing of  the  tendinous  slips,  especially  in 
youth,  when  growth  and  change  are  active  in 
the  tissues.  Now  these  slips  must  have  some 
purpose,  though  it  is  not  at  all  certain  that 
we  know  it.  It  is  probable  that  their  pur- 
pose is  to  make  the  grasp  firmer,  the  thrr>.i 
fingers  being  so  associated  together  that  each 
as  it  were  assists  the  other,  and  it  is  hard 


to  detach  one  without  the  rest.  They  are 
present  in  monkeys  (see  paper  before  alluded 
to),  and  in  them  would  be  useful  in  climbing, 
in  which  exercise,  strength  of  grasp  is  of 
course  of  great  importance.  The  forefinger 
is  not  included  in  this  association,  as  its 
I  value  depends  largely  on  its  freedom  of  inde- 
'  pendent  movement,  especially  on  its  capability 
of  being  opposed  accurately  to  the  thumb. 

These  slips  have  an  historical  interest. 
Robert  Schumann,  painfully  aware  of  their 
presence,  and  acquainted  with  the  cause  of 
the  difficulty  connected  with  the  ring  finger, 
tied  back  that  finger  for  a  long  time.  Not 
being  successful  in  his  operation,  he  irre- 
coverably damaged  his  hand,  and  injured  his 
pianoforte  playing  most  seriously,  and  in  con- 
sequence turned  his  attention  to  writing,  to 
which  fact  we  are  largely  indebted  for  the 
number  of  his  masterly  compositions.  What 
was  a  loss  to  him  and  to  his  contemporaries 
has  become  a  rich  gain  to  posterity.  A  case 
is  recorded  in  which  an  accidental  wound  to 
the  back  of  the  hand  partially  divided  one  of 
these  tendinous  slips,  and  the  ring-finger 
gained  a  considerably  increased  degree  of  mo- 
tion. The  subject  of  the  accident  noticed 
the  change  on  playing  the  pianoforte  after 
the  wound  was  healed.  With  regard  to  the 
feasibility  of  this  as  a  definite  operation, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  if  it  could  be  done 
safely  and  well,  it  would  be  well  worth 
every  pianist's  while  to  have  these  slips 
divided.  But  firstly,  there  is  a  strong  feeling 
among  English  surgeons  against  "improving" 
nature ;  and  secondly,  there  would  be  some 
risk  of  inflammation  after  the  operation, 
which  would  result  in  matting  the  tendons 
at  the  back  of  the  hand  together,  and  making 
matters  worse  by  limiting  the  freedom  of 
motion  still  further.  Apart  from  this  risk, 
the  operation  is  simple,  easy,  and  would  not 
be  painful. 

Fingerleiter.  [Chiroplast.] 

Finite  canon.  [Canon.] 
Finite  (It.)    Finished,  ended. 
Finto  (It.)    A  feint,  a  term  applied  to  de- 
ceptive cadences.  [Cadence.] 
Fiochetto  (7^.)    Slightly  hoarse. 
Fioco  (It.)  Hoarse. 

FloHtT"'1(^'-)    Ornamented,  florid. 

Fiorituri  (It.)  Ornaments,  cadenzas,  florid 
passages  in  a  melody  or  an  accompaniment. 

Fis  (Ger.)    F  sharp. 

Fisfis  or  fisis  {Ger.)    F  double  sharp. 

Fis  dur  (Ger.)    F  sharp  major. 

Fis  moll  (Ger.)    F  sharp  minor. 

Fistula  (Lat.)  A  pipe.  Fistula  dulcis,  a 
flute  a   bee.     Fistula,  cui  semper  decrescit 


(  I70  ) 


FITHELE  FLUTE. 


arundinis  ordo,  pan-pipes.  Fistula  eburniola, 
the  ivory  pitch-pipe,  from  which  an  orator 
took  the  pitch  of  his  voice.  Fistula  pastoricia, 
the  shepherd's  pipe,  sometimes  blown  in 
the  theatre  as  a  sign  of  dissatisfaction. 
[Flute.] 

Fithele  {old  Eng.)  The  ancient  name  of 
the  fiddle,  probably  derived  from  fidicida,  a 
small  stringed  instrument  of  the  cithara 
class. 

Flageolet,  (i)  A  small  pipe  with  a 
mouth-piece  inserted  in  a  bulb  (hence  the 
derivation  of  the  name  from  the  same  root 
from  which  the  word  flagon  comes),  producing 
a  shrill  sound,  similar,  but  much  softer  in 
quality  than  that  produced  from  the  flauto 
piccolo.  It  is  an  instrument  of  English  in- 
vention, and  was  formerly  employed  in  the 
orchestra.  The  obbligato  in  the  song,  "  O, 
ruddier  than  the  cherry,"  in  Handel's  "  Acis 
and  Galatea,"  is  for  a  flageolet.  (2)  The  tone 
produced  from  a  violin  by  lightly  press- 
ing the  bow  near  the  bridge  upon  lightly 
touched  strings,  is  called  flageolet  or  flute 
tone. 

Flageolet  tones.  The  natural  harmonics 
of  stringed  instruments,  so  called  from  their 
pure  flute -like  quality  of  tone.  [Harmo- 
nics, §  2.] 

Flaschinett  {Ger.)    The  flageolet. 

Flat,  (i)  The  sign  b,  which  directs  the 
lowering  of  the  note  to  which  it  is  prefixed 
by  one  semitone.  Its  shape  is  derived  from 
the  ancient  b.  [B  quadratum.]  (2)  Singing 
or  plaj'ing  is  said  to  be  flat  when  the  sounds 
produced  fail  to  reach  the  true  pitch.  (3) 
Minor;  as,  a  flat  3rd,  a  flat  5th,  &c. 

Flatter  la  corde  {Fr.)  To  play  expres- 
sively upon  a  stringed  instrument  with  a 
bow. 

Flat  tuning.  One  of  the  varieties  of 
tuning  on  the  lute  ;  called  also  French  tuning, 
or  French  flat  tuning,  because  the  French 
pitch  was  formerly  lower  than  that  used  else- 
where. Hence  the  German  term  Franz-ton 
for  a  low  pitch. 

Flautando,  flautato  [It.)  Like  a  flute ; 
a  direction  to  produce  the  flageolet  tones  on 
the  violin,  &c.    [Flageolet  tones.] 

Flautino  {It.)  (i)  An  instrument  of  the 
accordion  kind.  (2)  A  little  flute,  piccolo,  or 
flageolet.    (3)  [Flautando.] 

Flauto  {It.)  [Flute.] 

Flauto  amabile  {It.),  flute  d" amour  {Fr.) 
An  organ  stop,  consisting  of  sweet-toned 
closed,  or  sometimes  open,  pipes.  It  is 
generally  of  4  ft.  pitch. 

Flauto  dolce  (7^.)  [Flute.] 

Flautone  {It.)    [Bass  flute.] 

Flauto  piccolo  {It.)  [Piccolo.] 

Flauto  traverse  {It.)  The  German  flute 
held  laterally,  flutes  having  been  formerly 


played  with  a  mouth-piece,  whence  they  were 

called  flutes  h  bee.  [Flute.] 

Flebile,  Flebilmente  (//.)    In  a  doleful, 

tearful  manner. 

Flessibilit^  {It.)  [Flexibility.] 
Flexibility.      The   power   of  free  and 

rapid   execution,   in   vocal  or  instrumental 

music. 

Fling.  A  dance  performed  by  Scottish 
Highlanders  to  a  tune  in  common  time. 
[Reel.] 

F  Locher  {Ger.)  [F  holes.] 

Florid  counterpoint.  A  counterpoint 
not  confined  to  any  special  species,  but  in 
which  notes  of  various  lengths  are  used.  It 
is  opposed  to  strict  counterpoint.  [Counter- 
point.] 

Florid  music.  Music  in  which  the  melody 
and  accompanying  parts  are  of  an  ornamental 
and  embellished  style. 

Flote  {Ger.)  [Flute.] 

Flourish,  (i)  The  execution  of  profuse 
but  unmeaning  ornamentation  in  music.  (2) 
The  old  English  name  for  a  call,  fanfare,  or 
prelude  for  trumpets  or  other  instruments  to- 
gether or  alone.  (3)  The  preparatory  cadenza 
for  "  tuning  the  voice,"  in  which  singers 
formerly  indulged  just  before  commencing 
their  song. 

Fliichtig  {Ger.)    Light,  rapid. 

Fliigel  {Ger.)  A  grand  pianoforte  or  harp- 
sichord,  so  called  because  of  the  wing-like 
shape  of  the  top. 

Fliigel-horn  {Ger.)  A  bugle.  A  valve- 
horn. 

Flute,  (i)  One  of  the  most  widely  used 
of  ancient  musical  instruments,  and  at  this 
day  one  of  the  most  important  instruments 
in  an  orchestra.  It  has  been  remarked  in 
speaking  of  the  aulos,  that  the  general  idea 
of  a  "  flute,"  probably  included  anciently,  not 
only  open  tubes,  but  also  instruments  having 
a  reed,  such  for  instance,  as  the  oboe.  But 
the  word  has  for  many  centuries  been  used 
only  in  the  former  sense. 

Of  tubes  without  reeds  there  are  only  two 
kinds — the  flute  played  by  a  mouth-piece, 
and  that  played  by  placing  the  lips  close 
against  a  hole  on  one  side.  The  former  kind 
was  formerly  called  flMe  a  bee ;  the  latter, 
flMe  traversiere,  or  flauto  traverso,  the  cross- 
flute.  The  flageolet,  which  still  is  in  use,  is 
a  familiar  example  of  a  fldte  a  bee,  but  it  is 
the  smallest  of  its  kind,  for  these  instruments 
were  at  one  time  made  sufficiently  large  to 
be  called  "tenor"  and  "bass"  flutes;  and 
complete  four-part  harmony  could  be  obtained 
from  a  set  [Bass  flute].  The  larger  kinds 
only  exist  now  as  curiosities.  The  flAte  a  bee 
was  used  so  commonly  in  England  that  it 
was  called  on  the  continent flxlte  d'Angleterre. 
They  came  to  be  called  beak-HutGS,  because 


(  171  ) 


FLUTE. 


of  the  similarity  of  the  mouthpiece,  through 
which  the  wind  is  directed  against  a  sharp 
edge,  to  the  beak  of  a  bird.  Flutes  a  bee  were 
single  and  double.  Such  double  flutes  were 
familiar  both  to  Egyptians  and  Assyrians, 
and  illustrations  of  them  will  be  found  on  p. 
40  (Aulos).  The  following  illustration,  from 
Boissard's  Roman  Antiquities,  is  interesting 
from  its  great  likeness  to  the  modern  double- 
flageolet  : 


Fig.  I. 


The  Romans  gave  various  names  to  their 
flutes :  calamus  from  the  material  (reed)  of 
which  it  was  made  ;  tibia,  because  anciently 
flutes  were  formed  out  of  a  leg-bone,  as  shown 
in  the  following  illustration  : 


Fig.  a. 


It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  flutes  of  this 
barbarous  construction  are  to  this  day  used 
in  many  parts  of  Asia.  The  word  Jisttda 
seems  to  have  been  applied  both  to  flageolets 
and  pan's-pipes.  Flutes  a  bee  have  at  all 
times  been  a  favourite  object  for  ornamenta- 
tion, and  the  next  illustration  shows  a  very 
beautiful  example  in  carved  ivory  in  the 
Kensington  Museum : 


Fig.  3- 


The  ancients  possessed  cross-flutes,  and  it 
is  strange  that  their  real  value  should  have 
been  found  out,  and  their  use  made  general, 
after  so  long  a  period  of  disuse,  that  on  their 
re-introduction  they  were  called  German  flutes 
as  opposed  to  the  old  English  beak-flute. 
They  were  used  by  the  Egyptians,  as  the  fol- 
lowing illustration  shows  : 


Fig.*. 


Fdtis  having  obtained  the  exact  measure- 
ments of  an  ancient  Egyptian  flute  preserved 
in  Florence,  caused  a  flute  to  be  made  of  the 
like  dimensions  and  shape.  The  following 
figure  shows  it : 

Fig.  5- 


He  found  the  lowest  note  it  was  capable  of 
producing,  to  be  the  A  below  middle  C.  But 
if  Egyptian  artists  are  to  be  trusted,  the 
flute  in  Fig.  4  must  have  been  of  even  graver 
pitch. 

Cross-flutes  were  known  to  the  Greeks  by 
the  name  plagiaulos  {■KXayiavXoo),  and  to  the 
Romans  as  tibia  obliqua,  both  of  these  terms 
leave  no  doubt  as  to  their  nature.  By  the 
Romans  the  cross-flute  was  sometimes  called 
also  tibia  vasca,  the  meaning  of  which  is 
very  doubtful. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  say,  that  although 
the  tibicB  represented  flutes  of  all  kinds,  yet  if 
a  real  tibia  or  shinbone  be  made  into  a  flute, 
it  is  held  crossways,  and  the  player  blows 
into  a  hole  in  the  side. 

(2)  The  "  German  flute,"  so  popular  in 
England  during  the  last  century,  has  entirely 
superseded  the  old  English  flute  a  bee  in  our 
orchestra,  and  is  now  known  as  the  flute.  Its 
construction  has,  from  time  to  time,  been 
improved,  until  it  has  now  a  compass  of  three 
octaves. 


But  as  the  lowest  note  is  very  soft,  and  three 
or  four  of  the  highest  notes  are  exceedingly 
shrill,  it  is  safer  to  consider  it  as  possessing 
a  chromatic  scale  of  about  two  octaves  and  a 
half.  Notwithstanding  the  vast  improvemenu 
in  the  key  work  of  flutes  (of  which,  by  the 
way,  the  ancients  seem  to  have  been  entire'y 
ignorant),  there  are  shakes  on  certain  notes 
which  are  absolutely  impossible,  and  others 
which  are  of  excessive  difficulty,  for  instance, 
between  Cz  and       a  shake  is  impossible  in 


(  ) 


FLUTE  A  BEC  FOLIATED. 


either  octave ;  and  shakes  between  D  and 
are  almost  impossible.    The  lovely  effect  of 
this  instrument  in  an  orchestra  must  be  so 
well  known  to  all  as  to  render  it  unnecessary 
to  quote  special  examples  of  its  use. 

(3)  The  piccolo-flute  has  the  same  extent 
of  compass  as  the  ordinary  flute,  but  is  one 
octave  higher  in  pitch.  When  used  in  an 
orchestra  with  moderation  and  skill,  it  is 
capable  of  producing  delightful  effects ;  but, 
unfortunately,  it  is  so  commonly  abused  that 
it  has  got  an  undeserved  bad  character.  The 
lower  portion  of  its  notes  are  bright  and  joy- 
ous, but  in  the  upper  part  of  its  compass  it  is 

-so  shrill  as  to  only  justify  its  use  when  rare 
and  special  effects  are  required. 

(4)  As  all  open  organ  pipes  of  the  flue  class 
are  made  on  the  same  principle  as  the  fliUe 
a  bee,  it  will  be  easily  understood  that  flutes 
are  one  of  the  most  essential  class  of  organ 
stops.  They  are  of  two  kinds— open  and 
stopped,  and  are  equally  common  in  metal 
and  wood.  The  construction  of  the  stopped 
flute,  so  far  as  the  mouthpiece  (foot)  and  lips 
are  concerned,  is  identical  also  with  that  of 
the  fliite  a  bee,  only,  of  course,  its  first  har- 
monic will  be  the  twelfth,  not  the  octave,  of 
the  primary  sound.  When  organ  builders 
describe  some  of  their  flute-stops  as  flauto 
traverso,  or  flute  douce  (another  name  for 
tlie  cross-flute),  it  must  be  understood  that 
they  have  only  imitated  the  quality  of  tone,  i 
not  the  construction  of  that  instrument.  By  j 
slight  modifications  of  the  shape  of  the  dif-  i 
ferent  parts  of  a  flute  pipe,  arj.  almost  endless 
variety  of  tone  may  be  produced,  and  organ 
builders  avail  themselves  of  this  fact  to  coin 
an  endless  variety  of  names.  If  tiie  names  ' 
so  chosen  carried  with  them  a  hint  as  to  the 
special  construction  of  each  register,  it  would 
be  unfair  to  complain  of  their  multiplication; 
but,  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  this  is  not 
the  case. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  titles  ap- 
pended to  flute-stops  on  English  and  foreign 
organs : 

(1)  Describing  their  material,  as  wood  flute, 
woiid,  and  woude-fluit  (in  Holland).  Metal  flute. 

(2)  Stating  whether  the  pipes  are  open  or 
closed,  as  open  flute.  Flute  ouverte  (Fr.) 
Stopped  flute.    Gedackt-flote  (Ger.) 

(3)  Showing  the  pitch  of  the  stop,  as  bass 
flute  (i6  ft.  and  8  ft.)  Flautone  (16  ft.) 
Flauto  grave  (16  ft.)  Flute  pyittcipal  (8  ft.) 
Flute  major  (8  ft.)  Unison  flute  (8  ft.)  Flute 
minor  (4  ft.)  Flute  octaviente  (4  ft.)  Quint 
flote  (5j-  ft.)  Quintaton  (sounding  unison  and 
twelfth).  Piccolo  flute  (2  ft.)  Flautino  (2  ft.) 
Klein-fldte  (2  ft.)  Terz -flote  (i§  ft.)  Flute 
discant.    Flute  dessus  (treble  flute). 

(4)  Describing  the  shape  of  the  pipes,  as 
Doppel-JIdte  (with  two  mouths).  Pyramid 


I  flute  (having  pipes  larger  at  the  top  than  at 
the  mouth).  Flag fluit  {Dutch).  Flach-flote 
I  {Ger.)  (having  flat  lips).  Spitz-flote  {Ger.), 
I  and  Flute  pointue  {Fr.)  (having  pipes  smaller 
I  at  the  top  than  at  the  mouth).  Rohr-flote 
I  {Ger.),  and  Flute  a  cheminee  {Fr.)  (having  a 
I  chimney  in  the  stopper). 

(5)  Intimating  their  quality  of  tone,  as  full 
flute.  Hohlflote  (Ger.),  a.nd  Fliite  creuse  (Fr.) 
(hollow  toned).  Clear  flute.  Hell-fldte  {Ger). 
Lieblich  flote  {Ger.)  (lovely  toned).  Zartflote 
{Ger.)  (delicately  voiced).  Flute  douce  (Fr.), 
Dulcet.  Flauto  dolce  (It.)  (sweet-toned). 
Oboe-flute.  Clarinet-flute  (slightly  reedy  in 
tone).    Sijflote  (1  ft.)  (whistle-flute). 

(6)  After  their  supposed  nationality,  as 
German  flute,  flauto  tedesca,  or  alleniande. 
Flute  a  bee,  or  English  flute.  Suabe  flute. 
Sfhweizer-flote  (Swiss  flute,  the  German  name 
for  what  was  called  in  England  the  German 
flute).  Flauto  Francese.  Flute  Ravena.  Cza- 
kan  flute. 

(7)  Implying  that  the  quality  of  tone  is 
similar  to  the  modern  flute,  more  powerful 
than  the  flute  a  bee,  as  orchestral  ^{\x\.g,  flauto 
traverso  (It.),  flute  traversicre  {Fr.),  and 
Travers-flote,  Quer flote  {Ger.),  (cross-flute), 
concert  flute. 

(8)  Names  which  are  merely  fancy  titles, 
as  flute  d'ainour,  jnbal  flute,  portunal  flute, 
old  flute,  recorder  (flute  a  bee),  Wald  and 
Baiter  flote  (Ger.)  (pastoral  pipe),  echo  flute 
(soft  ioned),  flute  tacet,  cordedain,  &c. 

It  would  be  ail  advantage  alike  to  organ 
builders  and  organists  if  some  definite  system 
of  nomenclature  of  flute  stops  could  be  devised 
and  universally  adhered  to. 
Fiate  a  bee  {Fr.)  [Flute.] 
Flute  d'amour  (Fr.)    A  low-toned  flute, 
an  A  flute,  sounding  a  minor  third  below  the 
notes  actually  written.    It  is  now  obsolete. 
Fl(ite  douce  (Fr.)  An  organ  stop.  [Flute.] 
Flute  traversicre  {Fr.)     The  German 
flute. 

Fly.    A  hinged  board  which  covers  the 
kevs  of  the  pianoforte  or  organ  when  not  in  use. 
F  moll  (Ger.)    The  key  of  F  minor. 
Foco  (//.)    Fire,  spirit. 
Focoso  (It.)    With  spirit,  ardently. 
Foglietto  (//.)    A  first  violin  part;  the 
leader  s  part,  which  contains  cues,  &c.,  used 
by  a  conductor  in  the  absence  of  a  full  score. 

Fois  {Fr.)  Time,  as  premiere  fois,  first 
time;  derniere /oj5, last  time  (of  repeating),  &c. 

Folia.  A  Spanish  dance,  similar  to  the 
fandango.  The  tune  of  a  folia  was  some- 
times written  on  a  ground  bass,  as  was  also 
the  Chaconne  and  Passacaille.  [Follia.] 

Foliated.  A  melody  or  portion  of  plain- 
song  is  said  to  be  foliated  when  slurred  notes 
have  been  added  above  or  below  those  of 
which  it  originally  consisted. 


(  173  ) 


FOLLIA  FORM. 


Follia  (Sp.  and  It.)  Variations  upon  an 
air  or  melody,  in  which  the  ingenuity  was 
held  of  more  value  than  beauty.  The  name 
"  Follias  de  Espana "  became  applied  to 
laborious  trifling  in  other  matters  besides 
music. 

Fondamentale  (Fr.  and  It.)  Funda- 
mental. Basse  fondamentale,  basso  fonda- 
mentale, fundamental  bass. 

Fondamento  (7^)  (i)  Fundamental  bass. 
(2)  The  root  or  gene.-«tor  of  a  chord. 

Fonds  d'orgue  (Fr.)  The  foundation 
stops,  the  diapasons  and  8  ft.  flutes  on 
English  organs,  the  principals  of  foreign 
instruments.  In  general,  all  flue  stops  of 
8  ft.  pitch,  except  solo  stops  of  peculiar 
quality  of  tone. 

Foot,  (i)  A  metrical  measure,  pes  [Lat.) 
(2)  A  drone  bass.  (3)  The  chorus  of  a  song. 
(4)  The  part  of  an  organ  pipe  below  the 
mouth.    (5)  To  foot,  to  dance. 

Forlana  (7^),  fourlane  (Fr.)  A  dance 
much  in  favour  with  the  gondoliers  of  Venice. 
The  tune  is  a  lively  measure  in  6-8  time,  and 
is  similar  to  the  Tarantella,  but  not  so  varied 
in  its  motions.  It  is  said  to  have  been  first 
danced  upon  the  Frioul,  and  to  take  its  name 
from  that  fact. 

La  Fourlane  Venetienne  ou  La  Barcariuole 


j  Form.  The  shape  and  order  in  which 
musical  ideas  are  presented. 

This  definition  is,  perhaps,  the  nearest  that 
can  be  given  of  a  word  of  such  general  mean- 
ing. Form  has  been  divided  into  harmonic 
and  melodic.  By  harmonic  form  is  meant 
the  key-tonality  of  chords,  such,  for  instance, 
as  would  be  illustrated  by  a  comparison  of  a 
composition  by  Palestrina  with  one  by  Spohr. 
But  this  question  of  the  key  relationship  of 
chords  is  now  generally  made  subordinate  to 
the  study  of  harmony,  and  is  taken  from  the 
domain  of  form.  By  melodic  form  is  meant 
the  proper  grouping  of  the  successive  sounds 
which  form  a  tune.  This,  again,  is  made 
almost  foreign  to  the  higher  meaning  of  form, 
and  is  held  to  be  subordinate  to  the  laws  of 
rhythm.  In  its  highest  sense,  form  has  rela- 
tion more  to  the  development  than  to  the 
details  of  a  composition. 

In  attempting  to  classify  and  give  names 
to  the  portions  of  music  which,  by  their  com- 
bination or  succession,  go  to  make  up  a  com- 
position or  movement,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
say  at  once,  that  there  is  no  settled  or  con- 
ventional usage  of  the  terms  employed,  and 
all  that  is  here  done  is  to  bring  together  those 
most  commonly  known,  and  as  to  whose 
meaning  but  little  difference  of  opinion  exists. 

The  component  parts  of  simple  melodic 
forms  may  be  arranged  according  to  the  fol- 
lowing order,  (a)  Motive  or  Theme  ;  (b) 
Section  ;  (c)  Phrase  ;  [d)  Sentence  ;  (e)  Sub- 
ject. 

A  theme  consists  of  a  note  or  notes  con- 
tained in  a  single  bar,  whether  the  time  be 
duple  or  triple,  simple  or  compound.  A  single 
note  may  form  a  simple,  and  two  or  more  a 
compound  motive.  Repeated  notes  belong 
to  the  second  order: 


Simple  Compo 

If  a  theme  commences  upon  any  other  beat 
than  the  first,  as  much  as  is  necessary  to 
complete  the  bar,  whether  of  rests  or  notes, 
is  required  to  form  the  theme : 


Occasionally  a  subsidiary  theme  may  be 
completed  upon  an  incomplete  portion  of  the 


(  ) 


FORM. 


bar,  having  been  first  suggested  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  bar : 


Beethoven. 


Sometimes  three  motives  are  found  in  a 
section : 


A  simple  phrase  consists  generally  of  two 
sections  : 


which  may  sometimes  be  expanded  beyond 
that  limit  to  five  or,  even  more  bars,  with 
added  motives : 

Beethoven. 


Phrases  of  more  than  four  bars  may  be 
called  compound : 


A  sentence  is  formed  of  two  phrases  whether 
simple  or  compound  : 

Beethoven. 


or  lengthened 


Beethoven. 


Sentences  may  be  said  to  be  compound 
when  two  or  more  are  united  to  form  a  musical 
subject.  All  musical  subjects  may  be  analysed 
by  resolving  them  into  their  elements,  which 
consist,  as  shown  above,  of  themes,  sections, 
phrases,  sentences,  and  compound  sentences  , 
the  union  of  these,  and  the  connection  of  the 
subjects  they  make  up,  constitute  what  is 
called  Form. 

The  use  of  the  word  Subject  in  the  higher 
development  of  Form,  must  not  be  confused 
with  its  special  meaning  in  the  art  of  counter- 
point and  fugue.  Fugue-form  will  be  found 
treated  sub  voce  Fugue. 

The  study  of  form  is  most  important  to 
the  composer.  Without  an  adherence  to  its 
rules  compositions  are  liable  to  become  in- 
coherent, unintelligible,  and  amorphous,  es- 
pecially in  these  days,  when  there  is  a  great 
tendency,  arising  from  ignorance  or  mistaken 
intention,  to  create  music  without  much  or 
any  regard  to  form  ;  which  is  as  much  a 
necessity  to  a  musical  composition,  as  it  is 
to  the  design  of  a  picture,  a  building,  or  a 
piece  of  sculpture.  In  classical  compositions 
the  sonata  form  is  the  basis  upon  which  is 
constructed  the  Symphony,  the  Concerto,  the 
Overture  and  the  class  of  work  from  which 
it  derives  its  title. 

The  sonata  may  consist  of  three  movements 
in  contrasted  tempi  and  varied  forms,  but  the 
first  movement  must  be  written  according  to 
given  rules,  which  will  be  shown  in  detail 
after  a  general  description  of  the  ordinary 
arrangement  of  the  sonata.  Of  the  three 
movements  the  first  should  be  an  "allegro," 
I  with  or  without  an  introduction  in  slow  te»ipo, 
though  sometimes  this  is  dispensed  with.  It 
may  here  be  remarked,  that  whatever  key 
their  first  movement  is  written  in  is  the  key 
by  which  the  symphony  is  known,  and  all  the 
other  movements  must  be  written  in  keys 
akin  to  it,  but  the  last  one  must  be  the  same 
as  the  first.  The  second  movement  marked 
with  any  tempo  from  andante  to  adagio,  is 
usually  called  the  "slow  movement;"  the 
last  movement  is  usually  an  allegro,  and  may 
be  written  on  the  plan  of  the  first  movement, 
or  in  what  is  called  rondo  form.  As  the 
symphony  is  the  most  important  work  in 
which  the  sonata  form  is  employed,  a  des- 
cription of  the  usual  method  of  constructing 
it  is  subjoined,  on  the  principle  that  the 
greater  includes  the  lesser.    In  addition  to 


(  '75  ) 


FORM. 


the  number  of  movements  in  the  sonata 
proper,  the  symphony  has  a  minuet  and  trio 
or  a  scherzo,  movements  which  are  not 
necessary  in  the  sonata. 

The  minuet  or  the  scherzo— the  latter  most 
usual  since  Beethoven's  day — ordinarily  oc- 
cupies the  third  place  in  the  order  of  the 
movements  in  the  symphony,  but  occasionally 
the  adagio  and  scherzo  change  places,  as  in 
Mendelssohn's  3rd  Symphony.  Sometimes, 
as  in  Beethoven's  Symphonies,  Nos.  7  and  8, 
an  allegretto  appears  instead  of  the  andante 
or  slow  movement,  but  as  there  is  no  fixed 
rule  for  the  order  of  the  intermediate  move- 
ments, a  composer  is  at  liberty  to  make  such 
changes  as  he  pleases. 

Taking  a  symphony  as  a  standard,  the 
following  is  the  usual  order  or  form  of  each 
movement.  The  first  of  these,  as  has  already 
been  said,  may  begin  with  an  introduction  of 
a  slow  or  moderately  slow  tempo.  This  in 
its  design  may  foreshadow  what  is  to  appear 
in  the  succeeding  allegro.  If  this  is  so 
written,  it  would  give  a  coherence  to  the 
entire  first  movement;  and,  on  account  of 
the  frequently  mysterious  nature  of  this  kind 
of  instrumental  music,  coherence  and  intelli- 
gibility is  a  thing  much  to  be  aimed  at.  The 
length  of  the  introduction  may  be  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  composer  ;  care  being  taken 
to  lead  well  into  the  allegro  or  first  move- 
ment proper.  For  an  admirable  example  of 
this  sort  of  treatment,  the  student  is  referred 
to  Beethoven's  Symphony  No.  4.  The  allegro 
must  contain  two  principal  subjects  :  varied, 
and  well  contrasted,  and  written  so  as  to  give 
opportunity  for  good  instrumental  effect.  The 
first  of  these  is  given  in  the  tonic,  and  when 
the  key  of  the  symphony  is  well  established 
the  composer  should  prepare  the  introduction 
of  his  second  principal  theme.  The  old- 
fashioned  way  of  doing  this,  if  the  symphony 
were  in  a  major  key,  was  to  work  up  to  a 
major  chord  on  the  supertonic  of  the  original 
scale,  sometimes  with  the  7th  added,  and  by 
that  means  to  glide  into  the  second  subject 
in  the  dominant,  thus,  if  the  key  of  symphony 
were  B the  movement  would  eventually 
arrive  at  a  cadence  on  the  chord  of  C  with 
major  third,  the  second  principal  subject 
being  then  heard  in  the  key  of  F,  or  if  the 
symphony  were  written  in  a  minor  key  the 
composer  worked  up  to  a  cadence  on  the 
dominant  of  the  relative  major — thus  in  a 
movement  in  C  minor,  the  second  subject 
always  appeared  in  E''  major.  But  the  student 
is  warned  against  blindly  following  this  rule; 
it  should  be  his  aim  to  make  his  second  theme 
grow  out  of  the  first  ;  thereby  avoiding  the 
angularity  of  what  may  be  termed  the  cut-and- 
dried  school.  The  many  ways  of  doing  this 
must  be  left  to  the  choice,  guided  by  the 


ingenuity  of  the  composer,  but  the  chief  thing 
to  be  borne  in  mind  is  to  make  the  subjects 
,  melodious,  striking,  and  workable.  There 
1  may  now  be  introduced  one  or  two  sub- 
sidiary or  episodal  subjects,  growing  out 
of,  and  in  keeping  with  either  the  first  or 
second  principal  subjects.  'With  this  ends 
what  is  called  the  first  part  of  the  first  move- 
ment ;  a  double  bar  is  usually  made  here,  and 
I  a  repeat  marked  to  the  beginning  of  the 
allegro.  This  repeat  in  the  first  part  of  the 
first  movement  of  a  symphony  is  a  sme  qua 
non,  as  without  it  the  movement  loses  its  dis 
tinctive  form.  The  composer  must  end  this 
portion  of  the  work  in  the  dominant  if  the  key 
of  the  symphony  is  major;  or  in  the  relative 
major  if  it  is  written  in  a  minor  key.  Tht 
most  interesting  part  of  this  portion  of  a  sym- 
phony now  follows  ;  it  is  technically  known 
as  the  "  free  fantasia."  Here  the  composer's 
imagination  may  be  employed  to  its  utmost 
limit ;  but  he  must  bear  in  mind  only  to  use 
material  already  brought  forward  in  the  sub- 
jects of  the  first  part  of  the  movement.  A 
disregard  of  this  injunction  is  the  great  mis- 
take which  composers  (especially  young  ones) 
make  now-a-days,  and  leads  to  diffuseness. 
Again,  this  portion  of  the  symphony  may  be 
spoilt  by  the  composer  having  to  develop  sub- 
jects which  are  not  clear,  well  defined,  and 
interesting  ;  therefore  to  avoid  this  he  should 
be  careful  to  write  subjects  in  the  first  part 
of  the  movement  which  will  admit  of  much 
varied  treatment.  Having  done  this,  he  is  at 
liberty  to  produce  with  them  any  legitimate 
effects':  at  the  same  time  he  should  never 
allow  his  music  to  resemble  a  vague  sort  of 
improvisation,  such  as  is  frequently  heard  in 
many  modern  compositions,  by  so  doing,  all 
beauty  of  form  vanishes,  and  the  composer 
betrays  a  weakness  and  want  of  control  over 
his  subjects.  These  remarks  apply  with  equal 
force  to  each  portion  of  the  entire  work.  Not 
more  than  a  third  of  the  movement  should 
;  be  devoted  to  the  free  fantasia  ;  and  when  it 
j  is  finished,  the  first  principal  subject  is  re- 
j  introduced  in  the  original  key,  which  in  due 
course  should  be  followed  by  the  second  prin- 
cipal subject,  heard  this  time  in  the  tonic. 
Then  a  coda  may  follow,  after  which  the 
movement  may  come  to  a  close  ;  but  it  is 
suggested,  for  the  sake  of  coherence,  that  the 
coda  should  be  formed  out  of  the  material 
already  employed,  and  it  should  not  be  too 
prolonged. 

The  second,  or  slow  movement,  may  be 
similar  in  form  to  that  of  the  first,  but  its 
character  is  entirely  opposite ;  and  further, 
no  repeat  is  made  at  the  end  of  the  first  part. 
The  prevailing  character  should  be  that  of 
pathos  and  repose  ;  but  though  the  two  prin- 
cipal subjects  should  partake  more  or  less  of 


(  176) 


FORM. 


this,  the  rhythm  of  each  should  be  arranged 
so  as  to  form  a  striking  contrast  to  the  other. 
In  this  movement  the  themes  are  usually 
much  more  elaborately  treated  than  those  of 
the  Allegro,  and  sometimes  variations  are 
made  upon  the  first  of  the  principal  subjects  ; 
examples  of  this  latter  style  of  treatment  will 
be  found  in  the  slow  movements  of  Beet- 
hoven's Symphonies,  Nos.  5  and  9.  The  key 
should  not  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  opening 
Allegro,  such  an  arrangement  would  very 
likely  produce  monotony — the  exception  to 
this  rule  is  when  the  original  key  is  minor, 
the  second  movement  could  then  appear  in 
the  same  key  ;  but  it  should  be  in  the  major 
mode,  or  vice  versa  ;  any  key  may  be  chosen 
that  has  some  kinship  to  that  of  the  preced- 
ing movement. 

If  the  minuet  is  selected  for  the  third  part, 
the  composer  must  write  it  in  accordance  with 
the  form  of  the  dance  of  that  name.  Buf 
should  the  Scherzo  be  decided  upon,  he 
find  he  has  a  much  wider  field  for  the  expan- 
sion of  his  thoughts.  The  form  of  this  move- 
ment may  partake  of  that  of  the  minuet,  only 
the  time  should  be  generally  double  or  three 
times  as  fast ;  it  may  also  be  in  -|  instead  of  f 
time.  Its  character  is  usually  light,  fantastic, 
and  even  humorous.  It  is  sometimes  written 
with  two  trios,  sometimes  without  any,  as  in 
the  case  in  the  Scherzo  of  Mendelssohn's  3rd 
Symphony.  The  key  is  usually  the  same  as 
that  of  the  first  movement. 

The  last  movement  is  an  Allegro  ;  and  is 
generally  somewhat  lighter  in  style  than  the 
first  movement ;  though  its  form  may  be 
the  same.  Rondo  form  may  be  adopted  for 
this  movement  ;  or  it  may  take  the  shape 
of  an  air  with  variations,  as  in  the  Finale  to 
Beethoven's  Symphon}',  No.  3.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  repeat  the  first  part  of  the  finale,  if  it 
is  written  in  the  form  of  the  first  movement; 
and  the  free  fantasia  need  not  be  elaborated 
to  the  same  extent  as  in  the  opening  Allegro. 
The  key  of  the  first  and  last  movements 
must  of  necessity  be  the  same. 

The  form  of  the  Concerto  is  somewhat 
similar  to  that  of  the  Symphony ;  but  it 
differs  from  it  in  these  respects:  (i)  The 
opening  movement  never  appears  with  an 
introduction  placed  before  it.  (2)  The  orches- 
tra usually  plays  both  the  leading  themes  in 
the  tonic  before  they  are  heard  on  the  solo 
instrument  in  the  usual  symphonic  form.  (3) 
The  repeat  of  the  first  part  is  not  a  necessity. 
(4)  The  Concerto  never  contains  a  Scherzo, 
and  therefore  consists  but  of  three  move- 
ments—the first  of  which  should  be  an 
Allegro,  the  second  an  Adagio,  and  the  third 
an  Allegro.  (5)  The  movements  do  not  re- 
quire to  be  developed  at  such  great  length  as 
those  of  the  symphony.     (6)  A  cadenza  is 


usually  introduced  towards  the  close  of  either 
the  first  or  the  third  movement,  sometimes 
written  by  the  composer,  sometimes  left  to 
the  performers'  improvisation.  In  all  other 
respects  the  form  of  the  concerto  is  identical 
with  that  of  the  symphony. 

An  improvement  in  the  form  of  the  concerto 
may  yet  be  made  in  two  particulars.  The  old 
plan  of  beginning  the  first  movement  by  the 
orchestra  playing  the  leading  subjects  in  the 
tonic,  before  the  entrance  of  the  solo  instru- 
ment, might  be  dispensed  with  as  unneces- 
sary, because  the  themes  must  appear  towards 
the  close  of  the  movement  in  that  key.  Men- 
delssohn's Violin  Concerto,  and  that  for  the 
Pianoforte  in  G  minor,  are  examples  of  the 
advantage  gained  by  beginning  with  the  solo 
instrument  at  once,  or  after  a  few  bars  of 
orchestral  prelude.  The  other  suggestion  for 
improvement  is  the  abolition  of  all  cadenzas, 
as  being  redundant.  If  they  are  written  for 
the  display  of  the  performer's  skill,  surely  the 
composer  should  give  him  sufficient  oppor- 
tunity for  this  during  the  movement.  If  they 
are  to  show  that  the  subjects  can  be  treated 
in  a  different  manner,  they  should  be  included 
in  that  treatment  in  the  body  of  either  allegro 
or  finale. 

The  modern  overture  in  strict  form  should  be 
written  in  one  movement,  usually  an  Allegro, 
with  or  without  an  introduction  in  a  slower 
tempo,  and  partakes  of  the  nature  of  the  first 
movement  of  a  symphony,  without  the  repeat 
of  the  first  part.  The  subjects  of  an  overture 
may  be  lighter  in  character  than  those  of  a 
symphony ;  but  they  must  appear  in  the 
same  order,  and  be  worked  out  in  the  same 
manner ;  greater  importance  being  given  to 
the  coda  in  the  overture  than  in  the  symphony. 
The  introduction  and  allegro  must,  of  course, 
be  in  the  same  key. 

The  form  of  the  sonata  is,  as  already 
shown,  identical  with  that  of  the  symphony 
in  all  points  ;  the  only  exception  being  that  a 
minuet  or  scherzo  is  not  necessary.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  subjects  of  a  sonata  ought 
not  to  be  of  the  same  extent  as  those  of  the 
symphony,  concerto,  or  overture  ;  for  the 
obvious  reason  that  the  tune-colour  is  much 
less  varied  ;  sonatas  never  being  written  for 
more  than  two  instruments.  Trios  and 
quartets,  &c.,  for  strings  and  pianofortes, 
though  written  in  this  same  form  need  not 
be  developed  to  the  same  extent.  Nor  should 
the  attempt  be  made  to  introduce  grand 
symphonic  effects  in  these  works.  A  warn- 
ing may  be  given  to  composers  by  pointing 
out  how  incomparably  finer  in  effect  Mendel- 
ssohn's D  minor  trio  is  to  that  of  his  trio  in 
C  minor,  for  the  reason  that  in  the  latter 
work,  especially  in  the  last  movement,  pas- 
sages are  given  to  the  violin  and  violoncello 


(  177  ) 


M 


FORTSETZUNG  FREE  STYLE. 


which  never  produce  the  effect  they  are 
intended  to  convey :  but  nothing  of  the  kind 
is  found  in  the  trio  in  D  minor.  Here  every- 
thing has  the  character  and  form  of  chamber 
music  ;  and  composers  should  bear  in  mind 
not  to  write  symphonic  music  when  they  are 
composing  musica  di  camera;  though  the 
form  of  the  work  and  its  movements  may  be 
the  same  as  those  of  a  symphony.  For  a 
model  pianoforte  quartet  the  student  is 
referred  to  that  in  G  minor,  from  the  pen 
of  Mozart. 

The  string  quartet  for  two  violins,  viola, 
and  violoncello,  is  composed  in  the  same 
form  as  the  symphony  ;  but  also  should 
be  written  without  any  striving  after  sym- 
phonic effect  or  development,  care  being 
taken  to  give  each  instrument,  as  much  as 
possible,  its  equal  share  of  work  and  inde- 
pendent motion.  The  quintet,  the  sestet, 
septet,  and  octet  should  all  be  written  in 
sonata  or  symphonic  form,  each  instrument 
having  proper  but  not  obtrusive  prominence 
and  independence.  The  student  is  reminded 
that  the  whole  of  these  remarks  are  not  to  be 
considered  absolutely  final  ;  since  a  com- 
poser may  some  day  arise,  who  may  alter  the 
present  forms  of  classical  instrumental  music 
as  much  as  Haydn  and  Mozart  did  in  their 
day.  However,  as  such  an  one  does  not 
exist  who  has  shown  us  any  new  form  which  is 
better  than  the  old  one,  the  student  is  exhorted 
to  abide  by  the  rules  herein  laid  down,  which 
are  based  upon  precedent  founded  by  the 
great  masters. 

Rondo  form  differs  from  sonata  or  sym- 
phonic form,  in  that  the  first  part  is  not 
marked  for  repeat.  The  original  subject 
does  not  modulate,  but  reappears  in  its  key- 
chord  at  the  close  of  the  first  period,  and 
again  after  the  modulation  of  the  second  sub- 
ject, so  that  it  must  be  heard  three  times. 

The  arrangement  of  a  movement  in  rondo 
form  is  after  the  following  order : 

The  first  subject  enters,  sometimes  without 
introduction,  and  remains  in  its  original  key. 
Then  follows  an  episode,  modulating  into  the 
relative  major  if  the  key  be  minor,  or  into  the 
dominant  if  the  key  be  major;  after  which 
comes  the  second  subject  in  the  dominant  or 
relative  major,  as  the  case  may  be,  followed 
by  a  modulation  into  the  original  key,  to  bring 
back  the  first  subject.  This  ends  the  first 
part,  which  is  not  marked  for  repetition.  The 
second  subject,  modulating  into  distant  keys, 
commences  the  second  half.  This  is  followed 
by  the  first  subject ;  then  an  episode,  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  the  second  subject,  and  a  final 
episode  and  coda,  generally  in  the  original 
key,  with  slight  passing  modulations.  It 
must  be  understood  that  this  general  outline 
18  sometimes  varied  by  the  genius  of  the 


composer ;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  order  indicated 
above  is  followed. 

Fortsetzung  (Ger.)  Continuation.  Further 
development  or  expansion  of  an  idea. 

Fort  (Fr.)  Forte  {It.)  Loud ;  expressed 
in  music  by  the  abbreviations  for.  or /• 

Fortemente  {It.)  Loudly,  vigorously, 
with  force. 

Forte-piano  {Fr.,  It.,  and  Ger.)  [Piano- 
forte.] 

Forte  possibile  {It.)  As  loud  as  possible. 

Fortissimo  {It.)  Lit.  the  loudest.  Very 
loud.  The  letters  ff  or  ffor  are  used  as 
abbreviations  of  the  word. 

Forza,  con  [It.)    With  emphasis. 

Forzando  {It.)  Lit.,  Forcing.  Emphasis 
or  musical  accent  upon  specified  notes  or 
passages,  marked  by  the  signs  sf  or 

Forzato  {It.)  [Forzando.] 

Fourchette  tonique  {Fr.)  Tuning-fork. 

Fourier's  theorem.    [Acoustics,  §  ii.] 

Fourniture  {Fr.)  A  mixture  stop  on  an 
organ. 

Fourth.    An  interval  of  four  notes. 

Fourth  flute.    [Quart  flute.] 

Franqaise  {Fr.)  A  dance  in  triple  measure, 
similar  in  character  to  the  country-dance. 

Franchezza  {It.)  franchise  {Fr.)  Free- 
dom, confidence. 

Franculus  {Lat.)  A  mediaeval  sign  or 
neume  for  an  ascending  brevis  plicata. 
[Neumes.] 

Franz-ton  {Ger.)     French  pitch;  lower 
than  the  recognised  concert  pitch. 
Frasi  {It.)  Phrases. 

Freddamente,  con  freddezza  {It.)  With 
coldness,  indifference. 

Fredon  [Fr.)  (i)  Vocal  ornaments  at  the 
will  of  the  performer;  a  tremolo  or  quavering 
upon  every  note.  (2)  The  humming  of  a 
tune. 

Free  chant  is  a  form  of  recitative  music 
for  the  Psalms  and  Canticles,  in  which  a 
phrase,  consisting  of  two  chords  only,  's  ap- 
plied to  each  hemistich  of  the  words.  The 
author  of  the  form,  Mr.  John  Crowdy,  in  his 
"  Free  Chant  Cadences,"  claims  for  it  that  it 
removes  all  difficulties  in  dividing  the  words, 
and  enables  the  unskilled  worshipper  to  join 
confidently  in  the  chanting,  without  the  assis- 
tance of  any  marks  beyond  the  colons  pro- 
vided for  the  purpose  in  the  Prayer  Book. 

Free  fugue.  A  fugue  in  which  the  answer 
and  general  treatment  are  not  according  to 
strict  rules.  [Fugue.] 

Free  parts.  Additional  parts  to  a  canon 
or  fugue,  having'  independent  melodies,  in 
order  to  strengthen  or  complete  the  harmony. 
[Canon.] 

Free  reed.  [Reed.] 

Free  style.  Composition  not  absolutely 
according  to  the  strict  rules  of  counterpoint. 


(178) 


FREGIATURA  FUGUE. 


Fregiatura  {It.)  An  ornament,  embellish- 
ment. 

French  horn.  [Horn.] 
French  sixth.    [Extreme  sixth.] 
French  flat-tuning.  [Flat-tuning.] 
French  violin  clef.    The  G  clef,  placed 
upon  the  first  line  of  the  stave.  [Clef.] 


Frets.  Small  pieces  of  wood  or  ivory 
placed  upon  the  finger-board  of  certain 
stringed  instruments,  to  regulate  the  pitch  of 
the  notes  produced.  By  pressing  the  string 
down  to  the  finger-board  behind  a  fret,  only 
so  much  of  the  string  can  be  set  in  vibration 
as  lies  between  the  fret  and  the  bridge.  Frets 
are,  therefore,  nothing  more  or  less  than  little 
bridges  ;  hence  the  word  ^ayac  came  to  sig- 
nify a  bridge  or  a  fret.  The  Egyptian  lutes 
had  frets  made  of  camel-gut,  tied  or  glued 
round  the  finger-board.  All  the  viols  con- 
tained in  a  chest  had  frets,  and  some  of  the 
early  forms  of  the  violin  were  even  furnished 
with  them.  But  not  only  do  they  prevent  the 
rapid  fingering  of  difficult  passages,  but  en- 
tirely deprive  the  violin  of  one  of  its  most 
charming  qualities,  that  ol'  slurring  or  porta- 
mento, an  attempt  to  produce  which  will,  on 
a  fretted  instrument,  result  in  a  well-defined 
chromatic  scale.  Another  reason  for  the 
abandonment  of  fretted  violins  was  that,  in 
extreme  keys,  the  intervals  could  not  be  tem- 
pered. 

Fretta,  con  (It.)  With  speed,  haste,  hurry. 

Freie  Schreibart  {Ger.)  Free  writing  ; 
composition  in  a  free  style. 

Frisch  {Ger.)  Lively. 

Frolich  {Ger.)    Joyous,  cheerful,  gay. 

Frosch  {Ger.)  The  nut  of  a  violin  bow, 
into  which  the  lower  end  of  the  hairs  is 
fixed,  and  which,  when  moved  up  or  down  by 
means  of  the  screw,  tightens  or  slackens  their 
tension. 

Frottola  {It.)    A  ballad. 

F  Schliissel  {Ger.)    The  F  or  bass  clef. 

Fuga  {Lat.)  A  fugue,  cequalis  motus,  a 
real  fugue;  authentica,  a  fugue  with  a  subject 
in  the  authentic  part  of  the  scale  ;  canonica, 
a  fugue  in  canon  ;  contraria,  a  fugue  by  in- 
version ;  impropria,  or  irregularis,  a  free  or 
irregular  fugue ;  in  contrario  tempore,  a  fugue, 
the  answer  of  which  is  differently  accented 
to  the  subject ;  libera  or  soliita,  a  free  or 
irregular  fugue  ;  per  arsin  et  thesin,  by  inver- 
sion (i)  of  rhythm,  (2)  of  interval;  retrograda, 
a  fugue  by  contrary  motion ;  obstinata,  a 
fugue  in  which  a  definite  figure  is  main- 
tained, &c.  &c.  [Fugue.] 

Fuga  {It.)  A  fugue,  as  fuga  doppia,  a 
double  fugue  ;  fuga  ostinata,  a  fugue  in 
which  a  definite  figure  is  maintained ;  fuga 


ricercata,  a  florid  fugue,  a  fugue  with  florid 
episodes  ;  fuga  sciolta,  a  free  fugue. 

Fugato  {It.)  In  the  fugue  style  ;  a  com- 
position containing  fugal  imitation,  but  which 
is  not  in  strict  fugue  form. 

Fuge  {Ger.)    A  fugue. 

Fugue.  A  polyphonic  composition  con- 
structed on  one  or  more  short  subjects  or 
themes,  which  are  harmonized  according  to 
the  laws  of  counterpoint,  and  introduced 
from  time  to  time  with  various  contrapuntal 
devices;  the  interest  in  these  frequently 
heard  themes  being  sustained  by  diminishing 
the  interval  of  time  at  which  they  follow  each 
other  (the  stretto),  and  monotony  being 
avoided  by  the  occasional  use  of  episodes,  or 
passages  open  to  free  treatment. 

So  varied  are  fugues  in  their  character, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  give  any  definition 
which  shall  include  all  kinds,  but  from  what 
has  just  been  said  above,  it  will  be  at  once 
seen,  that  they  differ  from  all  other  formal  01 
set  compositions  (the  canon  only  excepted) 
in  that  each  component  part  (which  might  in 
other  works  be  only  a  means  of  harmony)  must 
stand  in  important  relationship  to  every  other 
part,  sometimes  even  to  the  extent  of  being 
interchangeable  with  any  one  of  them.  The 
key-relationship,  and  also  the  rhythmical  form 
of  the  sections  and  phrases  of  a  fugue,  have 
always  been  modified  by  contemporary  art, 
and  by  this  means  a  fugue  of  an  early  period 
may  be  easily  distinguished  from  one  of  a 
later  date,  until  in  some  modern  examples 
the  influence  even  of  the  sonata  form  is 
plainly  discernible.  As  the  growth  of  the 
splendid  form  now  known  as  a  fugue  has 
been  gradual,  having  extended  over  more 
than  three  centuries,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  name  should,  from  time  to  time,  have 
borne  various  meanings.  In  old  writers  it  is 
sometimes  used  to  signify  a  short  theme,  the 
measure  or  figure  of  which  is  to  be  frequently 
repeated  ;  at  other  times,  a  canon,  because 
herein  one  part  enunciates  a  subject  and  then 
as  it  were,  takes  to  flight  {fuga),  while  the 
other,  or  others,  pursue  it  closely  note  for 
note.  Canons  often  formed  an  important 
ingredient  of  early  fugues. 

It  is  easy  to  trace  the  germ  of  the  fugue  in 
the  higher  developments  of  counterpoint. 
When  music  in  two  parts  was  written  in  con- 
formity with  the  laws  of  double  counterpoint, 
each  performer  found  himself  setting  forth 
the  theme  proposed  by  the  other,  and  the 
good  effect  thus  produced  would  naturally 
suggest  a  repetition  of  the  theme  at  other 
intervals  (as  in  counterpoint),  and  also  in 
other  keys.  The  two  elements  of  a  fugue 
which  separate  it  from  the  higher  forms  of 


(  179  ) 


FUGUE. 


counterpoint  are,  first,  the  enunciation  of  the 
subject  by  itself,  without  harmony  ;  next  the 
strctto  or  drawing  of  subjects  and  answers 
more  closely  together.  The  former  is  not 
properly  included  in  counterpoint,  as  point 
(or  note)  is  no  longer  against  point  when  one 
part  is  heard  alone  ;  nor  is  the  latter  trace- 
able among  the  various  devices  of  the  art  of 
counterpoint  proper. 

Fugues  have  been  divided  into  many  classes 
according  to  the  point  from  which  they  have 
been  regarded. 

(1)  By  number  of  parts ;  as,  a  fugue  in 
two,  three,  four  parts,  &c.  (a  2,  a  3,  a  4, 
&c.) 

(2)  By  number  of  subjects  ;  as  a  double 
fugue,  having  two  subjects ;  a  triple  fugue, 
three  subjects,  &c. 

(3)  By  the  relation  of  subject  and  answer; 
as  a  fugue  by  inversion,  when  the  answer 
m  )ves  by  the  intervals  of  the  inverted  sub- 
ject ;  by  aug, dentation  or  diminution,  when 
the  answer  Ims  notes  of  double,  or  half 
the  length  of  those  of  the  subject  respec- 
tively. 

(4)  By  the  scale-relation  of  subject  and 
answer;  as  a  tonal  fugue,  when  the  answer 
is  modified  according  to  prescribed  rules,  so 
that  it  shall  remain  within  a  given  compass, 
or,  within  a  given  key ;  a  real  fugue  when 
the  answer  is  at  a  measured  interval  to  the 
subject  note  for  note. 

(5)  By  .  its  adhesion  to,  or  neglect  of,  the 
laws  of  fugue  form  ;  as  a  free  fugue,  a  fugue 
in  which  strict  form  is  occasionally,  or  for 
the  most  part  disregarded. 

(6)  By  its  scale,  or  the  scale  which  pre- 
dominates in  it ;  as  a  Doric  fugue,  when  the 
subject,  and  perhaps  also  development,  is  in 
the  Doric  mode  ;  a  diatonic  fugue,  in  which 
diatonic  harmony  prevails  ;  a  chromatic  fugue, 
when  chromatic  passages  abound. 

The  chief  elements  of  a  fugue  are  : — 

(1)  The  subject.  Dux,  propositus,  (Lat.) 
guida,  {It.)  antecedent,  &c. 

(2)  The  counter-subject,  or,  contrapuntal 
harmonization  of  the  answer  by  the  part 
which  has  finished  the  enunciation  of  the 
subject. 

(3)  The  answer.  Comes,  Responsio  {Lat.); 
consequenza  {It.)  ;  consequent,  &c. 

(4)  Episodes. 

(5)  The  stretto. 

(6)  The  pedal  point — point  d'orgue  (Fr.)  ; 
Orgel-piinkt  {Ger.) 

The  whole  of  these  are  bound  together  into 
perfect  unity,  from  the  fact  that  the  answer 
is  either  identical  with,  or  a  prescribed  imita- 
tion of  the  subject ;  the  counter-subject  or 
fragments  of  it  are  of  frequent  use  as  the 
material  of  episodes  ;  the  stretto  is  usually 
founded  on  the  subject  or  counter-subject ; 


and  the  pedal  point  forms  the  basis  of  in- 
genious treatments  of  the  subject  or  answers-, 
and  sometimes  even  as  the  basis  of  the 
stretto.  The  first  giving  out  of  subjects  and 
answers  is  called  the  Exposition  ;  and  when 
repeated  with  a  different  arrangement  of  the 
parts,  the  Counter-exposition. 

It  can  be  seen  from  the  above,  that  handled 
by  a  genius,  fugue  may  be  infinitely  plastic 
in  regard  to  form.  But  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  in  its  earliest  existence  it  was 
wretchedly  mechanical,  as  the  following  direc- 
tions how  to  compose  a  fugue  in  two  parts 
from  Fux  (Welcker's  English  Translation) 
will  prove.  "  First  choose  a  subject  suitable 
to  the  key  you  intend  to  compose  in,  and 
write  down  your  subject  in  that  part  where- 
with you  intend  to  begin.  This  done,  and 
having  first  examined  your  subject  whether 
it  be  comformable  to  your  key  ;  if  so,  repeat 
the  same  notes  in  the  second  part,  either  in 
the  fourth  or  fifth,  and  whilst  the  second 
part  imitates  the  first  wherewith  you  have 
begun,  put  such  notes  in  the  first  part  as 
will  agree  with  your  imitating  part  according 
to  the  directions  given  in  the  figurate  or 
florid  counterpoint,  and  after  having  con- 
tinued your  melody  for  some  bars,  regulate 
the  parts  thus,  that  the  first  cadence  may  be 
made  in  the  fifth  of  the  key.  Then  resume 
your  subject  mostly  in  the  same  part  you 
have  begun  with,  but  by  another  interval, 
after  having  first  put  a  rest  of  a  whole  or 
half  bar,  which  however  may  be  omitted  in 
case  there  should  happen  to  be  a  great  skip 
instead  of  it.  After  this,  endeavour  to  bring 
in  your  second  part  after  some  rest,  and  that 
before  the  subject  of  the  first  part  draws 
towards  a  conclusion,  and  having  carried  on 
your  subject  a  little  longer,  make  your  second 
cadence  in  the  third  of  the  key.  Lastly,  in- 
troduce your  subject  again  in  either  part,  and 
contrive  it  so  that  one  part  may  imitate  the 
other  sooner  than  at  first,  and,  if  possible, 
after  the  first  bar,  whereupon  both  parts  are 
to  be  united,  and  the  fugue  finished  by  a 
final  cadence." 

The  musical  example  which  he  then  gives 
as  embodying  the  result  of  all  this  learning, 
is  as  follows  : 


(  180  ) 


FUGUE. 


But  the  art  of  fugue  was  not  long  to  remain 
thus  lifeless.  The  successive  improvements 
made  by  great  masters  have  exalted  it  to 
the  highest  perfection,  and  have  made  it  one 
of  the  noblest  walks  of  the  art  of  music. 

The  best  way  of  showing  the  construction 
of  a  fugue  will  be  to  describe  in  detail  the 
nature  of  the  six  constituent  parts  just  now 
enumerated. 

(i)  The  subject  should  not  be  very  long  if 
it  does  not  contain  any  modulation,  because 
a  lack  of  interest  may  result.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  it  be  very  short,  its  treatment  in  the 
stretto  will  be  difficult.  It  generally  com- 
mences on  the  tonic  or  dominant  of  the  scale. 

Subjects  may  be  broadly  divided  into  dia- 
tonic and  chromatic.  Of  course,  a  vast 
number  of  fugue-subjects  lie  between  these 
two  boundaries,  but  by  a  diatonic  subject  must 
be  understood  one  on  which  an  author  in- 
tends to  construct  a  fugue  whose  interest 
shall  arise  Irom  genuine  contrapuntal  treat- 
ment and  device,  and  simple  modulations  from 
key  to  key.  By  a  chromatic  subject  is  meant 
one  which  a  composer  takes  with  the  avowed 
intention  of  constructing  a  fugue  whose  in- 
terest shall  result  from  a  complicated  inter- 
weaving or  frequent  contrasting  of  changing 
key-tonality,  with  ordinary  development  of 
the  subjects.  The  simplest  form  of  diatonic 
fugue-subject  is  that  which  lies  in  a  compass 
of  a  fifth,  e.g. : 


J.  S.  Bach. 


Tu    Rex    glo   -   ri  - 


Or,  when  it  reaches  the  compass  of  the 
sixth,  e.g.  : 


The  following  is  given  in  order  to  show  a 
grand  subject  in  this  compass,  although  not 
strictly  worked  out 

Ex.  9. 


Beethovln. 


Cum  Sanc-lo    Spi  -  ri  -  tu 

Diatonic  subjects  may,  however,  reach  a 
very  extended  compass,  especially  in  instru- 
mental music  : 

Ex  10.    Handel. 


The  following  is  remarkable  both  for  its 
extended  compass  and  length  : 

Ex.  zi.  [Fuga  a  tre  voci  con  licenza.)  Bee 


Scale  passages,  or  such  as  move  up  or 
down  an  octave,  have  always  been  largely 
used  as  subjects,  both  in  the  major,  e.g. : 


(  i8i  ) 


FUGUE. 


Sometimes  the  octave  compass  of  a  subject 
lies  between  the  fifth  above  and  fourth  below 
the  tonic,  both  in  the  major,  e.g.  : 


Ex.  13. 


Chromatic  subjects  are  also  of  varied  ex- 
tent and  difficulty.  The  following,  which  is 
capable  of  much  contrapuntal  treatment,  is 
commonly  met  with  : 

Ex.  15.  Sala. 


More  elaborate  chromatic  subjects  are  often 
found,  e.g. : 


Sometimes  both  diatonic  and  chromatic 
passages  are  included  in  the  subject,  e.g. : 

S.  Bach. 


The  interval  of  a  diminished  seventh 
always  been  a  favourite  element  of  fugue  sub- 
jects, e.g. : 

Ex.  i». 


J.  S.  Bach. 


Subjects  most  commonly  begin  the  key- 
note or  its  fifth,  but  there  are  exceptions  to 
this  rule,  e.g. : 


Ex  25.  (On  the  Second  of  the  Scale.) 


As  a  rule,  the  answer  enters  before  the  sub- 
ject is  finished,  but  exceptions  are  frequent. 
"  He  trusted  in  God  "  (Handel)  may  be  cited 
as  a  well-known  case.  Sometimes  after  the 
subject  has  finished,  a  few  notes  are  intro- 
duced to  link  it  to  the  answer.  These  few 
notes  are  called  a  subject-coda  or  codetta. 
The  name  is  also  applied  to  the  short  passage 
sometimes  connecting  the  answer  and  coun- 
ter-subject with  the  re-introduction  of  the 
original  subject  (see  Exs.  43  and  68). 

(2)  The  counter-subject  is  primarily  an 
accompaniment  of  the  answer,  and  in  a 
secondary  sense,  of  the  subject;  but  as  such, 
must  be  according  to  the  laws  of  strict  coun- 
terpoint. It  is  usually  written  according  to 
the  laws  of  double  counterpoint,  in  order  that 
it  may  be  used  both  above  and  below  the 
subject  or  answer.  Of  course,  the  counter- 
subject  may  be  in  any  species  of  counter- 
point, but  it  most  commonly  is  figurate,  or 
florid,  e.g. : 


Ex.  30. 


Mendelssohn, 


But  when  the  counter-subject  is  in  siiriple 
counterpoint  it  generally  happens  that  it  is  in 


(  182  ) 


FUGUE. 


notes  of  greater  length  than  those  of  the  sub- 
ject in  a  rapid  fugue,  e.g. : 


And  vice  versa,  shorter  notes  of  counter-sub- 
ject to  those  of  the  subject: 

Ex.  32.  Subject.  Counter  subject.  J.  S.  Bach. 


But  something  more  is  required  of  the 
counter-subject  than  to  be  a  mere  accessory 
to  the  subject  and  answer  ;  it  is  very  often 
used  as  an  episodal  theme,  either  just  as  it 
stands,  or  in  a  sHghtly  modified  form.  In 
the  following  example  the  counter-subject  of 
Bach's  beautiful  E  major  fugue  is  given  : 


Ex.  33.      Subject.  Answer. 


Counter  subject. 


Before  the  development  of  the  Fugue  has 
proceeded  far,  this  (from  *)  is  used  as  the 
subject  of  an  episode,  e.g. : 


Ex.  34-. 


If,  therefore,  the  counter-subject  is  intended 
for  separate  use  and  treatment,  it  is  necessary 
that  it  should  be  melodious  in  itself,  as  well 
as  capable  of  forming  good  counterpoint  in 
combination  with  the  answer.    In  speaking 


of  a  tonal  fugue  it  will  be  shown  that  the 
counter-subject  sometimes  has  to  undergo  a 
change  in  order  to  suit  both  subject  and  answer. 

The  term  counter-subject  is  often  applied 
in  a  manner  which  leads  to  much  confusion. 
If  in  a  fugue  with  two  subjects  the  second 
subject  is  given  out  at  the  same  time  as  the 
first,  thus  forming  an  accompaniment  to  it, 
it  is  by  some  called  the  counter-subject,  instead 
of  the  second  subject,  e.g. : 


Ex.  35,      Subject  or  ist  Subject,  Mozart. 


Counter  subject  or  2nd  Subject, 


It  were  well  if  this  use  of  the  word  counter- 
subject  for  second  subject  could  be  dispensed 
with,  the  former  being  limited  to  the  significa- 
tion of  that  counterpoint  added  to  an  answer 
or  subject  by  a  part  which  has  already  gone 
through  the  subject  or  answer.  Nothing  is 
gained  by  limiting  the  use  of  the  words 
second  and  third  subjects  to  such  as  are  intro- 
duced separately. 

(3)  The  answer  of  a  fugue  is  one  of  the 
most  important  parts  of  its  construction.  If 
the  subject  be  wrongly  answered,  the  effect 
and  success  of  the  whole  composition  is 
marred.  For  not  only  does  a  wrong  answer 
compel  the  construction  of  a  false  counter- 
subject,  inasmuch  as  the  counter-subject  must 
be  the  accompaniment  of  the  answer  whether 
it  be  right  or  wrong,  but  also,  it  overthrows 
those  episodes  founded  on  the  counter-subject, 
and  not  unfrequently  the  stretto  too,  as  being 
founded  on  a  close  combination  of  subject  and 
answer. 

The  large  class  of  fugues  called  tonal,  are 
so  termed  because  the  answer  undergoes  some 
slight  modification  in  order  to  prevent  a  de- 
parture from  the  key-tonality  of  the  subject. 
Roughly  speaking,  all  answers  are  a  fifth 
above  or  a  fourth  below  the  subject.  If  this 
relation  of  answer  to  subject  were  strictly 
carried  out,  a  modulation  in  every  answer 
would  be  inevitable.  The  answer  is,  however, 
often  purposely  made  at  strict  intervals  to  the 
subject  ;  in  which  case,  the  fugue  is  called 
strict  or  real.  These  two  classes  of  fugues 
must  be  considered  carefully. 

First  as  to  tonal  fugues. 

The  idea  which  underlies  all  tonal  treatment 
of  answers  is,  that  the  scale  is  equally  divided 
into  two  parts,  namely,  from  the  tonic  up  to 
the  dominant,  one  part ;  from  the  dominant 
up  to  the  octave-tonic,  the  other.  But  as  a 
matter  of  fact  the  first  half,  tonic  to  dominant, 
contains  five  diatonic  steps,  while  the  second, 
dominant  to  tonic,  only  contains  four.  This 


(  ) 


FUGUE. 


is  the  source  of  the  whole  difficulty  of  making 
a  correct  answer  to  any  given  subject,  e.g. : 


Now  when  the  subject  proceeds  from  tonic 
to  dominant  direct,  the  answer  must  proceed 
from  dominant  to  tonic,  e.g. : 

Subject.  _  Answer. 


But  if  notes  lying  between  the  tonic  and 
dominant  are  introduced,  or  if  the  subject 
exceeds  the  compass  of  a  fifth,  it  is  not 
easy  to  say  that  any  uniform  principle 
governs  the  relation  of  answer  to  subject, 
except  that  two  notes  must  be  represented  by 
one,  e.g.  : 


A  nswer, 


Subji 


The  following  examples  show  how  tonic  is 
answered  by  dominant,  and  dominant  by 
tonic : 


and,  by  the  next  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  sub- 
dominant  also  is  answered  by  the  tonic  : 


The  following  illustrates  the  application  of 
the  same  principle  in  a  case  where  the  subject 


proceeds  down  to  the  dominant  and  then 
passes  above  the  tonic  : 

Ex.  41.    Subject.  Bach. 


The  application  of  this  principle  to  subjects 
in  the  minor  key  is  much  less  easy  than  in  the 
major.  When,  as  formerly,  fugues  were  often 
composed  in  the  church  modes,  the  position 
of  the  (so-called)  dominant  and  final  of  the 
mode  largely  influenced  the  relation  of  answer 
to  subject,  but,  although  these  complications 
do  not  lie  in  the  path  of  the  modern  student, 
yet  there  is  still  much  uncertainty  and  dis- 
crepancy as  to  the  particular  treatment  of  the 
sub-tonic  of  the  minor.  This  arises  from  the 
fact  that  several  sorts  of  minor  scale  are  still 
in  use,  and  the  composer  naturally  frames  his 
answer  in  accordance  either  to  that  kind  of 
scale  most  congenial  to  him,  or  to  that  most 
capable  of  bringing  into  prominence  the 
melodic  form  of  his  subject.  Minor  subjects 
are  often  too  very  chromatic,  a  fact  which 
adds  to  the  difficulty  of  forming  a  correct 
answer. 

In  its  simple  state,  a  minor  subject  is  in 
effect  answered  by  a  modulation  into  the 
minor  key  a  fifth  above  (or  fourth  below),  e.g. : 

Ex.42.    Subject.    Key  of  F  minor. 


and  the  following  shows  the  method  of  return 
to  the  original  key,  sometimes  called  a 
codetta : 


Another  instance  is  here  given 

Ex  44.    Subject  (C  minor).   


It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  connect  two  minor 
keys  a  fifth  apart  in  a  pleasing  manner;  it 
takes  some  little  time  to  accustom  the 
ear  to  the  sound  of  the  mmor  third  of  the 
new  key ;  but  the  leading  note  of  the  old  key 
must,  of  necessity,  be  discarded  before  the 


(  184  ) 


FUGUE. 


re-entry  of  the  subject.  In  the  fugue  just 
quoted  Bach  inserts  two  bars  between  the 
close  in  G  minor,  as  above,  and  the  re-entry 
of  the  subject,  namely  : 


Ex.  45.  (Codetta.) 


Re-entry  of  Subject. 

As  minor  subjects  naturally  lead  to  a  modu- 
lation in  the  answer,  it  happens,  as  might  be 
expected,  that  the  minor  fugues  are  chiefly 
real :  for  if  a  modulation  must  take  place  at 
all,  it  may  as  well  include  the  whole  of  the 
subject  as  its  closing  portion,  tonal  alterations 
of  the  answer  are  therefore  rendered  to  a 
certain  extent  unnecessary. 

But  in  strictly  chromatic  fugues  the  tonal 
answer  is  very  common,  as  the  following  ex- 
amples will  show,  although  it  will  be  observed 
that,  in  some  cases,  tlie  answer,  before  many 
notes  are  past,  becomes  a  mere  transcript 
at  a  fifth  above  or  fourth  below  of  the  original 
subject. 

The  next  example  is  purely  tonal : 


The  following  is  mixed,  being  partly  tonal, 
partly  at  a  strict  interval ; 

Ex  47.  Subject  (8ve.  lower)  Handel. 


The  tonal  alteration  of  the  answer  to  minor 
subjects  often  extends  no  further  than  the  first 
note,  e.g. : 


Mendelssohn. 


In  major  subjects  this  also  happens,  e.  g.  : 

Ex.  49.    Subject.  Bach. 


This  is  more  noticeable  in  short  chromatic 
subjects,  e.g. : 

Ex.  50.    Subject.  Answer. 


Enough  has  been  said  to  show  the  general 
force  of  the  laws  of  tonal  answer.  Study  and 
experience  are  the  only  means  of  cultivating 
a  true  perception  of  this  peculiar  relation  of 
subject  to  answer.  Many  writers  have  at- 
tempted to  draw  up  a  regular  code  of  laws, 
but  the  exceptions  which  persistently  come 
forward  render  them  almost  useless. 

A  real  or  strict  fugue  is  one  in  which  the 
answer  is  throughout  at  the  interval  of  a  fifth 
above  or  fourth  below  the  subject,  e.g.  : 

Ex.52.   Subject.  _  ^  Bach. 


It  is  unnecessary  to  give  more  examples  of 
this  exact  and  constant  distance  between  sub- 
ject and  answer. 

The  question  naturally  arises.  How  is  it  to 
be  known  when  an  answer  ought  to  be  tonal 
or  real  ?  It  is  only  possible  to  answer  this  in 
the  most  general  way.  If  a  subject  has  one 
or  more  direct  melodic  progressions  from  tonic 
to  dominant  or  dominant  to  tonic  it  is  difficult 
to  make  the  answer  real  or  strict  without 

*  Made  one  octave  lower  to  suit  the  compass  of  otiv 
nary  tenor  voices. 

«5  ) 


FUGUE. 


giving  an  unpleasant  effect  of  unnecessary 
change  of  key  ;  whereas,  if  the  subject  consist 
of  a  series  of  grades  of  the  scale,  it  is  difficult 
to  make  the  answer  tonal,  without  producing 
the  effect  of  unnecessary  alteration  of  melody 
(inasmuch  as  two  notes  have  to  do  duty  for 
one,  and  vice  versa).  This  is  all  that  can  be 
said,  except  that  special  prominence  of  the 
sub-dominant  in  the  subject  seems  to  demand 
a  strict  answer,  e.g.  : 


Ex.  54.  Subject. 


In  cases  where  a  fugue  has  more  than  one 
subject,  if  the  second  subject  partakes  of  the 
tonality  of  the  expected  answer,  and  is  intro- 
duced in  the  position  ordinarily  occupied  by 
the  answer,  the  answers  of  both  first  and 
second  subjects  may  take  place  at  the  octave, 
sometimes  without  any  alteration  of  the  posi- 
tion of  the  parts,  e.g. : 


Ex  55.  Bach. 


The  subjects  are  as  often  answered  in  the 
octave,  but  in  inverted  positions,  e.g.  : 


It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  counter- 
subject  is  often  written  in  double  counterpoint, 
so  that  it  may  be  used  without  grammatical 
error,  both  above  and  below  the  subject. 
What  has  been  said  of  a  counter-subject 
applies  with  equal  force  to  a  second  subject, 
as  the  above  example  (56)  shows. 

But  the  first  and  second  subject  are  given 
out  very  frequently,  each  at  its  own  proper 
tonal  distance,  e.g.  : 


Ex.  57.  Beethoven. 


Sometimes  the  second  subject  appears  after 
the  first  subject,  but  is  not  answered  in  the 
position  expected,  an  answer  to  the  first  sub- 
ject taking  its  place. 


In  other  cases,  the  first  subject  is,  after  its 
first  enunciation,  set  asi  'e  for  a  lengthy  treat- 
ment of  the  second  su  ject,  the  first  bein^ 
reintroduced  when  the  development  has  been 
proceeded  with. 

The  above  examples  of  fugues  with  two 
subjects,  have  tonal  answers  ;  but  this  is  not 
always  the  case,  as  the  following  example  of 
strict  answer  shows  : 


(  186  ) 


FUGUE. 


In  fugues  having  three  or  more  subjects, 
there  seems  to  be  no  rule  whatever  as  to  the 
order  or  position  of  their  entry.  Sometimes 
they  are  enunciated  in  their  order  immediately 
after,  or  overlapping,  each  other;  e.g.  : 


3rd  Sub.  Cherubini. 


They  are  not  unfrequently  introduced  and 
developed  separately,  at  long  intervals  of  time, 
and  only  brought  together  towards  the  close 
of  the  work ;  in  this  case,  of  course,  the 
answers  are  each  true  to  the  subject  as  de- 
livered, and  the  fugue  has  the  form  of  two  or 
more  separate  developments  which  are  capable 
of  coalition  ; 

Bach. 


In  some  cases  the  subjects  are  given  out 
one  by  one,  without  any  development  being 
attempted  till  all  have  been  heard,  as  in  the 
well-known  movement,  "  Let  old  Timotheus," 
from  Handel's  "Alexander's  Feast,"  in  which 


the  four  following  subjects  are  given  out  suc- 
cessively by  solo  voices  : 


1      3rd  Subject  


Some  fugues  have  what  is  called  a  free  part ; 
that  is  a  part  whose  sole  function  it  is  to 
support  or  supplement  those  constructed  in 
the  prescribed  fugue  form.  Such  examples 
generally  take  the  shape  of  a  regularly  con- 
structed fugue,  accompanied  by  and  built  upon 
a  separate  bass,  or  basso  continiio  : 

Bach. 


Other  orchestral  parts  sometimes  accom- 
pany a  fugue,  e.g. : 


(  187  ) 


FUGUE. 


From  the  two  preceding  examples,  it  will 
be  seen  that  free  accompaniment  may  take 
place,  whether  the  fugue  is  tonal  or  real,  or 
whether  it  has  but  one,  or  more  than  one, 
subject. 

A  chorale  is  not  unfrequently  introduced 
into  a  fugue  as  a  free  part,  as  the  well  known 
chorus,  "  But  our  Lord,"  in  Mendelssohn's 
"  St.  Paul."  There  can  be  little  doubt  that 
the  freedom  of  writing  which  distinguishes 
later  fugues,  was  largely  brought  about  by 
the  habit  of  writing  free  parts  on  a  ground- 
bass. 

When  the  answer  of  a  fugue  is  an  inver- 
sion of  the  subject,  the  fugue  is  said  to  be  al 
rovescio,  e.g. : 


Fugues  "  by  inversion,"  like  all  other  kinds 
of  fugues,  are  sometimes  accompanied  by  free 
parts,  e.g. : 

Ex.  66. 


Episodes  are  passages  introduced  into  a 
fugue,  in  which  the  actual  development  of  the 
subject  or  subjects  is  for  a  time  suspended  in 
order  to  give  some  variety  and  relief  to  the 
ear.  But  it  is  important  that  episodes,  while 
affording  variety,  should  not  disturb  the 
character  of  the  fugue  of  which  they  form 
part.  To  effect  this  object,  they  are  generally 
made  up  of  free  or  imitative  treatments  of  a 
fragment  of  the  subject,  or  of  part  of  the 
countersubject,  or  of  the  coda  connecting 
subject  and  answer,  or  of  some  new  subject 
not  dissimilar  in  style  to  ore  of  these.  An 
example  (34)  has  already  b.  en  given,  of  an 
episode  formed  on  the  countersubject.  The 
following  is  an  episode  formed  on  a  fragment 
of  the  subject  given  in  Ex.  49  : 


The  following  is  an  example  of  an  episode, 
founded  on  a  coda  : 


E)t.  68.-  Subject. 


(   188  ) 


FUGUE. 


Coda  connecting  close  of  answer  with 
entry  of  subject : 


Episode  founded  on  the  figure  of  the  above 
coda  : 

Bach. 


Episodes  founded  on  a  theme  not  part  of 
subject,  countersubject,  or  coda,  are  very 
commonly  met  with  ;  in  the  following  example 
the  theme  is  quite  congruous  with  the  sub- 
ject : 


A  fine  example  of  episodes  of  a  totally 
different  character  to  the  fugue  into  which 
they  are  introduced  is  to  be  found  in  Bach's 
organ -fugue  : 


The  stretto  is  that  part  of  a  fugue  in  which 
the  subject  and  answer  are  drawn  or  pressed 
closer  together  (Lat.  strictus  from  stringere). 


In  nearly  all  carefully  constructed  fugues  the 
entry  of  the  subject  and  answer  is  brought 
closer  together  from  time  to  time,  as  the 
development  proceeds,  but  the  word  stretto  is 
only  applied  to  that  special  passage  in  which 
the  whole  of  the  parts,  or  as  many  as  possible, 
take  up 'the  subject  at  as  short  an  interval  of 
time  as  possible.  The  simplest  illustration 
of  a  stretto  will  be  found  in  the  treatment  of 
some  simple  diatonic  subject  such  as  the 
following : 


Ex.  70.  Sub. 


Ans. 


r2  I^ITyl-T]A 


It  not  unfrequently  happens  that  the  subject 
and  answer  cannot  be  brought  closer  together 
than  their  original  distance,  owing  to  their 
harmonic  inaptitude  for  such  treatment.  In 
such  cases,  an  altered  form  of  the  subject,  or 
a  part  of  the  coda,  or  part  of  the  counter- 
subject,  or  even  an  entirely  new  subject,  may 
form  the  theme  of  the  stretto.  In  many 
fugues  there  is  no  one  passage  which  can  be 
pointed  out  as  the  stretto,  but  the  interest  of 
the  development  is  sustained  by  various  other 
contrapuntal  devices,  or  modulations. 

The  masterly  stretto  (stretto  maestrale)  is 
formed  in  strict  canon.  If  the  subject  is  not 
capable  of  such  treatment  it  may  be  slightly 
altered  for  the  purpose. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  the  same  intervals 
should  be  observed  between  the  parts  forming 
a  stretto  as  are  absolutely  necessary  in  the 
enunciation  of  subject  and  answer,  e.g.  : 


Strettos  are  often  constructed  on  the  pedal- 
point,  an  example  of  which  will  shortly  be 
given. 


(  189) 


FUGUE. 


Stretto,  by  augmentation  or  diminution,  is  [ 
when  the  subject,  or  subject  and  answer,  are 
simultaneously  introduced  in  notes  of  longer 
or  shorter  length,  e.g. : 


Ex.  7*.   Subject.  Bach. 


A  pedal-point  is  a  long-sustained  note,  gene- 
rally the  dominant,  on  which  imitation,  sub- 
ject and  answer  (simply  or  by  augmentation 
and  diminution),  or  even  the  stretto  itself,  are 
constructed.  It  is  not  always  found  as  an 
essential  part  of  a  fugue,  a  vast  number  of 
fugues,  especially  for  the  pianoforte,  are 
without  it.  But  in  vocal  fugues  with  accom- 
paniment, and  in  fugues  for  the  organ,  it  can 
always  be  introduced  with  fine  effect.  Modern 
composers  have  not  neglected  this  interesting 
element  of  the  art  of  fugue,  as  the  next 
example  shows  : 


Ex.73.   Subject.  ^  Gounod. 


Et    ip  -  se      re  -  di-met    Is  -  ra  -  el,  . 


Stretto  on  the  pedal-point. 


Sometimes  the  stretto  precedes  the  pedal- 
point,  sometimes  it  follows  it.  An  episode 
introduced  after  the  last  close-imitation,  or 
after  the  stretto,  is  called  a  coda  to  the  fugue. 
It  often  is  introduced  on  a  tonic  pedal,  or 
worked  into  a  prolonged  plagal  cadence. 

A  few  general  remarks  are  necessary  in 
conclusion.  The  whole  structure  of  a  fugue 
points  out  that  it  is  a  work  intended  to  be  of 
constantly  increasing  interest,  from  the  first 
exposition  of  subject  and  answer  to  the  final 
bar.  Out  of  this  fact  grow  all  the  common 
rules  for  its  formation,  such,  for  instance,  as, 
"  no  perfect  cadence  shall  be  heard  till  the 
end."  A  perfect  cadence  in  any  key  gives  a 
certain  feeling  of  repose,  and  this  feeling  is 
alien  to  the  spirit  of  the  work.  The  only 
exception  to  this  rule  is  when  a  fugue,  with 
more  than  one  subject,  is  broadly  divided 
into  two  parts,  as  in  Schumann's  fugue  No.  6 
on  the  name  Bach.  Half-closes  are  not  un- 
common under  similar  circumstances,  as  in 
"  Egypt  was  glad  "  (Handel). 

Again  "  contrapuntal  devices  should  be 
introduced  in  the  order  of  their  interest  or 
ingenuity,  beginning  with  the  simplest, 
and  the  most  complicated  being  introduced 
last." 

Enough  modulation  should  be  introduced 
into  a  fugue  to  make  it  pleasing,  and  to  avoid 
the  tame  effect  of  one  continuous  key-tonality; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  too  much  modulation 
would  lead  the  hearers  to  believe  that  the 
work  was  intended  to  be  made  interesting  as 


(  190  ) 


FUGUE  RENVERSEE  FUNFFACH. 


a  specimen  of  modulation,  and  so  take  away 
their  attention  from  the  treatment  of  subject 
and  answer.  Hence,  fugue-modulation  is  in 
a  general  way  limited  to  related  keys.  The 
same  object  is  kept  in  view  by  the  rule,  "  if 
there  is  a  tonic  pedal-point,  it  should  never 
be  heard  before  the  dominant  pedal-point." 
Of  course  a  breach  of  this  rule  would  entirely 
undo  the  wonderful  effect  which  the  massive 
imitations  or  stretto  have,  when  heard  over 
the  dominant,  for  dominant  harmony  always 
causes  a  yearning  for  tonic-harmony,  and 
when  the  tonic  is  at  length  reached,  then  it 
is  time  to  add  yet  more  to  the  delay  by 
multiplying  superposed  tonic  harmonies. 

A  glance  at  the  subjects  of  fugues  given  in 
the  examples  will  show  that  there  is  not  much 
room  for  originality  left  to  modern  writers. 
The  more  the  vast  literature  of  fugues  which 
has  come  down  to  us  is  studied,  the  more 
apparent  does  this  fact  become.  It  is  indeed 
almost  impossible  to  write  a  short  diatonic 
subject,  capable  of  easy  handling,  which  shall 
be  in  any  sense  original.  The  true  lesson  to 
learn  from  this  is,  that  the  modern  treatment 
of  fugue  subjects  should  at  least  be  original, 
and  the  composer  who  now  sets  about  writing 
a  fugue,  should  feel  himself  compelled,  as  an 
artist,  to  make  use  of  all  the  freshness  and 
novelty  which  modern  chords,  key-relation- 
ship, and  rhythm  are  capable  of  producing. 

It  may  be  objected,  that  such  a  modernized 
fugue  ceases  to  be  a  fugue  at  all.  But  the 
history  of  fugue  clears  away  such  objections. 
Starting  from  the  early  time  when  fugue  had 
barely  commenced  a  separate  existence  from 
counterpoint,  the  word  fugue  meant  nothing 
more  than  the  subject,  hence  fuga  composita, 
or  fuga  recta  was,  when  the  subject  moved 
about  by  single  degrees,  or  in  conjunct 
motion  ;  and  fuga  incomposita  was  when  the 
subject  had  skips  in  it,  or  proceeded  by  dis- 
junct motion.  Again,  when  the  subject  went 
upwards  from  the  tonic  it  was  called  fuga 
authentica  ;  when  it  went  downwards  from 
the  tonic  it  was  called  fuga  plagalis.  Such 
expressions  point  out  a  very  elementary  stage 
in  the  art  of  fugue.  What  would  now  be 
almost  distressing  to  us,  namely,  a  fugue 
without  any  episodes,  one  in  which  subject 
and  answer  never  cease  to  be  heard,  was  at 
one  period  considered  the  perfection  of  a 
fugue.  It  was  called  fuga  ricercata.  Again, 
it  is  easy  to  trace  the  gradual  introduction  of 
episodes,  and  modulation,  and  the  discarding 
of  the  complicated  laws  which  bound  subjects 
and  answers  to  the  tonality  of  the  ancient 
church  modes. 

Then,  again,  an  extension  both  of  the  com- 
pass and  length  of  subject  gave  new  scope  to 
composers,  while  "  licences  "  in  counterpoint 
became  of  more  frequent  occurrence.  In  short, 


tne  fugue  t-ias  gradually  developed  from  an 
unartistic  music-puzzle  into  a  noble  and 
splendid  form,  and  it  behoves  modern  com- 
posers to  add  their  special  share  to  its  possible 
future  development.  It  is  quite  true  that  a 
very  large  number  of  fugues,  more  or  less  in 
the  old  style,  are  at  this  time  issued  by  so 
called  scientific  composers,  and  are  considered 
clever,  and  favourably  received  by  those  who 
are  not  familiar  with  any  music  but  that  of 
the  19th  century  ;  but,  were  it  worth  the 
labour,  such  modern-antique  fugues,  could  be 
proved  to  be  mere  rescripts  and  collections 
of  what  has  been  written  long  ago,  not  only 
once  or  twice,  but  scores  of  times.  Having 
carefully  examined  the  various  periods  in  the 
life  and  history  of  fugue,  and  having  accus- 
tomed himself  to  treat  with  respect  the  rules 
which  fence  in  its  earlier  rudimentary  forms, 
the  student  who  reads  aright  will  unhesitat- 
ingly endeavour  to  make  fugue-form  the 
handmaid  of  modern  music,  and  so  avoid  the 
too  common  error  of  wilfully  casting  aside  all 
that  accumulation  of  experience  and  progres- 
sive improvement,  which  we  happily  possess, 
and  should  learn  how  to  use. 

Fugue  renversee  (Fr.)  An  inverted  fugue. 

Fiihrer  {Ger.)  (i)  Subject  of  a  fugue. 
(2)  A  leader,  director. 

Full  anthem.  An  anthem  in  which  there 
is  neither  solo  nor  verses.  [Anthem.] 

Full  cadence.  A  perfect  cadence.  [Ca- 
dence.] 

Full  chord,  (i)  A  chord,  some  of  the 
essential  notes  of  which  are  doubled.  (2)  A 
chord  for  the  full  power  of  an  instrument, 
orchestra,  or  voices. 

Full  score.  A  score  in  which  all  the 
parts  for  voices  and  instruments  are  dis- 
played. [Score.] 

Full  service,  (i)  A  setting  of  the  Canticles 
for  voices  in  chorus,  with  or  without  organ 
accompaniment.  (2)  An  Office  in  which  music 
is  used  to  the  fullest  extent  allowed  by  the 
rubrics. 

Fiillstimmen.  Additional  chorus  parts — 
remplissage  {Fr.),  ripieni  (It.) — either  of  voices 
or  instruments. 

Full  stop,  (i)  In  lute  playing,  a  full 
chord  followed  by  a  pause.  (2)  A  chord  in 
which  all  available  fingers  are  occupied  in 
stopping  the  strings. 

Fundamental  bass.  [Harmony.] 

Fundamental  tones  The  tones  from 
which  harmonics  are  generated.  [Acous- 
tics, §  10.] 

Fun^bre  (Fr.)  \  Funereal,  mournful,  in  the 
Funerale  (It.)}  style  of  a  dirge;  as, marche 

funibre,  a  funeral  march. 

Fiinffach  [Ger.)  Five-fold.  When  applied 

to  a  mixture  stop  of  an  organ — having  five 

ranks. 


(  191  ) 


FUNFSTIMMIG  FZ. 


Funfstimmig  (Ger.)    In  five  parts. 

Funzioni  (It.)  Functions,  duty.  The 
general  title  for  services,  oratorios,  and  other 
musical  compositions  performed  in  the  Roman 
church. 

Fuoco,  con ;  fuocoso  {It.)  With  fire, 
spirit,  dash. 

Furia,  con  ;  furibondo,  furiosamente, 
furioso  (It.)  With  fury,  energy,  vehemence. 

Furlano  (It.)     A  dance.  [Forlana.] 

Furniture.  The  name  of  one  of  the  mix- 
ture stops  in  an  organ. 


Furore,  con  {It.)  With  fuiy,  passion,  en- 
thusiasm. 

Fusa  {Lat.)    A  quaver,  # 
Fusee  {Fr.)     Rapid  division,  shake,  or 
roulade. 

Fusella  {Lat.)    A  semiquaver,  #^ 
Fuss  {Ger.)    Foot,    (i)  The  part  of  an 
organ  pipe  below  the  mouth.  (2)  The  measure 
by  which  the  pitch  of  organ  stops  is  deter- 
mined ;  as,  8  ftlssig,  of  8  ft.,  or  unison  pitch. 
Fz.    Abbreviation  for  forzando. 


(  «V  ) 


G  GALLIARD. 


G. 


G.  (i)  The  note  Lichanos  in  Greek  music. 
[Greek  Music] 

(2)  The  first  note  of  the  church  mode,  called 
Eolian,  the  highest  in  pitch  of  the  authentic 
modes. 

(3)  The  lowest  note  of  the  grave  hexachord  ; 
in  the  Guidonian  system,  gamma  ut. 

(4)  The  fifth  note  of  the  normal  scale  of  C, 
called  Sol. 

(5)  The  lowest  or  fourth  string  of  a  violin, 
the  third  of  the  viola  and  violoncello. 

(6)  The  key-note  of  the  major  scale,  having 
one  sharp  in  the  signature. 

(7)  The  letter-name  of  the  treble  clef. 

G.  abb.  for  gauche  (Fr.)  Left;  as,  tn.g., 
with  the  left  hand. 

Ga.  The  fourth  syllable  in  the  system  of 
Bobibation. 

Gabel  {Ger.)  A  fork  ;Stimmgabel,  a  tuning- 
fork  ;  Gabelton,  the  note  A,  as  given  for  the 
pitch. 

Gagliarda  {It.)  [Galliard.] 

Gai  {Fr.)  Gajo  {It.)    Lively,  merry,  gay. 

Gaillarde  {Fr.)  [Galliard.] 

Gaiment  {Fr.)  Gajamente  {It.)  Gaily, 
cheerily,  merrily. 

Galantemente  {It.)  Gracefully,  in  good 
taste,  bravely, 

Galliard,  Gaillard  {Fr.)  Gagliarda  {It.) 
An  ancient  dance,  so  called  because  of  its 
gay  rhythm  and  motion.  It  is  said  by  some 
to  have  been  similar  in  character  to  the 
Cushion  dance,  and  is  described  by  Sir  John 
Davis  as: 

 "  A  swift  and  wandering  dance. 

With  passages  uncertain  to  and  fro, 

With  lofty  turns  and  caprioles  in  the  air. 
Which  to  the  lusty  tunes  accordeth  fair." 

Like  the  minuet,  of  which  it  was  probably 
the  parent,  the  galliard  was  danced  by  a  lady 
and  gentleman.  If  more  than  one  couple  per- 
formed the  dance,  they  did  so  independently 
of  other  danc-ers. 

The  tune  was  generally  written  in  triple 
time.    "  Hence,"  says  Butler  ("  Principles  of 


Musick,"  1636),  *'  the  triple  is  oft  called  gal- 
liard time  ;  and  the  duple,  pavan  time." 

Brawls,  corantos,  and  galliards  were  danced 
at  court  from  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
to  that  of  Charles  I.,  as  country  dances  and 
minuets  were  in  later  time.  Dowland'a 
beautiful  and  well-known  melody,  "  Now, 
O  now,"  published,  with  words,  in  the  "  First 
Booke  of  Songes  or  Ayres,  of  foure  parts," 
1597,  had  been  known  before  that  date  as  a 
dance  tune,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Frog's 
Galliard."  It  is  usually  written  in  |  time  ; 
but  as  it  is  of  slow  pace,  the  subsidiary  accent 
might  be  made  a  primary  one,  and  so  bring 
it  within  the  general  character  of  the  measure 
of  the  galliard. 

The  composers  of  the  early  part  of  the 
17th  century  frequently  employed  the  rhythnv 
of  the  galliard  as  a  vehicle  for  "  fancies," 
with  florid  passages  for  the  virginals.  A 
good  example  of  this  form  of  writing  may 
be  seen  in  "  Parthenia,  or  the  Maydenhead 
of  the  first  musick  that  ever  was  printed  for 
the  Virginalls,"  161 1.  The  following  tune,, 
by  Girolamo  Frescobaldi,  1637,  will  show  the 
measure  of  the  dance  : 


Gagliarda. 


N 


(  ) 


GALOP  GAVOT. 


Sir  John  Hawkins  says  that  "the  tune  for 
the  galliard  consists  of  five  paces  or  bars  in 
the  first  strain,  and  is  therefore  called  Cinque- 
pace,"  but  the  existing  galliards  do  not  justify 
this  description. 

Some  writers  say  that  the  dance  came  in 
fashion  about  the  year  1540.  It  had  a  reign 
of  popularity  extending  over  a  hundred  years, 
after  which  time  composers  ceased  to  employ 
the  title.    [Country  Dance.]    (  Pavan.J 

Ualop,  galopade  (/•>.)  A  lively  dance  in 
2-4  time,  originally  a  separate  and  indepen- 
dent dance,  but  now  also  forming  a  portion 
.of  a  set  ot  quadrilles. 

Galoubet  (Fr.)  A  small  flute  of  a  primi- 
tive character  with  three  holes,  similar  to  the 
Picco  pipe. 

Gamba,  Viol  da(//.)  A  stringed  instru- 
ment of  tlie  viol  sort,  with  six  strings,  weaker 
in  tone  and  smaller  in  size  than  the  violon- 
cello, so  called  because  it  was  held  between 
the  knees  of  tlic  pla)'er.    [Viola  di  Gamba.] 

Gamba,  or  Viol  di  Gamba.  An  organ- 
stop,  the  pipes  of  which  are,  in  continental 
organs,  generally  cylindrical,  of  small  scale, 
and  well  cut  up  ;  but  sometimes  are  conical 
in  shape.  Its  tone  is  pungent  and  not  unlike 
that  of  a  vitjlin  or  violoncello.  In  England 
the  Bell  Gamba  is  more  commonly  met  with. 
[Bell  Gamba.l 

Gamme  {Fr.)    Gamut.  [Notation.] 

Ganz  (Oct.)  (i)  Entire,  whole  ;  Gawa/ow, 
a  whole  tont ;  Gauze  Note,  a.  semibreve,  &c. 
(2)  Very,  as  fi^nnz  langsam,  very  slow. 

Garbo,  con  (//.)    With  grace,  politely. 

Garlands.  A  general  name  for  collections 
of  ballads,  and  other  inferior  literature  upon 
given  subjects.  [Ballad.) 

Garrire  (It.)  To  warble,  to  chirp,  to 
chatter. 

Gassatio.  A  word  of  varied  meaning. 
Some  writers  use  it  to  describe  a  street 
serenade,  "  hergeleitet  von  dem  Herum- 
spazieren  auf  den  Gassen  um  den  Jungfern 
ein  Standichen  oder  Hoferecht  zu  machen;" 
others  say  it  is  a  "  familiar  expression  for 
instrumental  compositions  generally,  sym- 
phonies as  well  as  quartetts."    Others  as- 

(  I 


suming  that  the  word  comes  from  the  Italian 

Cassatio  or  Cassazione,  describe  it  as  meaning 
a  farewell  or  final  piece,  whether  in  a 
programme  or  as  part  of  a  whole  composition. 
The  word  Gassaten  or  Cassatio  is  often  made 
to  do  duty  in  describing  the  whole  thing  0/ 
which  it  only  forms  part,  and  thus  it  is  thai 
Suites  or  Sonatas  of  the  earlier  composers 
are  sometimes  called  Cassazioni  when  final 
movements  ought  only  to  be  so  called. 
I  Suite.]  [Serenata.] 

Gassenhawer.  {Ger.)  The  name  givm 
to  one  of  the  dance  tunes  in  Wolf.  Heckel  s 
"  Lautten  Buch,"  Strasbourg,  1562,  which 
contains  many  songs  and  pieces  ;  "  Auch  vil 
faltige  Newe  Tentz,  sampt  mancherley 
Fantaseyen,  Recercari,  Pavana,  Saltarelli, 
und  Gassenhawer,  &c."  The  word  is  collater- 
ally related  to  Passacaille,  which  is  from  the 
Spanish  Passu  calle  ("  qui  court  les  rues  "). 
The  subjoined  is  a  translation  into  modern 
notation,  from  the  Tablature  in  the  book 
referred  to  above,  of  the  melody  oftMs  dance, 
which  it  may  be  perceived  is  capaljle  of  bear- 
ing a  ground  bass,  like  the  cliaconnes  or 
passacailles,  to  which  class  it  unquestionably 
belongs. 

Woui'.  HiiCKiiL'-i  "Lauttea  Buch,"  ij6a. 


Gauche  {Fr.)  Left;  as,  la  main  frauclie, 
the  left  hand. 
I  Gavot,  gavotte,  or  gavote  (Fr.)  Gavotta 
{It.)  A  dance  tune  of  a  lively  yet  dignified 
character,  said  to  be  of  French  origin,  and  to 
take  its  name  from  the  Gavots,  "  Peuples 
montagnards  du  pays  de  Gap,  ont  donnfe  le 
nom  a  cette  danse  que  nous  appellon  gavote." 
The  description  of  the  dance,  "  a  brisk  round 
for  as  many  as  will,"  identifies  it  with  the 
country  dance,  and  the  form  of  the  tune  sup- 

Q4  ) 


GAVOT. 


ports  this  resemblance.  The  gavot  seems  to 
have  been  more  popular  as  an  instrumental 
piece  than  as  a  dance,  and  to  have  been  a 
favourite  movement  in  suites,  lessons,  and 
sonatas  from  the  latter  part  of  the  17th  cen- 
tury, the  time  when  the  word  appears  to 
have  been  brought  into  use. 

The  descriptions  of  the  measure  and  rhythm 
of  the  dance  are  many,  and  slightly  different, 
one  writer  maintaining  that  it  should  begin  | 
"  with  two  crotchets,  or  the  half  of  a  bar,  with 
a  rise  of  the  hand  in  beating,  ending  also 
with  two  crotchets  that  begin  the  last  bar." 
Another  says,  '■  It  may  begin  with  an  odd 
quaver,  as  that  in  the  9th  of  Corelli"s  concerto 
does ;  or  with  a  whole  bar,  as  the  same  com- 
poser shows  us  in  Sonata  i.  Op.  2." 

Hawkins  says  that  the  dance  is  in  triple 
time,  of  two  strains  of  four  and  eight  bars 
respectively,  the  first  ending  in  the  key  of  the 
dominant;  and  quotes  Walther,  who  states 
that  the  first  strain  should  have  its  cadence 
in  the  third  or  fifth  of  the  key  ;  "  for  that  if 
it  be  in  the  key-note  itself,  it  is  not  a  gavot, 
but  a  rondeau."  It  would  be  easy  to  produce 
numerous  examples  of  gavots  by  well-known 
composers,  in  which  the  conditions  mentioned 
above  are  not  present.  The  following  ex- 
amples, selected  originally  with  the  intention 
of  showing  some  early  specimens  of  this 
dance,  will  also  be  interesting  as  bearing 
upon  the  question  : 


Gavot  in  Gamut,  bv  Dr.  John  Blow,  1700. 


(  ) 


GAVOTTA  GHAZEL. 


Corelli,  Bach,  Handel,  and  others  who  have 
written  gavots,  do  not  always  adhere  to  the 
so-called  rules  of  this  form  of  composition,  but 
display  some  remarkable  deviations  from  it, 
which  those  interested  in  the  subject  may  dis- 
cover for  themselves  in  the  works  of  those 
writers.  Like  the  galliard,  the  gavot,  as  an 
instrumental  composition,  had  a  limited  period 
of  popularity,  for  there  are  very  few  examples 
of  later  date  than  about  the  year  1760  to  be 
found  in  the  sonatas  and  suites.  As  a  dance, 
the  gavot  was  taught  until  a  few  years  back, 
but  the  tune  employed  was  different  to  those 
found  in  the  compositions  of  the  last  century. 
Many  of  the  old  gavots  are  being  restored 
to  favour  at  the  present  time,  and  the  com- 
posers of  school-music  are  exercising  their 
imitative  powers  in  writing  pieces  after  the 
manner  of  the  old  composers,  to  supply  the 
demand  made  in  consequence  of  the  revived 
popularity  of  the  melody  and  rhythm  of  this 
form  of  dance. 

Gavotta  (It.)  Gavotte  (Fr.)  [Gavot.] 

G  clef.  The  character  placed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  stave,  to  indicate  the  pitch  of  the 
notes.  [Clef.] 

G  dur  (Ger.)    The  key  of  G  major. 


Gebrochene  Akkorde  (Ger.)  Distributed 
harmony,  or  arpeggio.  [Arpeggio.] 

Gedackt  (Ger.)  Covered  or  closed.  FDecke, 
§2.] 

Gefahrte  (Ger.)  The  answer  to  a  fugue 
subject  rFiihrer).  [Fugue.] 

Gefiinl,  mit  (Ger.)  With  feeling,  expres- 
sion. 

Gegenbewegung  (Ger.)  Contrary  motion. 
[Motion.] 

Gegengesang  (Ger.)    Antiphonal  music. 

Gegenpunkt  (Ger.)  Counterpoint. 

Gegensatz  (Ger.)  Counter-subject. 

Gehend  (Gcj-.)  Andante  (It.)  Lit.,  Going; 
at  a  moderate  pace  ;  etwas  gehend,  andantino. 

Geige  (Ger.)  A  violin.  Geigen-blatt,  the 
finger-board  ;  Geigen-bogen,  the  bow  ;  Geigen- 
hnrz,  resin;  Geigen  -  suite,  fiddle- string; 
Geigen-sattel,  the  bridge;  Geigen-wirbel,  a 
peg. 

Geist  (Ger.)    Spirit,  genius,  soul. 

Gelassen  (Ger.)    Calm,  tranquil. 

Gemshorn  (Ger.)  (i)  An  instrument  made 
of  the  horn  of  the  chamois  goat.  (2)  An  orgar 
stop,  of  conically-shaped  pipes  of  tin,  narrow 
at  the  open  end,  with  ears  at  the  broad  end 
or  mouth,  to  regulate  the  tuning.  The  t  re 
is  peculiar  and  pleasant.  It  is  generally  of 
8-ft.  tone,  though  sometimes  of  4,  and  in  the 
pedal  organ  of  16. 

General -bass  (Ger.)  Thorough  bass  ; 
basso  continuo  (It.) 

Generator.  A  ground  note,  fundamental 
bass,  root,  derivative. 

Genere  (7^.)  Genre  (Fr.)  (i)  Manner  or 
style.  (2)  Kind  or  class  (of  scales)  ;  as,  dia- 
tonico,  crotnatico,  enarmonico. 

Generoso  (7^.)    Nobly,  with  dignity. 

Gentile ;  gentilezza,  con  (7^)  Noble, 
with  dignity. 

Genus  [Lat.)  Sort  or  class,  especially  used 
with  reference  to  scales;  as,  the  diatonic, 
chromatic,  and  enharmonic  genera.  [Greek 
Music] 

Gerade-bewegung  (Ger.)  Similar  motion. 
[Motion.] 

Gerade-taktart  (Ger.)    Common  time. 

German  flute.  [Flute.] 

German  sixth.  [Extreme  sixth,  chord  of.] 

Ges  [Ger.)    The  note  G  flat. 

Gesang  [Ger.)  Singing,  song,  cantata, 
hymn,  &c. 

Geschwind  (Ger.)    Quick,  rapid. 

Ges  dur  (Ger.)    The  key  of  G  flat  major. 

Gestossen  (Ger.)  Staccato. 

Getern,  Getron  {Old  Eng.)  Guitar. 

Ghazel  {Arab.)  A  term  used  by  Dr. 
Hiller  to  describe  a  piece  in  which  a  simple 
theme  is  constantly  recurring.  The  name  is 
suggested  by  those  Eastern  poems  in  which  a 
word  or  sentence  either  forms  the  ending  or 
commencement  of  the  lines.    The  following 


(  196  ) 


GHIRIBIZZI  GLEE. 


is  a  short  ghazel,"  written  by  Dr.  Hiller  on 
the  theme,  G,  A,  B  : 


Ghiribizzi  (It.)    Fantastic  devices. 
Giga  (It.)  Jig. 

Gigelira  (It.)  Giga  vel  lira.  A  name 
given  to  the  strohfiedel  (Xylophone). 

Gingras.  A  small  ancient  flute,  of  Phoe- 
nician origm,  afterwards  adopted  by  some 
European  nations. 

Gingrina  (Lat.)  [Gingras.] 

Giochevole  (It.)    Merry,  jocose. 

Giocondamente  {It.)    Joyfully,  merrily. 

Giocondezza  (It.)    Mirth,  jocundity. 

Giocondato  {It.)    Happy,  joyful. 

Giocondo  (//.)  Jocund. 

Giocosamente,  giocoso  (It.)  Sportively, 
playfully. 

Giojante,  giojosamente,  giojoso  (It.) 
With  mirth,  joyfully. 

Gioviale  (It.)   Jovial,  pleasant. 

Giovialita,  con  {It.)    With  jollity. 

Giraffe.  An  ancient  form  of  the  spinnet. 
[Pianoforte.] 

Gis  {Ger.)    The  note  G  sharp. 

Gis  moll  {Ger.)  The  key  of  G  sharp 
minor. 

Gittern.  [Guitar.] 

Gittith  {Heb.)  This  word,  which  is  found 
in  the  titles  of  Ps.  viii.,  Ixxxi.,  Ixxxiv.,  is  by 
some  supposed  to  signify  a  musical  instru- 
ment (perhaps  as  used  at  Gath) ;  by  others,  a 
vintage-song,  or  well-known  tune,  to  which 
the  Psalm  could  be  sung.  Various  other 
explanations  have  been  offered,  which  it  is 
unnecessary  to  give  here. 

Giubiloso  {It.)  Jubilant. 

Giustamente  (It.)    Strictly,  accurately. 

Giusto  {It.)  Strict,  correct,  moderate  ;  a 
tempo  giusto,  at  a  moderate  pace. 

Glass.  Musical  instruments  of  this  ma- 
terial are  of  two  kinds,  percussion  and  fric- 
tion ;  the  first  consists  of  a  series  of  small 
plates  of  graduated  sizes,  supported  on  tapes 
secured  in  a  wooden  box,  the  several  tones 
b  Mng  regulated  by  the  size  of  the  glass :  this  is 
a  mere  toy.  For  a  description  of  the  best  of 
the  second  class  see  Harmonica.  Another 
form  of  a  glass  friction  instrument  is  made  of 
a  number  of  tubes  of  various  lengths,  and  as 
the  tone  is  brought  out  by  stroking  the  length 
of  the  several  tubes  with  flannel  or  india- 
rubber,  it  is  only  capable  of  producing  slow 
melodies. 

Glee.  A  composition  for  voices  in  har- 
mony, consisting  of  two  or  more  contrasted 


movements,  with  the  parts  so  contrived  that 
they  may  be  termed  a  series  of  interwoven 
melodies.  It  may  be  written  for  three  or  more 
voices,  either  equal  or  mixed  ;  but  it  is  neces- 
sary that  there  should  be  only  one  voice  to  a 
part.  It  may  be  designed  with  or  without  in- 
strumental accompaniment,  and  set  to  words 
in  any  style  —  amatory,  bacchanalian,  pas- 
toral, didactic,  comic,  or  serious.  As  a  com- 
position, the  glee  appears  to  have  historically 
followed  the  catch,  and  to  have  had  its  origin 
at  the  time  when  part-singing  began  to  be 
revived.  But  when  musical  skill  was  at  a 
very  low  ebb,  a  satisfactory  performance 
of  existing  vocal  compositions  for  combined 
voices  was  neither  possible  nor  desirable  :  not 
possible  ;  because  the  madrigal,  to  be  effec- 
tive, required  many  voices  to  a  part  ;  and  not 
desirable,  because  the  words  set  to  the  catches, 
the  other  sort  of  secular  part-music,  were  not 
of  a  character  which  fitted  them  for  the  ears 
of  decent  folk.  The  earliest  glees,  so  called, 
were  set  to  words  of  a  pastoral  character. 
One  of  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first,  printed 
composition  for  voices  to  which  the  title 
was  attached,  was  "  Turn,  Amaryllis,  to  thy 
swain,"  by  Thomas  Brewer,  included  in  the 
second  book  of  Hilton's  "  Catch  that  catch 
can,"  1652.  The  most  ancient  collection  in 
which  glees  are  specially  mentioned,  was  pub- 
lished by  Playford.  It  is  called,  "  The  Musi- 
cal Companion,  in  two  books  :  the  First  Book 
containing  Catches  and  Rounds  for  Thiee 
Voyces ;  the  Second  Book  containing  Dia- 
logues, Glees,  Ayres,  and  Songs  for  two, 
three,  and  Four  Voyces,"  1673.  The  com- 
positions contained  in  these  books  can  only 
be  regarded  as  exhibiting  the  qualities  of  pre- 
liminary attempts  to  fix  and  form  the  style, 
which  afterwards  became  known  as  the  "  glee 
style."  Many  other  species  of  musical  works 
have  grown  to  their  present  proportions  by 
slow  degrees ;  but  the  glee  seems  to  have 
started  into  existence  in  its  modern  form  all 
at  once,  and  not  to  have  been  the  result  of  a 
series  of  developments.  From  the  time  when 
Playford's  book  was  published  until  between 
the  year  1760  and  1770,  the  specimens  of 
part-writing  to  which  the  authors  attached  the 
word  "  glee,"  are  somewhat  rare,  the  terms 
"ode,"  or  "three,  four,  or  five-part  song," 
being  preferred  for  vocal  compositions  in 
harmony. 

Sir  John  Hawkins  does  not  mention  the 
word  once  in  his  "  History  of  Music,"  pub- 
lished 1776,  although  institutions  for  the 
encouragement  of  glee-writing  were  already 
established  in  his  time. 

The  period  of  the  existence  of  the  glee,  as 
we  now  understand  it,  was  about  seventy 
years,  namely,  from  1760  to  1830;  the  most 
successful  of  the  glee-writers  during  that  time 


(  »97  ) 


GLEEK  GONCi. 


were  S.  Webbe,  Dr.  Cooke,  Dr.  Callcott, 
R.J.  S.  Stevens,  Reginald  Spofforth,].  Stafford 
Smith,  W.  Horsley,  Sir  Henry  Bishop,  Charles 
Evans,  and  to  this  list  must  be  added.  Sir 
John  Goss. 

The  compositions  of  these  writers,  with  a 
few  by  their  contemporaries,  form  the  whole 
literature  of  this  class.  The  so-called  German 
glees  are,  for  the  most  part,  simply  harmo- 
nised melodies,  and  belong  to  the  order  of 
part-songs  rather  than  to  that  of  glees.  The 
application  of  the  term  to  this  class  of  com- 
position is  correct  philologically,  but  not 
formally.  The  old  word  glee  meant  harmony 
or  combination  ;  and,  therefore,  all  composi- 
tions for  voices  in  harmony  may  be  rightly 
designated  by  the  term.  But  the  word 
is  understood  to  signify  a  special  sort  of 
vocal  harmony,  and  if  the  pieces  so  called  do 
not  fulfil  the  conditions  of  the  character, 
already  described  above,  they  ought  not  to 
be  called  by  the  term. 

The  glee,  like  the  anthem,  is  of  English 
growth,  and  has  never  been  successfully  imi- 
tated by  foreign  writers.  The  increase  of 
musical  taste  has  led  to  the  formation  of  large 
choral  societies,  by  whom  the  master-works 
of  the  great  composers  are  given  with  effect; 
but  it  has  also  led  to  the  neglect  of  private 
social  musical  gatherings,  and,  consequently, 
to  the  disuse  of  one  of  the  most  delightful 
musical  pleasures,  the  performance  of  the 
glee.  Glee-singing  is  almost  a  lost  art  in 
England.  The  tradition  has  not  been  pro- 
perly maintained,  and  we  are  in  the  somewhat 
anomalous  position  of  a  people  in  the  posses- 
sion of  a  special  literature,  which  we  cannot 
rightly  interpret  or  appreciate. 

A  few  remarks  upon  the  origin  and  mean- 
ing of  the  word  Glee  may  not  be  considered 
uninteresting  or  out  of  place  here.  The 
word  comes  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  "  gle," 
meaning  music,  or  the  performance  of  music. 
For  example,  the  "  Story  of  Genesis,"  written 
p.bout  1250,  and  reprinted  by  the  Early  Eng- 
lish Text  Society,  has  the  following  words  : 

"  Jobal  is  browser  song  and  glew, 
Wit  of  music  well  he  knew." 

Chaucer,  in  his  "  Troilus  and  Creseide,"  uses 
the  word  with  a  like  meaning : 

"  For  though  that  the  best  harpair  upon  live 
Would  on  the  bestc  sounid  jolly  harpe 
That  evir  was  with  all  his  fingers  five 
Touch  aie  o  string,  or  aie  o  warble  harp 
Were  his  nailis  poincted  nevir  so  sharpe, 
It  shulde  makin  every  wight  to  dull 
To  here  his  gle  and  of  his  strokis  full." 

In  the  "  Promptorium  Parvulorum"  (1440), 
the  same  word,  spelt  glu,  probably  in  accord- 
ance with  the  provincial  pronunciation  of 
the  wriier,  is  translated  armonia,  minstrelsy. 
Some  modern  writers  suppose  the  word  to 


come  from  gligg,  the  Anglo-Saxon  term  for 
joy  or  merriment ;  or  from  gleek,  which  signi- 
fies to  scoff,  sneer,  or  banter.  Neither  of 
these  derivations  point  to  the  musical  use  of 
the  word  ;  for  the  majority  of  glees  are  of  a 
character  too  serious  to  be  called  merry,  and 
too  earnest  to  be  called  bantering. 

The  early  writers  of  glees  frequently  used 
a  qualifying  term  with  the  word,  as  "  serious 
glee,"  "  chearfull  glee,"  &c.,  a  practice  which 
might  be  considered  superfluous  if  the  word 
only  meant  merriment.  It  may  be,  therefore, 
gathered,  that  they  attached  a  meaning  to  the 
word  similar  to  that  found  in  the  writings  of 
the  early  poets  and  others,  namely,  combma- 
tion.  That  glee  meant  consort  or  harmony 
is  implied  in  the  following  extract  from  a  poem 
by  Robert  Manning,  of  Lincolnshire,  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  I.,  c.  1303  : 

"  Yn  harpe  and  tabour  and  symphan  gle 
Worship  God  in  trumpes  ant  sautre ; 
Yn  cordes,  yn  organes,  and  bells  ringying, 
Yn  all  these  worship  the  hevene  Kyng." 

and  in  Davie's  poem,  the  Life  of  Alexander, 
[temp.  Ed.  IL] 

"  Orgues,  chymbes,  uche  maner  gle  ••••••• 

Withouten  the  toums  murey  ;  " 
(Organs,  chimes,  all  manner  of  harmony 
Outside  the  town's  wall). 

[Catch.]    [Madrigal.]  [Part-song.] 
Gleek.  [Glee.] 

Gli  {It.)  The ;  as  gli  stromenti,  the  instru- 
ments. 

Glissando,  glissato,  glissicato,  glissi- 
cando  (It.)  (i)  Playing  a  rapid  passage  in 
pianoforte  music,  by  sliding  the  tips  of  the 
fingers  along  the  keys  instead  of  striking  each 
note  with  a  separate  finger.  (2)  A  rapid  slur 
in  violin  playing. 

Glisser  (Fr.)    To  shde.  [GHssando.] 

Glockenspiel  (Ger.)  An  instrument  made 
of  bells  tuned  diatonically  and  struck  with 
hammers,  or  by  levers  acted  upon  by  a  key- 
board. It  is  occasionally  employed  in  the 
orchestra,  notably  by  Mozart  in  his  opera, 
"  The  Magic  Flute."    [Bells.]  [Carillon.] 

Gloria  {Lat.)  A  movement  of  the  Mass. 
[Mass.] 

Glottis.  [Larynx.] 

Glottis  {Gk.,  yXwrWf);  Lat.,  Lingula.  The 
reed  used  in  some  of  the  ancient  flutes.  These 
reeds  were  moveable,  and  were  carried  about 
in  a  little  box  called  yXwaaoKo^tiov, 

G  moll  (Ger.)    The  key  of  G  minor. 

Gnaccare  {It.)  [Castanets.] 

Gong.  An  Eastern  pulsatile  instrument, 
composed  of  several  metals  mixed  in  propor- 
tions as  yet  unknown  in  this  country.  The 
gong  has  no  distinct  or  appreciable  note,  but 
gives  out  a  sound  consisting  of  a  combination 
of  harmonics.    It  has  been  introduced  with 


(  198  ) 


GORGHEGGI  GREAT  ORGAN. 


remarkable  effect  as  an  orchestral  instrument 
by  Meyerbeer,  in  his  opera  "  Robert  le  Diable," 
and  by  Rossini  in  "  Semiramide." 

Gorgheggi,  Gorgheggiare  [It.)  Trills, 
quaverings,  warblings. 

Gosba.  An  Arabian  flute.  There  are  two 
sorts  of  the  gosba,  the  one  with  three  holes 
in  the  lower  extremity,  producing  four  sounds 
which  with  their  harmonics  at  the  fifth  complete 
the  octave.  The  instrument  is  employed  to 
guide  the  voice  of  a  singer.  The  other  gosba 
is  larger  and  pierced  with  six  holes,  with  a 
double  hole  at  the  back. 

Grace  notes.  [Graces.] 

Graces.  A  general  term  for  ornamental 
notes  or  short  passages,  introduced  as  em- 
bellishments into  vocal  or  instrumental  music, 
not  actually  essential  to  its  harmony  or  melody. 
In  former  times,  in  vocal  music,  the  selection 
of  graces  was  left  to  the  judgment  of  the 
performer  to  a  great  extent,  but  in  instru- 
mental music  numerous  signs  have  from  time 
to  time  been  used,  explanations  of  which'  will 
be  found  under  their  distinctive  names.  Harp- 
sichord and  lute  music  was  always  lavishly 
ornamented,  and  in  lesson  books  for  these 
instruments,  much  care  and  space  is  often 
given  to  a  full  explanation  of  their  force  and 
meaning.  [Harpsichord.]  Music  for  viols 
was  also  graced  in  various  ways,  but  never  to 
so  great  an  extent  as  that  above  named.  As 
all  these  instruments  are  now  obsolete  it  is 
unnecessary  to  enter  further  into  the  subject. 
In  our  own  time  a  reaction  has  taken  place 
against  the  absurd  embellishments  indulged 
in  by  our  forefathers,  and  it  has  become 
fashionable  to  sing  and  play  music  just  as  it 
is  written.  This  is  perhaps  to  be  regretted, 
as  those  who  are  rendering  music  should 
carefully  consider  whether  the  writer  wished 
ornaments  to  be  excluded,  or,  omitted  to  write 
them  under  a  belief  that  they  would  certainly 
be  introduced  in  performance.  [See  Cadenza.] 
[Accompaniment.] 

Gracieux  (Fr.)  Graceful ;  in  a  graceful 
style. 

Gracile  (//.)  Small,  thin ;  as,  voce  g.racile, 
a  thin  voice. 

Grad  (Ger.)    A  degree  or  step  of  a  scale. 

Gradation  (Fr.)  Gradazione  (It.)  Grada- 
tion, by  degrees  of  the  scale. 

Gradevole,  gradevolmente  (7^.)  Grate- 
ful, gratefully. 

Graditissimo  {It.)    Most  grateful. 

Gradleiter  [Ger.)    A  scale. 

Grado  {It.)  Degree  or  step  of  a  scale;  as, 
d't  grado,  by  conjunct  motion,  as  opposed  to 
di  salto,  by  a  skip. 

Graduale  {Lat.)  A  gradual.  A  piece  of 
music  performed  between  the  reading  of  the 
Epistle  and  Gospel  in  the  Roman  Church. 

Graduellement  {Fr.)    By  degrees. 


Gradual  modulation.  A  change  of  key 
by  diatonic  progression. 

Graduate  in  music.  One  who  has  taken 
a  degree  in  music  at  a  university. 

Gran  cassa  (7^.)  Grosse  caisse  (Fr.)  The 
big  drum. 

Grand  (Fr.)  Grande  (It.)  Large,  great, 
complete  ;  as,  grand  bourdon,  a  double  bour- 
don ;  a  grande  orchestre,  for  a  complete  band. 

Grand  barre  {Fr.)  A  position  in  guitar 
playing,  the  object  being  to  alter  the  pitch  of 
the  instrument  by  making  a  temporary  nut  of 
the  forefinger  laid  lengthwise  across  the 
strings.  [Guitar.] 

Grande  mesure  k  deux  temps  {Fr.) 
Common  measure  of  two  beats. 

Grandezza  {It.)  Grandeur. 

Grandiose  (7/.)  Grand,  in  a  lofty  manner. 

Grandisonante  {It.)    Loud,  sonorous. 

Grand  jeu  {Fr.)  The  power  obtained  by 
the  use  of  the  whole  of  the  stops  in  an  organ, 
or  by  the  employment  of  a  stop  so  called  in 
the  harmonium  which  calls  into  use  the  whole 
of  the  available  registers. 

Gran  gusto  (7^.)  Elevated  taste  or  ex- 
pression. 

Grande  orgue  (Fr.)  (i)  Full  organ.  (2) 
The  great  organ. 

Grand  pianoforte.  [Pianoforte.] 

Gran  tamburo  (7/.)    The  big  drum. 

Grappa  (7^.)  Lit.,  a  stem  ;  a  brace  which 
connects  staves. 

Grave  {Lat.,  It.,  Fr.,  Eng.)  (i)  Deep  in 
pitch  ;  as,  grave  hexachord,  the  lowest  hexa- 
chord  in  the  Guidonian  system.  (2)  Slow  in 
pace,  solemnly. 

Gravecembalum,  gravicembalo  (7^.) 
[Harpsichord.] 

Gravement  {Fr.)  Slow,  and  in  a  solemn 
style. 

Gravita,  con  {It.)  With  dignity,  weight, 
majesty. 

Grazia,  con  (7;.)    With  grace,  elegance. 

Graziosamente,  grazioso  {It.)  Grace 
fully,  elegantly. 

Greater.  Belonging  to  the  major  scale 
as,  a  greater  third,  a  major  third,  as  C  to  E  ; 
greater  sixth,  a  major  sixth,  as  C  to  A.  A 
piece  of  music,  said  by  the  old  writers  to  be 
in  any  key  with  the  greater  third,  was  in  the 
major  mode ;  with  the  lesser  third,  in  the 
minor  mode. 

Great  octave.  The  sounds  lying  be- 
tween 


represented,  according  to   one   system,  by 
single  capitals,  C,  D,  E,  &c.  ;  in  another,  by 
double  capitals,  as  CC,  DD,  EE,  &c.  [Pitch.] 
Great  organ.  [Organ.] 


(  199  ) 


GREEK  MUSIC. 


Greek  Music  (Systems  of  ancient).*  From 
the  time  of  Homer  down  to  that  of  Terpan- 
der,  who  seems  to  have  flourished  some  300 
years  after  Homer,  the  lyres  of  the  Greeks 
had  but  four  strings.  At  that  early  date  the 
instrument  could  only  have  been  used  for  the 
purposes  of  a  pitch  pipe,  just  as  orators  sub- 
sequently employed  it  to  regulate  the  pitch  of 
the  voice.  No  tune  could  be  drawn  from 
four  notes. 

Terpander  raised  the  number  of  strings 
from  four  to  seven,  for  the  service  of  the 
Gods.  The  following  two  lines,  from  one  of 
his  hymns,  are  preserved  in  the  Introductio 
Harmonica,  ascribed  to,  but  evidently  not 
written  by,  Euclid.f 

"'H/u£7c  rot  TtTpuytpvv  airooTtp^nvrtg  aotl^v, 

'EnrarfJiw  (popfxiyyi  rinvg  KeXah'iaofjief  C^fouc."^ 
— (p.  19,  edit.  Meibom.) 

This  scale  of  seven  notes  was  formed  by 
connecting  the  first  tetrachord,  or  series  of  four 
notes,  with  a  second  series  of  four,  by  one 
sound  common  to  both.  To  represent  these 
sounds  in  modern  notes,  they  would  be  as  E, 
F,  G,  A,  and  A,  B  flat,  C  D  united  by  the  A 
in  the  middle,  which  was  the  key  note  to  the 
two.  The  Greeks  had  the  same  number  of 
perfect  fourths  in  a  scale  that  we  have,  but 
when  they  formed  their  scales  by  tetrachord  s, 
or  fourths,  they  selected  that  position  of  the 
fourth,  in  which  the  semitone  came  betwcti. 
the  lowest  two  strings — as  E,  F,  G,  A.  The 

ORIGINAL    SEVEN-STRINGED     SYSTEM    OF  THE 

LYRE  was  then  as  follows  : — 

d.  Nete  (shortest  string,  giving 

the  highest  sound). 
c.  Paranete  (beside  Nete), 
b  flat.  Paramese  (beside  Mese). 
a.  Mese  (middle  string  and  key 
note,  connecting  the  two 
fourths). 
G.  LiCHANos  (forefinger  string). 
F.  Parhypate  (beside  Hypate). 
\E.  Hypate  (longest  string,  giv- 
ing the  lowest  sound). 
The  above  are  names  of  the  strings  of  the 
lyres,  and  not  of  notes  of  a  fixed  pitch.  The 


*  "  The  Systems  of  Ancient  Greek  Music  compared 
with  Modern  Music,"  abbreviated  from  Chappell's 
History  of  Music. 

t  Two  treatises  on  music  are  ascribed  to  Euclid,  the 
Introductio  Harmonica  and  the  Sectio  Canonis.  The 
second  is  a  mathematical  treatise  quoted  by  Porphyrius 
as  Euclid's,  but  the  first  is  an  Aristoxenian  or  practical 
musician's  treatise  in  a  different  school,  i  It  is  none  the 
less  valuable,  whoever  may  have  been  its  author.) 
With  this  reservation  both  will  hereafter  be  quoted 
as  Euclid's,  to  abbreviate  references.  Proclus  says 
only  that  Euclid  wrote  on  the  elements  of  music. 
(Kora  fiovaiKijv  aroi\ttui(7UC.) 

X  But  we,  loving  no  more  the  four-toned  song. 
Will  sing  aloud  new  hymns  to  a  seven-toned  lyre. 


Upper 
Tetrachord. 


Lower 
Tetrachord 


same  names  would  have  been  retained  if  tlie 
lyre  had  been  tuned  one,  two,  or  three  notes 
higher.  The  longest  string  was  called  Hypate, 
although  it  gave  the  lowest  sound.  If  pitch 
had  counted  for  height  instead  ot  mere  length 
of  string,  the  order  of  Nete  and  Hypate  would 
have  been  reversed. 

The  lower  four  strings  of  the  lyre  were 
played  by  the  thumb  and  three  fingers  of 
the  left  hand,  the  string  that  fell  under  the 
forefinger  being  called  lichanos  (the  licking- 
up  finger),  and  the  thumb  upon  the  key 
note  or  Mese.  The  three  treble  strings  were 
played  upon  by  a  plectrum,  which  was  a 
piece  of  ivory,  ebony,  horn,  or  any  hard 
wood.  This  was  held  in  the  right  hand, 
and  its  use  being  only  occasional,  the  right 
hand  was  in  a  measure  left  free  for  action 
in  addressing  the  auditors. 

The  next  improvement  in  Greek  music  is 
connected  with  the  most  important  of  all  dates 
in  Grecian  History — that  at  which  Egypt  was 
thrown  open  to  the  Greeks  by  Psammetichus 
the  First,  King  of  Egypt.  From  that  event 
sprang  the  rapid  advances  of  the  Greeks  in 
science,  in  art,  and  in  literature.  Philosophers, 
law-givers,  historians,  astronomers,  mathe- 
maticians, musicians,  architects,  physicians, 
and  alchemists — indeed  all  who  were  intent 
upon  the  acquisition  of  learning— sought  it  in 
that  world  of  ancient  civilization.  It  was 
there  that  Thales  learnt  to  measure  the  height 
of  a  temple  or  of  a  pyramid  by  the  length  of 
its  shadow— there  to  divide  the  year  into  365 
days.  It  was  there  that  one  of  the  philosophical 
re-discoveries  of  the  last  and  of  the  present 
century,  viz.,  that  sounds  may  be  both  too 
high  and  too  low  to  reach  the  human  ear,  was 
known  thousands  of  years  ago. 

Until  the  reign  of  Psammetichus  the 
Greeks  had  been  going  on  a  wrong  road  to 
music.  The  seven  strings  could  produce 
nothing  worlhy  of  the  name  of  tune  with 
such  a  scale  as  they  had ;  at  least  so  long  as 
the  middle  string  remained  the  key  note  of 
that  scale.  All  the  ancient  fables  of  Orpheus 
and  Amphion  must  rest  upon  their  skill  in 
poetical  recitation,  which  was  one  branch  of 
music  in  the  Greek  sense.  As  to  Amphion, 
he,  no  doubt,  sang  in  such  lively  rhythm  as 
to  expedite  the  builders  in  order  to  keep  time 
to  it,  and  hence  the  fable  of  his  having  raised 
the  walls  of  Thebes  by  his  lyre. 

Psammetichus  I.  began  his  reign  in  664, 
B.C.S    He  was  the  first  of  the  Pharaohs  who 


§  In  Dr.  W.  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Biography,  the  date  of  Psammetichus  I.  is  given  as  671, 
B.C.,  and  to  this  is  added  a  note  that  Boeckh  dates 
his  reign  as  654,  B.C.  As  Egyptian  dates  can  be 
carried  back  with  tolerable  cirtainty  from  the  conquest 
of  Egypt  by  Cambyses,  and  the  above  is  rather  vague 
for  a  matter  of  such  importance  especially  when  eaily 


(  200  ) 


GREEK  MUSIC. 


cultivated  the  friendship  of  the  Greeks  ;  he 
invited  them  as  settlers,  and  engaged  Carian 
and  Greek  mercenaries  in  his  army.  It  was 
the  change  in  Egyptian  policy  that  enabled 
Pythagoras  to  go  to  Egypt,  where  he  is  said 
to  have  lived  22  years.  He  is  the  reputed 
discoverer  of  the  octave  system  of  music, 
which  was  certainly  known  in  Egypt  at  least 
a  thousand  years  before  his  visit. 

The  popular  myth  of  the  Egyptian  Hermes 
and  the  lyre,  is  that,  when  walking  by  the 
banks  of  the  Nile,  he  accidentally  kicked  the 
shell  of  a  dried  tortoise,  in  which  there  was 
nothing  remaining  but  dried  sinews,  and  that 
it  emitted  musical  sounds,  and  thus  suggested 
to  him  the  idea  of  forming  it  into  a  musical 
instrument.  The  Egyptian  name  of  the 
God  was  Thoth.  The  instrument  was  the 
Egyptian  nefer,  in  hieroglyphics  nfr  (without 
the  vov/els),  so  sometimes  translated  nofra  or 
nefru.  This  musical  instrument  is  found 
in  hieroglyphics  at  as  early  a  date  as  the 
building  of  the  second  pyramid.  The 
meaning  expressed  by  the  hieroglyphic  is 
"  good." 

The  difference  between  the  Greek  lyre  and 
the  Egyptian  lute  was  that  the  former  had  no 
neck,  against  which  the  strings  could  be 
pressed.  A  lyre  with  an  open  back  could 
give  but  one  sound  from  each  string,  but 
when  the  same  string  was  pressed  against  a 
finger-board  it  would  produce  notes  in  every 
variety,  according  as  the  vibrating  part  of  the 
string  was  shorter  or  longer.  The  first  lesson 
to  be  learnt  from  it  was  that  the  half  of  a 
string  would  produce  the  sound  of  the  octave 
above  the  whole  length;  next,  that,  by  stop- 
ping one-third  of  it,  the  remaining  two-thirds 
would  sound  the  musical  interval  of  a  fifth 
above  the  whole  length  ;  and  that  by  stopping 
a  fourth  part,  the  remaining  three-fourths 
would  sound  the  interval  of  a  fourth  above 
the  whole.  In  this  way  the  Greeks  learnt  to 
produce  every  note  of  a  scale,  as  well  as  the 
relation  between  geometrical  proportions  and 
musical  sounds. 

At  the  time  of  this  discovery  Greek  lyres 
had  only  been  made,  on  the  Terpander  model, 
to  carry  seven  strings,  so  that,  on  learning 
the  octave  system,  which  required  eight,  they 
were  obliged  to  leave  out  one  of  the  notes. 


authorities  differ  also  by  ten  years  in  the  length  of  his 
reign),  the  assistance  of  Samuel  Birch,  Esq  ,  LL.D., 
F.S.A.,  keeper  of  the  Antiquities  in  the  British  Museum, 
was  sought  for  to  decide  between  the  discrepancies, 
and  most  kindly  given  in  the  following  words  : — "  The 
highest  monumental  date  known  of  Psammetichus  I. 
is  54  years,  accordmg  to  the  Apis  tablets  of  the  Sera- 
peium,  which  agrees  with  the  statement  of  Herodotus. 
The  date  of  664,  B.C.,  is  the  lowest  probable  date  of 
the  accession  of  Psammetichus,  which  might  be  a  year 
or  two  higher,  and  Boeckh's  date  is  inadmissible." 


After  new  lyres  had  been  made  to  carry  eight 
strings  the  entire  octave  was  included  upon 
the  instrument.  The  old  system  of  tuning 
the  lyre  was  then  called  Synaphe  or  Conjunc- 
tion [avvafff),*  &nd  the  new,  or  octave,  system 
was  called  Harmonia  {apfunda),  the  "  fitting 
in "  system,  because  it  fitted  in  the  lesser 
consonances  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  into  the 
greater  consonance  of  the  octave.  (Verb, 
ap/jo^tir,  and  the  participle,  used  as  an  adjec- 
tive, rtpnoafiivoQ.)  When  the  principle  was 
fully  established,  harmonia  became  a  syno- 
nym for  music,  in  our  sense  of  the  word, 
for  the  Greek  word,  Mousike,  embraced  all 
the  arts  and  sciences  over  which  the  Muses 
presided. 

The  old  dissonant  seventh  (from  E  to  d) 
was  made  into  an  octave  (from  E  to  e)  by  the 
interposition  of  a  tone  between  the  two, 
previously,  conjoined  fourths  or  tetrachords. 
This  interposed  tone  was  called  the  dia- 
zeuktic  tone,  or  tone  of  disjunction  (ro»'Of 

^lai^fVKTtlCOQ.) 

The  following  is  the  scale  for  the  teven, 
and  for  the  eight  stringed  lyre  upon  the 
Egyptian  or  Octave  System.  It  is  here 
printed  in  the  Greek  "  common"  musical 
scale — our  A  minor  with  a  minor  seventh  : — 


Seven  Stringed  Lyre. 


Upper 
Tetrachord. 


Lower 
Tetrachord. 


Nete. 
Paranete. 

{omitted.) 

Paramese  or  Trite. 
Mese  (key  nete). 

Lichanos. 

Parhypate. 

Hypate 


Eight  Stringed  Lyre. 


Upper 
Tetrachord. 


e.  Nete. 

d.  Paranete. 

c.  Trite, 

b.  Paramese. 


The  tone  of  Disjunction  or  Diazeuktic  tone, 
[a.   Mese  (key  note). 
Lower        jg.  Lichanos  (or  Diatonos). 

Tetrachord.    IF.  Parhypate. 

(e.  Hypate. 

In  the  eight  stringed  lyre  Paramese  and 
Trite  were  no  longer  the  same  string.  Para- 
mese took  its  proper  place,  next  to  Mese,  and 
Trite  was  third  from  the  top,  as  its  name 
indicates. 

By  this  system  the  player  had  a  fifth  up- 
wards from  his  key  note  and  a  fourth  below 
it,  so  as  to  allow  scope  for  recitation  both 


Bacchius,  Senr.,  p.  20. 


{  20I  ) 


GREEK  MUSIC. 


above  and  below.  He  could  then  produce 
something  more  like  to  a  tune  than  was  pos- 
sible upon  the  old  scale.  Before  that  time 
any  Greek  chant  would  have  sounded  to 
modern  ears  as  never  ending,  for  their  key 
note  would  be  to  us  as  the  third  of  the  key, 
because  we  have  a  major  scale  (which  the 
Greeks  had  not),  and  we  could  associate  such 
recitations  with  the  key  of  F  major  through 
the  B  flat.  The  scales  of  the  Greeks  were  all 
in  minor  keys,  and  the  nearest  approach  they 
had  to  a  major  scale  was  one  of  five  tones, 
which  might  be  extracted  from  the  chromatic 
scale,  of  which  hereafter. 

The  reason  why  Pythagoras  preferred  to 
omit  C,  which  was  a  major  third  from  the  top 
on  the  seven  stringed  lyre,  and  a  minor  third 
above  the  key  note  (a),  was  because,  at  that 
time  (but  not  after  Didymus,  Claudius 
Ptolemy,  and  other  mathematicians  had  re- 
vised the  scale)  Greek  thirds  were  not  only 
esteemed  as  discords,  but  were  so.  They 
were  so  because,  at  first,  the  Greeks  used 
only  major  tones  in  their  scales,  and  there  are 
less  than  six  major  tones  in  an  octave.  It  is 
not  proposed  here  to  enter  upon  the  mathe- 
matical divisions  of  scales,  which,  after  the 
introduction  of  "equal  temperament"  {alias, 
equal  putting  out  of  tunej,  few,  especially  they 
who  have  their  pianofortes  tuned  for  them, 
seem  to  care  about.  But  still  a  very  easy 
experiment  may  be  recommended  to  prove 
the  case. 

A  major  tone  is  the  difference  by  which  a 
fifth  overlaps  a  fourth.  Therefore,  tune  a 
perfect  fourth  from  C  down  to  G  (or  ask  the  tuner 
to  do  itK  and  then  a  perfect  fifth  up  from  G 
to  D.  There  will  be  a  major  tone  from  C  to 
D.  Repeat  the  same,  but  beginning  from  D, 
a  perfect  fourth  down  to  A,  and  a  perfect  fifth 
up  to  E.  There  will  be  another  major  tone 
from  D  to  E,  and  the  two  will  form  an  old 
Greek  ditone,  or  third, from  C  to  E.  Try  it 
by  the  ear,  and  it  will  be  understood  at  once 
why  the  Greeks  and  the  early  writers  upon 
church  music  (who  had  the  worst  of  Greek 
divisions  of  a  scale  through  the  imperfect 
treatise  of  Boethius)  for  a  long  time  treated 
thirds  as  discords. 

Harmonia,  which  thus  had  primarily  the 
meaning  of  "The  Octave  System  of  Music," 
came  to  signify  "The  Science  of  Music"  and 
"Music"  generally,  because  Pythagoras  had 
limited  the  doctrines  of  the  science  to  the 
sounds  which  are  included  in  an  octave,* 
so  Harmonia  and  the  later  word  Harmonica 


*  Hvdayopaff  i'6  aefivog  .  .  .  ^'avaXoyiKy 
npfjot'lff  ■  av-aofceQ  rtvoixil^t.  fii\pi  rov  hd  TraaSjv 
arijuai  rtiv  rijc  /jtovffiKTjg  iiriyvuxriv. — Plutarch,  De 
Musica,  cap.  37. 


{apfiovitcrj)  ha<J  the  same  meaning.  The  Pytha- 
gorean writers  on  music  were  called  Har- 
monici  {dpfioyt>:oi),f  and  some  of  them,  before 
the  time  of  Aristoxenus,  had  given  such  exclu- 
sive preference  to  the  seven-stringed  system^ 
coupling  with  it  the  enharmonic  division  of 
the  octave,  and  calling  this  enharmonic  branch 
of  the  system  "harmonia,"  that  the  word  was 
not  infrequently  used,  instead  of  enharmonia, 
for  a  long  time  after.  This,  however,  was 
not  the  original  meaning,  as  the  following 
extract  from  Philolaos,  who  first  published 
the  Pythagorean  doctrines,  will  show.  It 
refers  to  the  seven-stringed  octave,  so  Trite 
is  B,  not  C,  which  it  became  on  the  eight- 
stringed  lyre. 

§  'Ap^uriac  fitytdog  irrt  (rwXX«/3a  cai  hioleiar 
'  TO  ci  It  oleidy  fxti^ov  rdc  <riiXXo/;d(  ivoyZotf  ' 
£<Tri  yap  uiro  vTrarae  £c  ^iaav  (TvWniih,  uito  I'l 
fitrrac  -Kori  rtarar  ^loleidv  '  (itto  ct  vtarac  £C 
Tpi-ai'  tTvWaftd. '  otto  Ce  TpiTa(T  ic  'vrrnTar  cCoteiav'  ' 
TO  ctr  iitcry  fiiaaq  koX  rpiraa  i-oycuov.  'A 
(ryXXci/Kt  inirpiTov  '  to  Ct6S,ciaf  ii/iioXiov  '  to 
iid  TTdirdv  he  InrKoov.  Ovtwc  dpfioiia  irivTi 
tTtoyCoa  Kai  Ivo  fitaitg,  di6i,tidv  ft  TpftTroyioa 
Kai  Cit/Tic,  (TvXXc(/3a  C£  dvewvyCoa  Ku't  cii<Ttc.\\ 

In  the  above  extract  the  distinction  between 
Harmonia  (the  octave  system)  and  Diapason 
(the  octave)  is  clearly  drawn.  The  use  of 
the  word  diesis  for  the  interval  which  Aris- 
toxenians,  or  practical  musicians,  called  a 
semitone,  or  rather  hemitone  di^i-i'inor),  and 
Pythagoreans,  or  mathematical  musicians, 
more  accurately  called  a  limma  or  remnant 
(Xtlix^a),  proves  that  Philolaos  rei"ers  to  the 
diatonic  scale,  or  scale  of  tones  and  semi- 
tones, and  not  to  the  enharmonic  scale  which 
had  quarters  of  tones  instead.  When  the  en- 
harmonic system  came  more  into  use  the  word 
"diesis"  was  transferred  to  its  quarter  tones, 
and  to  thirds  of  tones  (when  they  were  used) 
in  one  of  the  chromatic  scales.  The  semitone 
was  then  no  longer  called  diesis. 


t  01  KuXovftivot  dpfioriKol,  says  Aristoxenus  con- 
temptuously, p.  40  and  again  p.  37. 

t  aXXd  wspt  avrHy  fiovov  rSiv  tTTTa\oplwv,  & 
kKdXovv  apfioviaa,  rijv  iiritTKe^'iy  irroiovvTu  (p.  27.) 

5  "  The  extent  of  the  octave  system  is  a  fourth  and  a 
fifth  ;  but  the  fifth  is  greater  than  the  fourth  by  a  tone 
of  the  proportion  of  9  to  8;  for  [the  interval]  from  the 
i  lowest  [string  E]  to  Mese  [the  key  note;  A]  is  a  fourth, 
but  from  Mese  to  Nete  [the  upper  e]  is  a  fifth;  from 
Ncte  [down]  to  the  third  string  is  a  fourth  ;  from  the 
third  to  the  lowest  is  a  fifth  ;  between  the  key  note  and 
the  third  string  is  a  tone  of  9  to  8.  The  fourth  is  m 
the  ratio  of  4  to  3 ;  the  fifth  in  that  of  3  to  2;  and  the 
octave  [diapason]  of  2  to  i.  Thus  the  octave  system, 
Harmonia  [contains]  five  tones  and  two  limmas  [or 
semitones],  the  fifth  [contains]  three  tones  and  a 
semitone,  and  the  fourth  two  tones  and  a  semitone, 
ii  Philolaos,  edit.,  Boeckh,  p.  66,  8vo  :  Berlin,  1819. 


f  202  ) 


GREEK  MUSIC. 


Mese,  which  means  middle,  had  also  the 
office  of  key  note  at  the  time  when  it  only 
connected  the  two  fourths  in  the  old  seven- 
stringed  system.  It  retained  the  name  in  the 
latter  sense,  as  the  centre  and  turning  point 
of  the  system,  when  the  lyre  had  eight  or  ten 
strings,  and  consequently  no  middle ;  for 
"  eight  has  no  middle,"  says  Aristotle,  re- 
ferring to  it.*  "  Systems  without  mutation," 
{afitTajioXa)  says  Aristides  Quintilianus  (in 
other  words,  "  Systems  in  one  key ")  are 
those  with  one  Mese:  Mutable  systems  (^tra- 
(iaWoixeya)  have  several  Meses."t  No  lyre 
could  have  several  middle  strings,  so  he  can 
only  mean  key  note.  An  endless  number  of 
quotations  might  be  given  to  the  same  effect. 
Mese  was  not  only  the  key  note  to  all  Greek 
scales;  it  is  to  this  day  the  key  note  of  our 
minor  scales,  which  we  derived  wholly  through 
the  Greeks. 

Although  the  Greeks  had  now  arrived  at 
the  only  true  system  of  music,  yet  their  old 
one  was  not  allowed  to  die  away.  There 
were,  no  doubt,  ancient  hymns  to  the  Gods 
upon  that  system,  and  so  they  continued  to 
use  it.  Terpander,  who  first  added  a  second 
tetrachord  to  the  lyre,  was  a  hymnologist,  and 
more  than  200  years  after  him,  Ion  of  Chios, 
another  hymnologist,  added  a  third  conjoined 
tetrachord,  and  so  increased  the  number  of 
strings  from  seven  to  ten.  The  following 
extract  from  one  of  Ion's  hymns  is  preserved 
by  Euclid  : — } 


Tag  (TvfK^wvovira^  apfioriac  rpiohovc. 
Wfiiv  fiiv  a'tTTTarovov  -^uXkov  cia  Tiaaapa  iravrti 
EXXt/cec,  ffTai'tay  fiovaav  aeipajxet'oi  § 
Ion  produced  his  first  tragedy  (according  to 
Suidas),  B.C.  453,  and  died  B.C.  421.    It  is 
clear  that  he  here  refers  to  the  old  system', 
and  not  to  the  new,  by  naming  only  threfe 
harmonies  or  concords  {arvixfwt'tac)  from  ten 
strings,  and  from  their  meeting  or  coryunc- 
tion ;  for  the  middle  tetrachord  of  the  con- 
junct system  was  united  by  its  extremes  to 
the  other  two.    This  system  of  Ion's  was 
called  Episynaphe,  or  Conjunction  "upon  Con- 
junction [tTTto-Ki'a^jj].  II 

After  the  time  of  Ion,  the  original  Greek 
scale  received  only  one  more  string,  the 
eleventh,  which  was  added  at  the  base  to 
make  an  octave  to  Mese,  thus  borrowing  from 
the  octave  system.  It  was  a  great  improve- 
ment, for  in  this  form  it  gave  an  octave  of 
the  Hypo-Dorian  or  common  Greek  scale  (our 
A  minor  with  a  minor  seventh)  from  A  to  a, 
and  an  octave  of  the  Dorian  scale  (our  D 
minor  with  a  minor  seventh)  from  D  to  d — 
the  last  through  having  the  b  flat  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  scale. 

In  this,  its  completed  form,  it  became  "The 
lesser  perfect  system"  of  the  Greeks,  until 
Claudius  Ptolemy  disputed  the  claim  of  such 
I  a  scale  to  be  called  "perfect."    The  defect  he 
saw  in  it  was  that  it  did  not  include  tho 
I  twelfth  or  fifteenth. 


The  Lesser  Perfect  System. 


The  Synemmenon  Tetrachord 
or  Conjunct  Fourth. 
The  Meson  Tetrachord 

(^tffOII') 

or  Middle  Fourth. 
The  Hypaton  Tetrachord 

or  Lowest  Fourth  (added  by  Ion). 

The  acquired  note 
not  included  in  any  Tetrachord. 


d. 

Nete 

Synemmenon. 

c. 

Paranete 

id. 

w>. 

Trite 

id. 

a. 

Mese 

G. 

Lichanos 

Meson. 

F. 

Parhypate 

id. 

E. 

Hyphate 

id. 

D. 

Lichanos 

Hypaton. 

C. 

Parhypate 

id. 

Ib. 

Hypate 

id. 

A. 

Proslambanomenos. 

The  original  seven  strings  had  seven  dif- 
ferent names,  but  no  new  ones  were  given  to 
those  added  by  Ion,  so  it  became  necessary 
to  distinguish  between  the  new  and  the  old 


by  adding  the  name  of  the  tetrachord,  or 
fourth,  to  which  they  belonged.  Thus  the 
original  Hypate  (E)  became  Hypate-Meson 
{i.e.  lowest  of  the  middle  tetrachord)  and  the 


•  Problems,  25  and  44  of  Sect.  19.  Till  now  with    seven-stringed    fourths   all  tho 

f  Arist.  Quint.,  p.  17.     +  Euclid,  Int.  Harm.,  p.  xg.  Greeks  hymned  thee, 

§  Having  the  ten-note  scale  Upraising  stinted  song. 

With  three  musical  consonances  conjoined  ||  Bacchius,  Senr.,  p.  21. 

(  203  } 


GREEK  MUSIC. 


new  Hypate  (B)  became  Hypate-Hypaton, 
or  lowest  of  the  lowest  tetrachord.    And  now,  ! 
to  quit  the  lesser  perfect  system  and  revert  to 
the  greater,  and  more  important  one.  | 

Many  have  written  of  Greek  music  without 
distinguishing  between  the  two  systems,  and 
as  one  instance,  we  may  name  Dr.  Burney. 
He  mixes  the  two  into  one  as  "  the  great, 
the  perfect,  the  immutable  system  .  .  .  com- 
posed of  five  tetrachords "  (p.  3),  and  then 
says :  "  after  ascending  regularly  thus,  up  to 
D,  by  three  conjoint  tetrachords,  the  fourth  in 
the  great  system  is  begun  by  descending  a 
minor  third  to  B  natural  .  .  .  Something  of 
this  dodging  kind  is  to  be  found  in  the  scale 
ef  Guido"-  (note  to  p.  5,  vol.  i).  This  is 
altogether  a  mistake,  there  is  no  "dodging." 
The  d,  to  which  he  refers,  is  the  highest  note 
ef  the  lesser  system,  which  was  perfectly  dis- 
tinct from  the  greater. 

Another  difficulty  of  Dr.  Bumey's  and  of 


other  writers,  has  been  to  understand  Greek 
octaves.  It  was  very  natural  to  suppose  that 
a  Greek  octave  scale  would  begin  and  end 
like  one  of  two  octaves,  viz.,  upon  the  key 
note  ;  but  it  was  not  so.  The  Greek  octave 
scale  took  from  the  middle  of  the  two-octave 
scale,  and  began  a  fourth  below  the  key  note 
and  ended  a  fifth  above  it.  In  other  words, 
when  the  octave  scale  was  increased  to  two 
octaves,  it  was  by  the  addition  of  a  ne\^ 
tetrachord  or  fourth  at  each  extreme,  and 
then  joining  on  at  the  base,  the  "acquired 
tone  "  to  make  an  octave  to  the  key  note, 
Mese.  So  that,  whether  they  had  a  one 
octave  or  a  two  octave  lyre,  the  key  note  was 
in  or  near  the  middle,  and  a  Greek  could 
recite  or  sing  at  least  a  few  notes  above,  as 
well  as  a  few  notes  below  it. 

The  following  is  the  "disjunct,"  two  octave 
system  complete. 


The  Greater  Perfect  System. 


{(rvariifia  rtXtlov) 


The  extreme,  or  Hyperboleon. 

{{mtp(io\aii>)v) 
Tetrachord. 

The  disjunct,  or  DiezeugmenSn 

Tetrachord. 

The  tone  of  disjunction,  or  Diazeuktic  tone 
(rocoe  lial^tvKTiKOo) 
The  middle,  or  Meson 
(fiiauiv) 
Tetrachord. 

The  lowest,  or  HypatSn 

Tetrachord. 

The  acquired  tone  not  belonging  to  any 
Tetrachord. 


a.  Nete  Hyperbolefin. 
g.  Paranete  id. 

f.  Trite  id. 

e.  Nete 

d.  Paranete  DiezeugmenOn. 

c.  Trite  id. 

b.  Paramese  id. 


a.  Mese  (key  note). 
G.  Lichanos  (or  Diatonos)  Meson. 
F.  Parhypate  id. 
E.  Hypate  id. 
D.  Lichanos  or  (Diatonos)  HypatOn 
C.  Parhypate  id. 
B.  Hypate  id. 

A.  Proslambanomenos. 


This  two-octave  scale  is  at  least  as  old  as 
the  fourth  century  B.C.,  and  it  was  a  sliding 
scale,  to  be  taken  to  the  extent  of  an  octave 
higher.  Aristoxenus  speaks  of  the  highest 
of  the  above  tetrachords  in  one  of  his  extant 
f'-agments,  as  well  as  of  the  art  of  writing 
down  music  (pp.  39,  40).  He  also  enumerates 
the  six  different  modes  of  tuning  the  lyre,  viz., 
two  diatonic,  three  chromatic,  and  one 
enharmonic  (p.  50  et  seq.).  Of  these  here- 
after. 


When  the  Greeks  changed  from  one  genus, 
or  kind  of  scale  (yeVoc)  to  another,  they  never 
altered  the  tuning  of  more  than  the  two  inner 
strings  of  each  tetrachord.  The  Lichanoses 
I  and  Parhypates  of  the  lower  octave,  and  the 
Trites  and  Paranetes  of  the  upper  were  alone 
moveable  {Kivovfiivoi  or  (pepoiitroi).  Of  these 
it  was  only  in  the  enharmonic  genus  that 
both  second  and  third  string  of  each  tetra- 
chord were  tuned  differently.  In  the  Chro- 
matic the  third  from  the  top  (Trites  or  Parhy* 


(  404  ) 


GREEK  MUSIC. 


pates)  remained  as  they  were.   The  extremes  ! 
of  tetrachords  and  the  "acquired  tone"  (Pros- 
lambanomenos)  were  fixed  sounds  (iarioTtg). 
This  did  not  prevent  the  re-tuning  of  the 
whole  lyre  to  any  other  pitch.  I 

A  comparison  of  the  greater  with  the  lesser 
system  will  show  that  the  lower  octave  is  the 
same  in  both.  It  is  only  from  the  key  note  up- 
wards that  any  change  is  made.  In  the  lesser 
system,  after  a,  it  goes  to  b  flat,  c,  d,  and  stops ; 
while  the  greater  system  carries  up  a  second 
octave  of  the  same  kind  as  the  lower  one. 

The  Greeks  had  in  all  fifteen  Diatonic 


(A.)    Hypo- Dorian. 
(B!?.)  Hypo-Ionian 
(B.)  Hypo-Phrygian. 
(C.)  Hypo-iEolian. 
(CJJ.)  Hypo-Lydian. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  classical  Lydian 
was  F  sharp,  and  not  F,  as  in  church  scales.  The 
true  Lydian  was  a  tone  above  the  Phrygian.f 

In  Pindar's  time  the  Hypo-Dorian  scale 
was  called  ^Eolian  ;  the  above  arrangement 
of  intervals  between  scales  is  therefore  less 
ancient  than  his  date. 

The  Greeks  had  no  fixed  pitch — neither 
have  we  at  this  present  time.  The  only 
directions  about  it  are  to  tune  the  lyre  from 
the  lowest  distinctly  audible  tone  of  the  voice, 
and  every  man  had  a  different  voice.  Instru- 
ments made  to  be  played  together  would 
necessarily  be  at  one  pitch ;  but  there  was  no 
fixed  rule  for  them. 

The  Greeks  had,  in  the  fifteen  scales,  one 
beginning  upon  every  semitone  of  the  octave 
and  two  beginning  beyond  it.  The  five  Hypos 
extended  from  A  to  C  sharp,  the  five  princi- 
pals from  D  to  F  sharp,  and  the  five  Hypers 
from  G  to  b. 

The  three  highest  Hypers  were  therefore 
the  same  scales  as  the  three  lowest  Hypos, 
only  taken  an  octave  higher.  These  double 
names  for  the  same  keys  were  unnecessary, 
except  in  relation  to  their  principals. 

Dr.  Burney  says  "That  the  ancients  had 
no  G  sharp  or  E  flat"  (p.  26,  vol.  i);  but  at 
p.  41  of  the  same  volume  he  shows  by  a 
table  of  the  modes  that  they  had  both.  This 

•  Euclid,  p.  21. 

t  All  Greek  writers  are  agreed  upon  this;  see,  for 
instance,  Bacchius,  p.  12. 
X  Gaudentius,  p.  22,  &c. 


!  scales,  viz.,  five  Principal  scales,  Dorian, 
lastian  or  Ionian,  Phrygian,  iEolian,  and 
Lydian.  Each  of  these  had  its  attendant 
Hypo  and  Hyper,  or  Dominant  and  Sub- 
I  Dominant.  The  Hypos  were  a  fourth  below 
their  principals  (which  gives  the  same  scale 
as  the  fifth  above)  and  the  Hypers  were  a 
fourth  above. 

When  they  modulated  from  one  key  to 
another  they  did  it  as  we  do,  by  some  sound 
common  to  both,  and  the  greater  the  con- 
nection between  the  two  scales,  the  better 
was  the  modulation  esteemed.* 


■-Dorian  or  Mixo- Lydian. 

r-Ionian. 
r-Phrygian. 
r-iEolian. 
r-Lydian. 

curious  instance  of  self-contradiction  remains 
in  his  second  edition. 

As  all  Greek  scales  were  tuned  with  per- 
fect fourth,  fifth,  and  octave,  and  all  (till  about 
the  birth  of  Christ)  with  major  tones  only, 
there  could  not  possibly  be  any  musical  differ- 
ence, other  than  that  of  relative  pitch,  between 
one  scale  and  another,  if  the  lyre  was  tuned 
for  each  scale.  Differences  of  character  be- 
tween one  key  and  another  arise  from  one 
key  being  less  perfectly  in  tune  than  another. 
But  inasmuch  as  certain  metres  were  asso- 
ciated with  particular  scales,  and  the  character 
of  the  music  would  correspond  with  the  spirit 
of  the  verse,  there  might  be  as  much  differ- 
ence between  them  as  between  a  hymn  and  a 
march.  The  difficulty  is  that  Greek  authors 
were  not  agreed  upon  the  character  of  any 
scale  but  the  Dorian.  That  was  to  be  severe, 
grave,  and  manly.  But  as  to  Phrygian,  while 
Plato  esteemed  it  as  smooth  and  fit  for  prayer, 
Aristotle  speaks  of  it  as  enthusiastic  and 
bacchic.  These  contradictory  estimates  have 
been  collected  by  Boeckh  in  his  Metres  o/ 
Pindar  (lib.  iii.  c.  8.) 

The  usual  way  of  tuning  the  lyre  was  to  the 
Dorian,  the  central  scale  of  the  seven,  and 
esteemed  as  the  true  Greek  system.  This 
preference  for  the  Dorian  is  proved  by  all  the 
accounts  of  the  Greek  octaves.  The  seven 
principal  scales  are  therefore  presented  in 
that  form,  showing  what  notes  would  come 
upon  the  octave  lyre  (within  the  cross  lines) 
and  upon  the  two-octave  lyre. 


The  Fifteen  Scales  of  Alypius  are: 

Principals. 

(D.)  Dorian.  (G.)  Hyper 

(£>.)  Ionian.  (Al> .)  Hyper 

(E.)   Phrygian.  (A.)  Hyper 

(F.)   ^olian.  (Bl>.)  Hyper 

(F3.)  Lydian.  (B.)  Hyper 


(  205  ) 


GREEK  MUSIC. 


Scales  for  the  Lyre. 


Mixo-Lydian,  or  "I 
Hyper-Dorian.  |  "  ""'"o^' 


In  the  above  diagram  the  sharps  and  flats 
are  marked  to  the  notes  (as  well  as  at  the 
signature)  only  for  the  purpose  of  showing  to 
the  eye,  at  a  glance,  which  of  the  strings 
must  be  retuned  to  change  from  one  key  into 
another.  The  Dorian,  being  the  centre  scale, 
has  its  entire  fifteen  notes ;  but  the  three 
scales  above  it  want  one,  two,  or  three  of 
their  upper  notes,  while  the  three  below  it 
want  one,  two,  or  three  of  their  lower.  The 
octave  lyre  has  its  series  complete. 

Supposing  a  Greek  singer  to  begin  in  the 
Dorian,  and  to  wish  to  take  in  the  Hypo  and 
Hyper  (or  Dominant  and  Sub- Dominant), 
he  would  require  either  to  re-tune  one  string 
for  each,  or  else  to  have  a  ten-stringed  lyre. 
All  the  other  strings  serve  for  the  three  con- 
nected keys,  and  it  would  be  the  same  in  any 
other  key.  Thus,  in  the  key  of  C  we  require 
but  F  sharp  and  B  flat  for  its  Dominant  and 
Sub-Dominant.  A  ten-stringed  lyre  would 
include  the  principal  and  its  two  connected 
scales.  Hence  the  importance  of  a  ten- 
stringed  lyre,  or  a  ten-stringed  psaltery,  such 
as  we  read  of  in  the  psalms.  It  was  not  the 
mere  addition  of  an  upper  note  or  two,  which 
was  a  great  objection,  in  the  public  eye;  as 
likely  to  lead  to  extravagances  in  declamation. 
After  the  Greeks  had  once  discovered  the 
octave  system,  they  might  have  added  an- 
other octave  with  the  same  facility  as  another 
string. 

The  preceding  fas  well  as  the  following) 
diagram  will  explain  that  most  ancient  puzzle, 
the  Greek  octaves.    The  root  of  the  difficulty 


has  been  this.  Although  the  Greeks  had 
different  signs  {arj^tta)  for  writing  down  musi- 
cal notes,  and  they  wrote  down  music  in  the 
4th  century  B.C.,  they  had  no  fixed  name 
for  any  note.  Some  readers  may  remember 
that  there  was  an  old  plan  of  teaching  singing 
in  England  (which  has  been  partially  revived), 
in  which  the  key  note  was  always  called  Do, 
and  consequently  every  modulation  or  change 
of  key  made  another  Do.  Just  so  with  the 
Greeks,  only  instead  of  Do  read  Mese.  Every 
string  was  tuned  to  Mese,  and  if  a  Greek  knew 
the  Mese  he  could  tell  the  distance  of  any  other 
note.  So,  when  Euclid  and  others*  say  that 
the  Mixo-Lydian  octave  begins  upon  Hypate 
Hypaton,  they  mean  that  it  begins  upon  the 
lowest  note  but  one  of  its  own  scale,  just  as 
it  does  in  the  preceding  example.  The  key  is 
G  minor,  with  a  minor  seventh,  and  the  octave 
lyre  begins  upon  A.  The  great  mistake  has 
been  to  take  the  names  of  the  strings  for  fixed 
sounds,  and  so  to  make  a  Mixo-Lydian  octavj 
in  a  Hypo-Dorian  scale,  instead  of  in  its  cwn 
scale.  This  error  underlies  all  the  old  music 
called  Gregorian  (although  in  the  time  of  S. 
Ambrose  and  S.  Gregory  there  was  no  such 
peculiar  music),  and  in  consequence  of  this 
misapprehension  "Gregorian  tones  or  scales" 
have  wrong  key  notes. 

When  Bacchius  asks  "What  are  the  names 
of  the  three  scales,  if  only  three  are  used?" 
he  answers  for  himself,  commencing  with 
the  scale  of  highest  pitch,  "  Lydian,  Phrygian, 


Euclid,  p.  I 


(  206  ) 


[5;  Gaudentius,  p.  19;  Bacchius,  p.  19; 


&c 


GREEK  MUSIC. 


Dorian."  And  "  when  seven  ?"  "  Mixo-Lydian, 
Lydian,  Phrygian,  Dorian,  Hypo-Lydian, 
Hypo-Phrygian,  and  Hypo-Dorian."  These 
are  the  seven  in  the  preceding  example. 

Claudius  Ptolemy  proposed  to  reduce  the 
entire  number  of  fifteen  scales  to  the  above 
seven,  thinking  them  sufficient,  and  he  pro- 
posed another  very  desirable  change,  viz.,  to 
transpose  them  all  a  fourth  lower  for  the  lyre, 
so  as  to  bring  them  all  within  the  reach  of 


ordinary  voices.  Dr.  Burney  says  that  many 
persons  imagined  Ptolemy  to  have  proposed 
to  raise  them  a  fifth  higher  {History,  vol.  I.,  p. 
45,  line  4"!.  That  would  have  made  them  im- 
possible for  men.  They  were  decidedly  very 
high  for  men  at  the  ancient  historical  pitch. 

Ptolemy  gives  precisely  the  same  rule  for 
transposing  these  scales  that  any  musician 
would  give  to-day,  and  the  following  is  the 
result: — 


Scales  for  the  Lyre  transposed  a  fourth  lower,  by  Claudius  Ptolemy. 

Mixo-Lydian  or  )  „  „.   Octave  Lyre. 

Hyper-Dorian.  I  ° 


It  will  be  observed  that  the  key  notes  occupy  I 

the  same  positions  as  before;  therefore  the  ' 

succession  of  intervals  must  be  the  same,  for,  I 

as  with  us,  the  key  note  determines  the  sue-  I 

cession.  I 

And  now,  quitting  the  diatonic  scale  which  is  I 

by  far  the  most  important  of  all,  and  the  only  I 


one  which  the  Romans  adopted,  we  turn  to 
the  Chromatic  Scale. 

The  Greeks  had  three  kinds  of  Chromatic 
scale,  of  which  only  one  was  much  used. 
Aristoxenus  calls  it  the  Chroma  tonaion 
(xpw^arova'iop).  It  ascended  the  tetrachord  by 
semitone,  semitone,  and  minor  third,  as  below. 


On  the  Octave  Lyre 
A  being  the  key  note 
it  stood  thus — 


r^~gjtaiP~n    Or  in  our  octave  ' 

I  y  '     tl         scale,  thus-  ^E^^ 


The  outside  notes  of  tetrachords  are  here 
marked  in  minims,  and  the  inner  notes  in 
crotchets,  only  to  be  more  readily  distinguish- 
able. Of  the  inner  notes  it  is  only  the  higher 
of  each  two  that  differs  from  the  diatonic  scale. 

This  chromatic  scale  is  of  interest  in  the 
history  of  music  as  being  the  first  approach 
to  a  major  scale  among  the  ancients  that  has 
yet  been  discovered.    It  enabled  them  to  play 


five  tones  in  minor  and  to  change  them  to 
five  in  major,  but  we  have  no  proof  that  they 
ever  made  that  use  of  the  scale.  There  are 
the  necessary  F  sharp  and  the  C  sharp  for  the 
key  of  A  major,  and,  as  the  seventh  of  the 
scale  is  altogether  omitted,  the  G  sharp,  which 
would  be  required  in  a  complete  scale,  is 
not  called  into  question.  Five  of  the  tones 
make  a  major  scale,  wanting  the  fourth  and 


(  207  ) 


GREEK  MUSIC. 


seventh  of  the  key — in  other  words  it  is  a  scale 
of  the  five  tones  without  the  two  semitones. 
If  the  major  scale  were  played  in  the  Lydian 
mode,  beginning  on  F  sharp,  the  succession 
of  notes  would  be  the  same  as  the  five  short 
(and  usually  black)  keys  of  the  pianoforte. 
An    enthusiastic   Irishman    or  Scotchman 


might  think  this  sufficient  evidence  that  the 
five-toned  Irish  and  Scotch  tunes  (we  might 
add  English,  for  there  are  many  of  them ,  are 
to  be  traced  back  to  ancient  Egypt.  Proof 
would  be  wanting,  but  imagination  sometimes 
goes  a  long  way  as  a  substitute.  Divide  the 
scale  into  major  and  minor  and  it  runs  thus : 


Key  of  A  minor. 

There  could  not  be  a  complete  major  scale 
among  the  Greeks,  because  they  had  a  musi- 
cal law  that  the  seventh  of  the  scale  must  be 
at  least  a  tone  below  the  key  note.  It  might 
be  more,  but  it  could  not  be  less. 

This  chromatic  scale  was  of  very  simple 
formation  on  the  lyre.  It  required  but  to 
lower  the  forefinger  string  (lichanos),  and 
such  others  as  occupied  the  like  position  in 
the  upper  tetrachords,  half  a  tone  ;  and  so  to 
make  a  skip  of  a  minor  third  down,  instead 
of  only  a  tone,  between  it  and  the  highest  string 
of  the  tetrachord,  as  from  A  to  F  sharp  instead 
of  from  A  to  G. 

The  Enharmonic  Scale  was  of  the  same 
kind  as  the  chromatic,  but  made  a  skip  down 
of  a  major  third,  as  from  A  to  F,  instead  of 
the  minor  third  from  A  to  F  sharp,  as  in  the 
chromatic.  But  the  whole  tetrachord  only 
extended  one  semitone  below  F,  viz.  to  E, 
and  as  there  was  a  string  already  on  E,  and 
that  a  fixed  sound,  which  could  not  be  altered, 
the  otherwise  useless  intermediate  string  was 
tuned  to  a  quarter  tone  between  E  and  F.  and 
was  occasionally  used  as  a  grace  note.  Such 
was  the  simple  origin  of  quarter-tones  in  a 
Greek  scale.    They  could  not  be  harmonized. 

Olympus,  who  seems  to  have  flourished  a 
short  time  after  Terpander,*  is  said  by  Plu- 
tarch, on  the  authority  of  a  lost  work  of 
Aristoxenus,  to  have  discovered  the  enhar- 
monic scale  by  merely  passing  over  the 
lichanos,  or  forefinger  string,  in  preluding — 
but  that  he  did  not  use  the  quarter-tones. 
It  was  a  later  idea  to  utilize  the  unemployed 
string.  The  enharmonic  of  Olympus  might 
have  been  played  upon  any  lyre  which  had 
the  ordinary  tuning,  for  all  the  notes  it  re- 


Key  of  A  major. 


quired  were  common  both  to  the  Diatonic  and 
to  Chromatic  scales. 

The  quarter  tones  were  sometimes  employed 
both  in  and  before  the  time  of  Aristoxenus, 
for  he  says  that  a  singer  could  neither  sing 
them  with  certainty  nor  the  hearer  judge  of 
them.f  He  also  says  that  no  one  could  sing 
three  quarter-tones  in  succession. | 

Other  scales  but  little  used. 

Euclid,  at  the  commencement  of  his  treatise 
(p.  3)  names  only  the  preceding  principal 
scales,  but  afterwards  recapitulates  them  to- 
gether with  others  less  used  (p.  10).  Although 
he  gives  but  the  tuning  of  one  tetrachord  of 
each  he  thereby  explains  the  entire  octave, 
because  the  octave  (as  we  view  it,  i.e.,  begin- 
ning from  the  key  note)  was  made  up  first  by 
the  diazeuktic  tone,  or  tone  of  disjunction  (next 
above  the  key  note),  and  then  of  two  conjoined 
tetrachords  above  it.  It  would  have  been 
the  same  if  begun  from  Proslambanomenos, 
the  octave  below  this  diazeuktic  tone.  A 
tetrachord,  or  fourth,  consists,  in  Aristoxenian 
phrase,  or  roughly  speaking,  of  two  tones 
and  a  semitone.  To  show  the  divisions  of 
the  tetrachord  we  adopt  Claudius  Ptolemy's 
plan  of  explaining  them  (lib.  i.  c.  13)  in  pre- 
ference to  that  of  Aristoxenus  and  of  Euclid 
(p.  II  and  12). 

Aristoxenus  and  Euclid  represent  the  semi- 
tone by  6  and  the  tone  by  12,  making  the 
whole  tetrachord  30.  Ptolemy  counts  a  diesis 
or  quarter-tone  for  6,  a  semitone  for  12,  a 
tone  for  24,  and  the  entire  tetrachord  as  60, 
Thus  he  avoids  fractions.  The  following  is 
the  Complete  List  of  Greek  Scales  : — 


1.  The  Tonal  Diatonic  (already  given)                   liarovov  avvrovov  ...  12,  24,  24  =  60. 

2.  The  Soft  Diatonic                                             lilvrovov  ^aXaKov  ...  I2,  18,  30  -  60. 

3.  The  Semitonic  Chromatic  (already  given)  ...    XP'^f^"^  Tova'tov  ...  12,  12,  36  60. 

4.  The  Soft  Chromatic                                        XP'^A'"  fiaXatcov  ...  8,   8,  44  =  60. 

5.  The  Sesquialteral  Chromatic                            X/"^^"  fifiioXiov  ...  9,   9,  42  =^  60. 

6.  The  one  and  only  Enharmonic  (already  given)  ...  6,   6,  48  =  60. 


*  "  Olympus  must  have  flourished  a  short  time  after 
Terpander."  Mueller's  Literature  of  Greece,  p.  202. 
M.  Fetis  most  amusingly  attributes  this  invention  to  an 
imaginary  Olympus,  who  is  said  to  have  "  lived  about 
two  centuries  before  the  siege  of  Troy."    The  learned 


writer  is  as  liberal  with  his  thousands  of  years  for  the 
Greeks  as  if  they  were  but  mille  francs.  (Histoirt 
Generale  de  la  Musique,  I.  131,  8vo.,  1869.; 

t  Aristox.,  p.  14,  1.  20. 

t  Aristox.,  p.  28. 


(  208  ) 


GREEK  MUSIC. 


Aristides  Quintilianus  describes  also  six 
enharmonic  modes  which,  according  to  him, 
are  of  "  very  ancient  "  origin.*  These  scales 
are  not  mentioned  by  any  other  writer  on 
music,  neither  is  there  any  kind  of  allusion 
to  the  use  of  any  second  description  of  en- 
harmonic scale  elsewhere.  Even  Aristides 
himself  says  that  the  enharmonic  scale  is 
indivisible  (at  p.  133),  and  it  must  have 
been  indivisible  because  the  quarter-tone  was 
the  smallest  interval  employed  in  Greek  music. 
The  only  two  moveable  sounds  were  already 
quarter-tones.  These  "  very  ancient"  scales 
can  therefore  be  nothing  more  than  mixed 
scales. 

The  version  of  them  given  by  Meibomius, 
who  first  published  the  treatise  of  Aristides, 
has  been  hitherto  accepted  without  question. t 
The  text  that  Meibomius  followed  was  un- 
doubtedly very  faulty,  but,  when  he  attempted 
to  amend  it,  he  patched  it  in  the  wrong  places. 
Scales  were  a  great  trouble  to  him,  and  he 
even  failed  to  give  the  conjunct  scale  of  three 
tetrachords  correctly. I 

The  following  are  the  scales  as  printed  by 
Meibomius  The  figures  i,  2,  3,  relate  to 
tones,  and  the  \  to  quarter-tones. 


*  AiQ  KOI  01  Travv  TraXaioraTOi  Trpog  rag  &f)fxo- 
I'/af  Ki\priPTai{p  21.) 

f  As  by  Boeckh  in  his  Metres  of  Pindar,  and  by  the 
late  learned  writer  of  the  article  "Musica"  in  the 
Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  edited  by 
Wm.  Smith,  LL.D. 

I  See  his  notes  upon  Euclid,  p,  63.  He  has  omitted 
Hypate  at  the  bottom  of  the  lowest  tetrachord  (but 
Hypate  was  a  standing  sound,  and  could  not  be  omitted), 
and  commenced  it  upon  Parhypate,  which  is  one  of  the 
inner  moveable  sounds.  All  his  tetrachords  are  there- 
fore wrong.  The  origin  of  this  mistake  is  that  he  has 
made  Trite  and  Paramese  into  two  strings,  whereas  in 
the  conjunct  scale  they  were  never  other  than  one,  B 
flat.  There  should  have  been  no  Paramese  in  the  scale, 
because  it  is  the  conjunct  scale  of  Ion,  and  so  dating 
more  than  200  years  after  the  octave  system  had  been  in 
use,  Paramese  then  belonged  only  to  the  octave  system. 
At  some  long  previous  time  the  names  of  Paramese  and 
Trite  had  been  indiscriminately  applied  to  B  flat  in  the 
conjunct  scale,  but  never  as  separate  strings  in  that 
system.  It  is  singular  that  an  editor  of  the  Greek 
writers  upon  music  should  not  have  been  able  to  write 
out  a  scale,  and  perhaps  equally  singular  that  such 
errors  should  have  passed  for  200  years  unobserved.  It 
is  desirable  to  draw  attention  to  them  because  these 
are  by  no  means  solitary  errors  in  Meibomius.  One 
instance  more :  in  his  notes  upon  Aristides  Quinti- 
lianus (p.  209,  column  I,  line  6)  he  says  that  the  two 
most  ancient  tetrachords  were  joined  together  by  a 
string  common  to  both,  and  that  that  string  was  called 
hypate  meson.  This  is  an  entire  mistake;  the  string 
was  Mese.  It  is  singular  that  he  did  not  know  it,  even 
by  the  position  of  the  tone  of  disjunction.  How  strange 
that  so  eminent  a  man  should  have  edited  the  Greek 
authors  upon  music  and  yet  not  have  mastered  the 
•cale  system. 


Lydian    .   .  . 

1 

2 

I 

2 

\  ... 

Dorian  .... 

I 

i 

2  I 

i 

k  a 

Phrygian     .    .  . 

I 

1 

? 

2  I 

i 

i  « 

lastian  .... 

2 

I 

Mixo-Lydian   •  . 

1 

f 

1 

I 

3  •• 

Syntono-Lydian(5tc)|- 

1 

2 

ij  2 

In  the  above,  the  key  note  of  the  Dorian  13. 
in  its  right  place  as  the  central  scale,  and,  in 
that,  it  agrees  with  the  manuscript.  It  has. 
the  diazeuktic  tone  ne.xt  above  it.  The  Phry- 
gian, however,  is  in  the  wrong  place.  It 
ought  to  be  a  string  above  the  Dorian.  Mei- 
bomius has  added  a  quarter -tone  to  this, 
scale,  to  make  it  agree  with  the  quantity 
stated  in  another  line  of  the  text  ;  but  he 
should  have  placed  the  added  quarter-tone 
on  the  left  instead  of  on  the  right  of  the  key 
note.  The  figure  2  must  be  found  wherever 
the  key  note  or  Mese  is  placed  ;  but  as  it 
now  stands,  Dorian  and  Phrygian  have  their 
key  note  on  the  same  string,  which  was  im- 
possible. 

The  scale  above  called  "Mixo-Lydian" 
proves  that  these  are  mixed  scales.  There 
could  be  no  interval  of  three  tones  with- 
out omitting  both  the  key  note  and  the  dia- 
zeuktic  tone — two  fixed  sounds— and  there 
could  not  be  a  sequence  of  one  tone  after 
another  in  the  enharmonic  scale. 

As  to  the  scale  here  called  Syntono-Lydian 
it  is  simply  Hypo-Lydian,  and  nothing  else. 
This  is  proved  by  its  having  its  key  note  on 
the  third  string,  and  in  that  it  accords  with 
the  manuscript.  There  was  no  such  enhar- 
monic  scale  as  .SjwfoHO- Lydian,  nor  could 
such  a  prefix  as  Syntono  be  applied  to  any 
enharmonic  scale  whatever.§ 

The  true  positions  of  the  key  notes  will  be 
best  exemplified  by  subjoining  the  enhar- 
monic scales  in  their  proper  order  on  tho 
octave  lyre. 


§  ffwreivw,  to  draw  together.  In  the  enharmonic 
scale  the  moveable  sounds,  instead  of  being  drawn  tight, 
were  relaxed  to  the  extreme.  "  ^vrToi  ojTurr}  liuTOVvc 
ioTiv,"  says  Aristoxenus,  p.  25,  line  n,  and  again 
p.  26.  Further  he  says,  "/co«o\ov  yap  ftapvTarat  fth 
a'l  tvapfiovioi  Xiyavo'i  ^aar.  exo/xevai  ci  at  ^pw/xa- 
TtKai,  (Tvi'TovwraTai  a'l  ciarorot,"  p.  24,  lines  22 
to  25.  The  enharmonic  was  TrvKVoraTOV,  anditslichanog 
fiapvraroi'  the  very  opposite  to  (TvvTovwTarov—irvKvoy 
iarai  to  Ik  hvo  ^datwv  ti'apfioyiutv  icai  ■)(^pwfj.aTiKii» 
I  iXa^^iarwy.    Aristox.  p.  24,  lines  17  to  19. 

u 


(  ) 


GREGORIANISCHE  GESANG  GROUND  BASS. 


The  Greek  Enharmonic  Scale. 

...       ,     ,.  Mese 

Mixo-Lydian  •  •  i  ^  \  2  {-  ^  2  i 
Lydian  ....ii2||2^i^ 
Phrygian  •  .  .  i  2  ^  ^  2  i  ^  ^ 
Dorian  ....2;|^;^2i;J^|^2 

Hypo-Lydian  •    .    i   i    2    i    ^    ^    2  ^ 

/ 

Hypo-Phrygian    .    \    2    i    |    ».    2    |  ^ 
/ 

Hypo-Dorian  ..2    i    \    ^    2    ^    \  2 

The  diagonal  line  shows  the  key  note  of 
each  scale  with  its  tone  of  disjunction  next 
above  it.  The  other  figures  of  2  are  the  high- 
est notes  of  other  tetrachords.  lastian  (or 
Ionian)  has  no  place  in  these  scales,  because 
it  would  require  the  position  of  one  of  the 
above  seven,  and  it  was  for  such  reasons 
Claudius  Ptolemy  proposed  to  reduce  the 
number  of  scales  to  seven.  As  to  the  Syntono- 
Lydian  of  the  manuscript,  it  is  clearly  a  mis- 
take for  Hypo-Lydian.  It  may  seem  strange 
that  I  should  have  to  correct  a  Greek  writer, 
but  this  is  an  unmistakable  case,  and  one  in 
which  he  was  only  speaking  of  something 
''very  ancient,"  of  which  he  had  no  intimate 
knowledge.  The  date  of  the  writer  has  been 
clearly  over-rated,  and  the  manuscript  of  his 
treatise  is  exceedingly  corrupt.  In  order  to 
make  one  line  of  the  text  agree  with  another, 
Meibomius  twice  changed  the  word  "tone" 
into"ditone"  in  the  Lydian  scale;  he  added  a 
diesis,  or  quarter-tone  to  the  Phrygian,  the 
same  to  the  Mixo-Lydian,  and  the  final  ditone 
to  what  is  called  Syntono-Lydian.  All  these 
additions  and  alterations  will  be  seen  by  com- 
paring his  Latin  translation  with  the  Greek 
text  (p.  21),  and  they  are  admitted  and  justi- 
fied in  Meibomius's  notes. 

Meibomius  was  the  first  to  publish  the 
work  of  Aristides  Quintilianus,  and  he  seems 
to  have  been  desirous  of  magnifying. such  an 
acquisition  to  literature,  by  ascribing  to  the 
f  uthor  as  remote  a  date  as  he  could  guess. 
Meibomius  overlooks  his  having  copied  from 
Claudius  Ptolemy  (the  numerical  estimate  of 
60  for  a  tetrachord  is  taken  from  Ptolemy) 
and  thinks  that  Martianus  Capella  (who  lived 
about  the  end  of  the  fifth  century),  copied 
from  Aristides.  The  numberless  petty  differ- 
ences between  the  two  upon  a  common  sub- 
ject seem  greatly  to  militate  against  the 
theory,  and  Meibomius's  own  notes  afford  the 
evidence.  Aristides  had  evidently  studied 
Latin,  because  he  quotes  Cicero  ;  he  passes 
judgment  upon  Spaniards,  Celts,  and  Thra- 
cians.  They  are  either  wild,  brutal,  or  drunken, 


but  Greeks  are  every  thing  that  is  good  (pp. 
72  and  73).  Clearly  he  was  a  Greek.  But  even 
if  he  lived  under  the  Roman  empire,  the 
Romans  used  no  other  scale  than  the  one 
diatonic,  so  that  all  others  were  matters  oi 
history.  We  may  meet  in  society  a  man  of 
large  general  information,  and  yet  if  we  ask 
him  to  define  a  "  sackbut,"  he  may  <fail; 
although  he  has  probably  seen  one  every  time 
he  went  to  opera  or  concert,  and  the  name 
of  the  instrument  was  only  changed  in  the 
last  century.  Or,  we  might  even  ask  an 
accomplished  musician  to  define  a  scale  of 
Chaucer's  time,  and  he  might  fail;  so,  like- 
wise, may  Aristides  Quintilianus  have  failed. 
The  corrections  are  supplied  by  his  own  an- 
cestors. The  passage  referred  to  by  Aristides 
is  in  the  third  book  of  the  Republic  of  Plato.* 
The  prefix  of  "Syntono"  is  usually  unneces- 
sary, because  it  means  the  ordinary  Lydian, 
and  therefore  is  rarely  expressed,  but  Plato 
employs  it,  because  he  wishes  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  Malakon  (or  laxly  tuned)  Lydian, 
to  which  also  he  adverts  in  the  text. 

Aristides  Quintilianus  is  not  the  only  Greek 
writer  of  comparatively  late  date,  whose  works 
require  testing  by  those  of  his  ancestors. 
The  two  Lexicographers,  Hesychius  and  Sui- 
das,  explain  musical  terms  indifferently,  and 
the  difficulties  that  have  been  found  in  trans- 
lating certain  passages  of  Plato  and  Aristotle, 
are  in  a  measure  due  to  reliance  upon  their 
imperfect  definitions  of  technical  words  relat- 
ing to  the  art. 

Gregorianischer  Gesang  (Ger.)  Gre- 
gorian chant.    [Plain  song.] 

Gregorian.    [Plain  song.] 

Griffbret  (Ger.)  Finger-board  of  a  stringed 
instrument. 

Groppo  {It.)  A  bunch,  or,  group  of  notes. 

Gros  Fa.  The  square  notation  used  in 
old  church  music. 

Grosse  (Ger.)  (i)  Major,  applied  to  in- 
tervals. (2)  Grand,  or  great ;  as  grosse  Sonate, 
grand  sonata.  (3)  Double  in  pilch ;  as, 
grosse  Nazard,  a  quint,  an  organ  stop,  an 
octave  below  the  twelfth ;  grosse  Quinte,  a  pedal 
stop  of  io|ft.  in  length. 

Grosse  caisse  (Fr.)    The  big  drum. 

Grosso  {It.)  Great,  full,  grand  ;  as  con- 
certi  grossi,  grand  concertos. 

Gros  tambour  {Fr.)    The  big  drum. 

Grottesco  {It.)  Grotesque,  comic,  hum- 
orous. 

Ground  Bass.    Basse  contrainte  {Fr.) 

Basso  ostinato  {It.)  Basstherna  (Ger.)  A 
bass  passage  of  four  or  eight  bars  in  length, 
constantly   repeated,  each    successive  time 

*  Mi^o\vhi(TTl,  i<br},  icai  avvroroXv^iiTTt  

Ttftg  ovv  fiaXaicai  T£  Kai  ffi ^jrorticai  twv  af>^oyiiir 
'laari,       5'  oc,  Koi  Xviiari,     I,ib.  3,  p.  399a. 


(  ) 


GROUND  BASS. 


accompanied  with  a  varied  melody  and  har- 
mony. 

The  idea  of  this  peculiar  form  of  composi- 
tion was  probably  suggested  by  the  practice  of 
singing  a  varied  descant  upon  a  given  plain  song. 

The  old  writers  contemporary  with,  and 
immediately  succeeding  Palestrina,  frequently 
made  use  of  the  church-tones  as  themes 
for  counterpoint,  but  did  not  always  give 
those  themes  to  any  one  particular  voice,  but 
assigned  them  to  all  by  turns.  This  form  of 
writing  was  called  by  them  "  Falso-bordone." 
Monteverde  in  his  opera  "Orfeo,"  represented 
at  Mantua  1607,  has  a  Moresca,  a  dance 
written  upon  a  sort  of  ground  bass  in  a  form 
that  may  be  said  to  be  the  connecting  link 
between  one  form  of  the  falso-bordone  and 
the  basso  ostinato.  Strictly  speaking,  in  this 
case,  it  is  an  imitated  bass,  as  it  appears  each 
successive  time  in  a  new  key,  but  the  intervals 
are  imitated  throughout.  It  is  repeated  four 
times.  The  first  time  it  is  in  G  major,  the 
second  in  C  major,  the  third  in  A  minor,  the 
fourth  time  in  D  minor,  each  section  ending 
with  a  major  chord. 

Monteverde. 


The  employment  of  a  ground  bass  as  a 
regular  musical  device  became  more  general 
later  in  the  same  century.  In  the  works  of 
the  composers  of  that  period,  pieces  with 
ground  basses  are  frequently  found,  either 
strictly  continued  or  with  short  digressions. 
They  were  employed  for  compositions  in  all 
styles,  for  the  church,  for  the  stage,  or  for  the 
chamber ;  for  movements  in  suites,  arias, 
dance  tunes,  &c.  Many  famous  musicians 
furnished  "  grounds"  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 


tempore performance.  Well  known  "grounds" 
were  often  selected  by  composers  for  a  species 
of  writing  called  folias  or  follias.  Thus  Fari- 
nelli's  or  Fardinel's  ground  was  used  by 
Corelli,  Vivaldi,  and  others. 

Grounds  by  Purcell,  Tollit,  Moteley,  Pe- 
pusch,  and  others,  are  often  found  as  the 
bases  of  many  compositions  published,  even 
so  late  as  the  latter  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. The  practice  of  performing  upon  a 
given  ground  bass  gave  rise  to  treatises  pro- 
fessing to  instruct  the  ambitious  in  the  art. 
One  of  the  most  famous  of  these  works, 
"  Chelys  Minutionem,  or  the  Division  Viol," 
by  Christopher  Simpson,  1665,  gives,  as  far 
as  possible,  all  the  necessary  rules,  with  many 
examples.  His  description  of  the  method  of 
performing  "  division  on  a  ground,"  is  inter- 
esting, and  may  not  be  out  of  place  here. 
He  says  that  "  Diminution  or  division  to  a 
ground,  is  the  breaking  either  of  the  bass,  or 
o.f  any  higher  part  that  is  applicable  thereto. 
The  manner  of  expressing  it  is  thus — a 
ground,  subject,  or  bass,  call  it  what  you 
please,  is  prick'd  down  on  two  several  papers  ; 
one  for  him  who  is  to  play  the  ground  upon 
an  organ,  harpsichord,  or  whatever  instru- 
ment may  be  fit  for  that  purpose;  the  other 
for  him  that  plays  upon  the  viol,  who,  having 
the  said  ground  before  his  eyes  as  a  theme 
or  subject,  plays  such  variety  of  descant  or 
division  in  accordance  thereto  as  his  skill  and 
present  invention  do  then  suggest  unto  him." 
As  the  "  grounds  "  given  were  very  short, 
and  the  compass  of  the  viol  was  in  those  days 
limited,  this  quaint  sort  of  extempore  descant 
was  perhaps  not  difficult,  neither  could  it 
have  been  very  varied  or  interesting,  except 
perhaps,  to   those   immediately  concerned. 

The  kind  of  ground  bass  given  in  the 
"  Chelys "  may  be  seen  by  the  subjoined 
specimen  : 


There  are  also  several  "  Divisions  "  on  this 
ground  given,  which  it  is  not  necessary  to 
quote. 

The  opera,  "  Dido  and  Eneas,"  written 
by  Purcell  in  his  19th  year,  contains  a 
very  good  example  of  a  song  written  on  a 
ground  bass.  The  melody  is  beautiful  and 
plaintive,  and  the  harmonies  rich  and  appro- 
priate. 


(  211  ) 


GROUP  GUITAR. 


When  I  am    laid,   am  laid  ...    in  .      earth,  may  my 


wrongs  ere  -  ate   no    trou  -  ble,  no    trou-ble  in  thy 


n-'.m-ber  me,  but   ah!     for  -  get  my 


Chacones,  and  Passacailles  or  Passacaglios, 
were  generally  written  on  ground  basses,  and 
the  ingenuity  and  skill  displayed  in  many  exist- 
\ng  examples  are  both  inteiesting  and  instruc- 
tive. There  are  Passacailles  and  Chacones  by 
Couperin  and  Rameau,  Bach,  Handel,  and 
others,  too  long  to  quote  here.  Handel,  whose 
sixty-two  masterly  variations  on  a  ground 
bass  in  his  famous  Chacone  are  well  known, 
has  shown  also  how  the  like  artifice  may  be 
effectively  employed  in  choruses,  as  those  in 

(  - 


"  Saul,"  "  Susannah,"  and  other  works  suffi- 
ciently prove. 

Group,  (i)  A  series  of  notes,  of  small 
time-value,  grouped  together  ;  a  division  or 
run.  (2)  The  method  of  setting  out  band 
parts  in  score. 

Grundstimme  {Ger.)    The  bass  part. 

j      Grundton  {Ger.)    (i)  The  bass  note.  (2) 

!  Fundamental  bass. 

Gruppetto,  gruppo  (It.)  A  series  of  notes 

i  grouped  as  a  cadenza,  division,  or  ornament. 
Playford  (Introduction  to  the  Skill  of  Musick) 
gives  the  name  Double  relish  to  the  gruppo 
and  the  following  directions  for  its  per- 
formance : 

Gruppo,  or  double  Relish. 


by  which  it  would  appear  to  have  been  similar 
to  the  grace  now  called  a  "  shake."  He 
I  writes  the  latter  as  follows  : 

i 

Trill,  or  plain  shake. 


G  String.  The  name  of  tlie  first  string  on 
the  double  bass,  the  third  on  the  violoncello, 
viola,  and  guitar,  and  the  fourth  on  the  violin. 

G  Schliissel  [Ger.)    The  G  or  treble  clef. 

m 

Guaracha.  A  lively  Spanish  dance  in  % 
or  \  time,  usually  accompanied  on  the  guitar 
by  the  dancer  himself. 

Guddok  (7?M55.)  A  Russian  fiddle.  [Violin.] 

Guerriero  {It.)  Warlike,  martial. 

Guet  (Fr.)    A  flourish  of  trumpets. 

Guida  {It.)  (i)  A  guide,  a  direct.  (2)  The 
subject  of  a  fugue.    [Fugue.]  [Direct.] 

Guide-main  {Fr.)  A  hand-guide,  a  mecha- 
nical contrivance  for  regulating  the  position 
of  the  wrist  in  pianoforte  playing,  invented 
by  Kalkbrenner. 

Guidonian  syllables.  [Aretinian  syl- 
lables.] 

Guidonian  system.  [Notation.] 
Guimbarde  {Fr.)  [Jew's  Harp.] 
Guitar.  Giiitare  {Fr.)  Chitarra  {It.) 
Guiiarra  {Sp.)  A  stringed  instrument, 
played  by  plucking  or  twitching  the  strings 
with  the  right  hand  while  the  left  is  engaged 
in  forming  the  notes  by  "  stopping  "  or  pres- 
sing the  strings  against  the  frets  on  the  finger 
board. 

The  modem,  or  Spanish  guitar  as  it  is 
called,  has  six  strings,  the  three  highest 
of  gut,   the  three  lowest  of  silk,  covered 

12  ) 


GUITAR. 


with  a  fine  wire.  The  accordatura  is  as 
follows : 

(Sounding  an  octave  lower.) 


The  guitar  is  but  little  used  now  in  England, 
though  at  one  time  it  was  very  fashionable. 
Other  nations  who  still  employ  it,  call  it  by 
several  names,  most  of  which  will  be  described 
hereafter.  The  guitar  is  rarely,  if  ever,  em- 
ployed as  an  orchestral  instrument,  but  is 
very  valuable  as  a  portable  means  of  accom- 
paniment. The  existence  of  frets  upon  the 
guitar  limits  the  number  of  modulations 
capable  of  being  performed  in  the  normal 
tuning.  When  it  is  desired  to  make  a  com- 
plete change  of  key  the  capo  tasto  screwed 
over  the  finger-board  alters  the  tuning  at  any 
desired  point,  or  a  temporary  change  is  made 
by  the  grande  harre,  that  is  by  laying  the 
forefinger  of  the  left  hand  completely  over  the 
strings,  the  remaining  fingers  being  engaged 
in  stopping  a  chord.  In  the  classification  of 
musical  instruments  it  is  convenient  to  speak 
of  three  general  sorts,  wind,  string,  and 
pulsatile.  The  guitar  belongs  to  the  second 
kind,  and  may  be  said  to  represent  a  very 
large  family  universally  distributed,  bearing  a 
variety  of  names  according  to  the  tongue  of 
the  nation  by  which  it  is  used.  All  instru- 
ments may  be  considered  as  belonging  to  the 
guitar  family,  which  possess  a  resonance 
body  or  sound  box,  together  with  a  finger- 
board, against  which  the  strings  with 
which  they  are  furnished  may  be  pressed  or 
stopped. 

Following  the  course  of  history,  we  find 
that  instruments  of  the  guitar  kind  are  of 
great  antiquity,  as  well  as  of  general  use  by 
people  of  all  nations. 

The  kinnor  and  nebel,  mentioned  in  the 
Bible,  were  stringed  instruments,  of  the  guitar 
or  harp  family,  but  of  their  exact  nature  it 
must  be  confessed  little  is  known,  though 
much  is  conjectured. 


Egyptian  Nefer. 


The  Egyptian  frescoes  and  other  paint- 
ings, valuable  as  showing  the  iiequent  use 
of  musical  instruments,  include  several 
specimens  of  the  harp  and  guitar  family. 
The  Nefer,  one  of  the  latter  class,  had  a 
neck,  sometimes  with  a  carved  head,  and 
was  furnished  with  three  strings,  and  had 
a  resonance  box.  Upon  the  neck,  or  fin- 
ger-board, frets  were  tied  or  fastened,  as 
in  the  modern  guitar.  Each  string  is 
said  to  have  been  able  to  produce  two 
octaves. 

The  three  strings  were  supposed  to  cor- 
respond with  the  seasons  of  the  Egyptian 
year. 

Grecian  writers,  describing  Egyptian  in- 
struments, do  not  afford  much  real  information 
concerning  them,  and  all  attempts  to  reconcile 
their  statements  only  lead  to  confusion  ;  for 
conjecture  is  not  conviction.  Too  much  trust 
has  been  placed  in  the  accuracy  of  sculptured 
and  painted  images,  and  various  theories  have 
been  founded  upon  the  character  of  musical 
instruments  as  deduced  from  their  represented 
forms.  As  with  ancient,  so  with  modern 
musical  instruments  of  far  away  countries, 
travellers'  tales  have  too  often  been  trusted, 
and  their  statements  received  as  conclusive, 
when  in  the  majority  of  instances  they 
are  confessedly  ignorant  of  the  subject 
upon  which  they  give  "authoritative  judg- 
ment." 

Philology  does  not,  after  all,  furnish  the  best 
assistance  towards  determining  relationships 
in  this  matter,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  picture 
of  an  instrument  offers  but  a  little  help  or 
guide  in  the  matter.  References  to  musical 
instruments  by  the  poets  of  several  ages 
offer  no  aid  whatever,  but  on  the  contrary, 
often  tend  to  mislead.  If  they  were  trust- 
worthy, it  might  reasonably  be  assumed  that 
no  other  instruments  but  the  lyre  and  harp 
were  ever  employed  to  "assist  the  muse." 
But  colloquial  terms — often  despised  by  clas- 
sical poets — are  of  most  value  to  the  historian, 
and  it  is  therefore  found  that  the  common 
names  applied  to  a  stringed  instrument  with 
a  finger-board,  kissar,  cittern,  zither,  kitra, 
kithara,  geytarah,  guitar,  point  to  a  common 
origin. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  guitar 
was  introduced  into  Europe  after  the  Crusades. 
The  name,  purely  Eastern,  has  been  adopted 
with  only  such  a  variation  in  spelling  as 
European  use  demands.  The  modern  Egyp- 
tians call  it  "  gytarah  barbaryeh,"  the  guitar 
of  the  Berbers,  the  people  who  are  the  direct 
descendants  of  the  ancient  race  of  the  country; 
and  as  names  and  words  in  the  East  vary  in 
the  course  of  ages  less  than  those  in  the 
West,  it  is  likely  that  the  word  is  of  high 
antiquity. 


(«3) 


GUITAR. 


This  gytarah,"  or  kissar  is  of  the  following 
form  : 


Nubian  Kissar. 


It  is  usually  mounted  with  four  strings  tuned, 
according  to  Engel.as  below  : 


Its  form  is  not  unlike  some  of  the  instruments 
represented  on  ancient  Egyptian  and  Assyrian 
monuments,  and  although  the  name  would 
imply  some  connection  with  the  modern 
guitar,  its  shape  would  identify  it  rather  as 
belonging  to  the  lyre  kind.  But  there  are 
other  stringed  instruments  used  by  Eastern 
people  more  in  the  form  of  the  modern  guitar. 

The  kitra  or  kuitra  popular  in  Morocco 
sometimes  has  the  resonance-box  or  body 
made  of  a  tortoise  shell,  after  the  manner  that 
Hermes  is  said  to  have  constructed  his  lyre. 


Kitra  or  Gunibry. 

The  resonance-body  of  the  Gunibry  is 
made  of  a  bottle-pumpkin  cut  longwise,  and 
covered  with  sheep  skin.  Its  two  strings  are 
of  catgut. 

The  sitar,  choutarah,  or  tamboura  of  Hin- 
dostan  had  originally  but  three  strings  of 
wire — as  the  name  sitar  implies — which  were 
afterwards  increased  to  four  or  five.  The 
body  is  made  of  a  gourd,  the  neck  of  cocoa 
wood  furnished  with  pegs.  The  strings  are 
layed  with  a  plectrum  of  twisted  wire  called 
by  the  name  of  mizrab,  warn  on  the  fore- 
finger of  the  right  hand.  There  is  another 
form  of  Hindoo  guitar  of  a  somewhat  peculiar 
construction  called  Vina  or  Bina,  which  has 
a  gourd  at  each  end.  [Bina]. 


Hindoo  Guitar. 
The  Chinese,  though  a  people  of  a  different 
stock,  have  an  instrument  called  Yue-kin  or 
moon  guitar,  having  four  silken  strings  ar- 
ranged in  pairs,  each  pair  being  tuned  in 
unison,  and  the  two  pairs  a  fifth  apart.  The 
instrument  has  been  called  by  travellers  fol- 
lowing the  method  of  pronouncing  the  name 
in  Canton,  giit-kuin,  which  may  or  may  not 
be  philologically  related  to  guitar.  The  gut- 
kum,  yue-kin,  or  moon  guitar,  has  inside  its 
resonance  box  some  pieces  of  loose  metal  which 
are  occasionally  shaken  during  performance. 


Chinese  Yue-kin  or  Moon-guitar. 
The  lute,  another  member  of  this  family,  also 
comes  from  the  East,  the  name  is  the  Euro- 
pean method  of  spelling  its  title  "  el  "ood." 
The  pandore,  bandore,  pandoura,  and  mando- 
line are  simply  other  names  for  a  lute  or 
guitar,  arising  from  fancy  or  accident. 
The  mandola  or  mandoline,  for  example, 
derives  its  title  from  the  almond  shape 
of  the  resonance-body.  The  Italian  word  for 
almond  is  mandola.  Variety  of  names  for 
the  same  thing,  together  with  slight  differences 
in  form,  often  tend  to  confuse  the  enquirer. 
The  method  of  performance,  the  shape,  the 
mounting,  the  material  of  which  they  are  con- 
structed, and  various  other  causes,  are  often 
taken  into  consideration  in  the  naming  of 
instruments.  If  these  reasons  are  lost  sight 
of,  a  certain  amount  of  confusion  naturally 
arises  in  the  classification  of  musical  names 
and  titles  ;  and  things  are  treated  and  spoken 
of  as  dissimilar,  which  are  really  closely  con- 
nected. If,  for  example,  we  were  five  thou- 
sand years  older,  and  no  specimen  of  a  piano- 
forte or  of  its  musical  literature  existed,  and 
we  were  left  to  judge  of  the  form  and  use  of 
the  instruments  called  by  the  several  names 
applied  to  it,  we  might  say  with  good  autho- 
rity out  of  existing  documents,  that  our  ancient 
English  ancestors  were  accustomed  to  listen 
for  hours  to  a  performance  upon  a  broad  wood, 
probably  an  extensive  forest  or  a  wide  plank, 


(  214) 


GUITAR  ( 


-GUTTURAL. 


as  the  acute  future  critic  would  say.  Further, 
it  might  be  inferred  that  our  German  contem- 
poraries were  enraptured  with  the  skill  of 
one  who  was  able  to  produce  similar  effects 
from  a  fliigel,  the  wing  of  a  bird.  The  con- 
nection betv/een  a  forest  and  a  bird's  wing 
might  suggest  some  very  ingenious  comments. 
In  cases  where  titles  are  given  independently 
of  those  already  applied  to  certain  things,  and 
detailed  descriptions  are  wanting,  the  differ- 
ence becomes  apparently  wider  each  succes- 
sive age  until  all  ends  in  chaos.  If  the 
ancient  Eastern  title  geytarah  had  not  been 
adopted  with  the  instrument  by  the  Spaniards, 
and  by  other  nations  following  them ;  the 
changes  in  the  form  of  the  instrument  might 
have  been  held  as  indicating  many  origins. 
There  seems  to  be  no  connection  between  the 
words  nefer,  nebel,  pandoura,  lyre,  and 
kithara,  still  it  is  not  unlikely  that  they  had 
a  common  start-point. 

An  instrument  of  a  form  like  the  Egyptian 
Nefer  is  found  depicted  upon  Assyrian  monu- 
ments, but  strange  to  say  there  are  no  repre- 
sentations of  a  finger-board  instrument  among 
the  Greek  antiquities.  That  the  Greeks 
knew  of  the  pandoura  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  it  is  mentioned  by  Nicomachus,  and 
subsequent  historians.  The  modern  conclu- 
sion that  they  preferred  their  own  instruments 
without  necks,  "although  they  adopted  the 
system  of  the  Egyptians  for  the  subdivision 
and  measurement  of  strings,"  is  very  doubt- 
ful, for  the  one  could  not  have  been  done 
without  the  aid  of  the  other.  For  if  we  are 
to  believe  that  the  strings  of  the  Egyptian 
Nefer  had  a  compass  of  two  octaves  each, 
those  two  octaves  must  have  been  obtained 
by  means  of  a  finger-board,  and  if  the  Greek 
instruments  were  without  finger-boards,  and 
the  strings  were  open  from  end  to  end,  without 
a  backing  along  their  lengths,  how  were  they 
stopped,  or  how  could  a  string  be  subdivided  ? 
It  is  therefore  probable  if  Greek  music  was  as 
perfect  as  it  is  said  to  have  been,  that  finger- 
boards, fretted  or  otherwise,  were  known  and 
used,  and  poets  and  sculptors,  disdaining  to 
employ  common  forms,  gave  fancy  shapes  to 
musical  instruments. 

The  ancient  Greek  kithara  {iciQapa)  is  ad- 
mitted to  have  been  portable  ;  and  Mr.  Chap- 
pell  ("  History  of  Music,"  p.  37)  says,  "  the 
lower  strings  of  the  kithara  were  played  by 
the  fingers  of  the  left  hand,  and  the  higher 
strings  by  the  plectrum  held  in  the  right  hand." 
And  again,  that  the  instrument  "was  held  on 
the  left  side  of  the  body,  with  the  left  arm 
behind  the  instrument,  for  the  purpose  of 
reaching  the  base  strings  which  were  furthest 
from  the  player."  Now,  the  difficulty  of  per- 
forming upon  an  instrument  of  the  lyre  or 
harp  kind  under  the  conditions  above  set 


forth,  must  have  been  great.  If  the  descrip- 
tion be  amended  thus :  "  The  lower  part  of 
the  strings  of  the  kithara  were  stopped  by  the 
fingers  of  the  left,  and  the  higher  part  of 
the  strings  played  by  the  plectrum,"  &c.,  the 
whole  matter  becomes  perfectly  clear,  and  the 
kithara  shows  its  relationship  to  the  guitar,  as 
well  as  its  power  of  sounding  octaves  on  each 
string  like  its  Egyptian  prototype. 

When  the  drawings  of  ancient  performers 
on  stringed  instruments  are  examined,  it  will 
be  found  that  if,  as  they  are  represented  in 
the  majority  of  cases,  a  modern  player  were 
to  hold  his  instrument  in  a  similar  fashion, 
he  would  be  unable  to  support  and  play  it  at 
the  same  time.  As  the  human  form  appears 
to  have  been  pretty  much  the  same  in  old  time 
as  it  is  at  the  present  day,  it  is  more  than 
likely  that  the  artists  "evolved"  the  represen- 
tations out  pf  their  "  inner  consciousness," 
and,  therefore,  that  they  are  not  to  be  confi- 
dently trusted. 

Plato,  quoted  by  Hawkins  (p.  91,  Novello's 
Ed.),  "  advises  to  train  up  children  to  use  the 
right  and  left  hand  indifferently."  In  some 
things,  says  he,  "we  can  do  it  very  well;  as 
when  we  use  the  lyre  with  the  left  hand,  and 
the  stick  with  the  rigiit."  Unless  some  other 
occupation  than  that  of  merely  holding  the 
instrument  were  intended,  such  a  piece  of 
advice  would  be  superfluous.  The  cithara  is 
mentioned  by  Ovid,  Horace,  Virgil,  and  othei 
Latin  authors,  with  but  little  reference  to  the 
manner  of  performing  upon  it,  other  than  that 
it  was  held  in  one  hand,  while  the  other  struck 
the  strings  with  a  plectrum. 

The  number  of  strings  upon  the  guitar  has 
been  varied  from  time  to  time  in  Europe;  and 
since  its  introduction,  the  instrument  has  been 
more  or  less  popular.  By  the  name  of  gittern, 
gittron,  gitteron,  &c.,  it  is  spoken  of  by  the 
mediaeval  poets  ;  and  as  the  lute, it  wasfamiliar 
during  the  i6th  and  17th  centuries. 

In  France,  Spain,  and  Italy,  the  guitar  is 
employed  as  an  accompaniment  for  the  dance 
as  well  as  for  the  voice  ;  and  at  one  time, 
during  the  last  century,  it  was  so  popular  in 
England  that  the  sale  of  pianofortes  was  inter- 
rupted, until  an  ingenious  maker  bethought 
him  of  a  plan  by  which  to  weaken  and  ulti- 
mately to  destroy  its  popularity.  There  is  an 
extensive  literature  of  guitar  music,  called 
into  existence  by  the  revival  in  favour  of  the 
instrument,  brought  about  by  the  number  of 
Spanish  refugees  resident  in  England  during 
the  Carlist  rebellion  of  1834-1839.  But  in  the 
present  day,  the  instrument  is  but  little  culti- 
vated ;  in  fact,  it  may  be  said  to  have  become 
undeservedly  neglected. 

Gusto,  con ;  gustoso  [It.)  With  taste 
and  expression. 

Guttural.    Tones  produced  in  the  throat. 


(  215  ) 


H  HARDIMENT. 


H. 


H.  The  note  B  natural  in  the  German 
system  of  nomenclature,  the  letter  B  being 
used  only  for  B  flat. 
.Hackbrett  (Ger.)  [Dulcimer.] 
Hadan  or  hadan  (Egyptian).  The  call  to 
prayer  sung  by  the  mueddins  from  the  towers 
or  minarets  of  the  mosques,  thus  given  by 
Lane : 


Ash-hadu     an-na  Mo-ham-ma- 


.       .       .       .      h       Hti-ya  'a-la-l-fe-lah, 


which  means  : — God  is  most  Great !  (repeated 
four  times).  I  testify  that  there  is  not  a  deity 
but  God  !  (twice).  I  testify  that  Mohammed 
is  God's  Apostle  !  (twice).    Come  to  prayer  ! 


(twice).  Come  to  security !  (twice).  God  is 
most  great  I  (twice).  There  is  no  deity  but 
God  ! 

Halbcadenz  (Ger.)  Half-cadence,  or  half- 
close.  [Cadence.] 

Halbnote  (Ger.)    A  minim. 

Halbtone  (Ger.)    A  semitone. 

Half  cadence.    [Cadence. 1 

Halfnote.    (i)  A  minim.   (?)  A  semitone. 

Half  shift.  A  position  of  the  hand  in 
playing  on  instruments  of  the  violin  family. 
It  lies  between  the  open  position  and  the  first 
shift.  [Shift.] 

Hallelujah.  [Alleluia.] 

Hailing.  A  Norwegian  dance,  somewhat 
of  the  character  of  a  country  dance. 

A  HALLING. 


Hals  (Ger.)    The  neck  of  an  instrument. 

Hammer,  (i)  A  piece  of  wood  having  a 
padded  end  or  a  nob,  with  which  strings  are 
struck.  In  the  case  of  the  dulcimer  the 
hammers  are  held  in  the  hand ;  in  keyed 
instruments  the  hammer  is  acted  upon  by 
leverage  from  the  end  of  the  key.  |  Dulcimer.] 
[Pianoforte.]  (2)  The  iron  or  wood  striker  of 
a  bell.  According  to  Denison,  the  weight  of 
the  hammer  should  be  a  fortieth  part  of  a 
bell  whose  diameter  is  equal  to  twelve  times 
the  thickness  of  the  sound  bow.  But  the 
distance  the  hammer  is  made  to  rise  for  the 
blow  must  of  course  influence  the  weight  of 
the  hammer. 

Handguide.  [Guide-main.] 

Hardiment  (Fr.)    Boldly,  daringly. 


(  216  ) 


HARFE  HARMONY. 


Harfe  {Ger.)  [Harp.] 

Harmonica.  An  instrument,  the  tones  of 
which  are  produced  by  striking  rods  or  plates 
of  glass  with  hammers,  either  held  in  the 
hand  or  acted  upon  by  keys.  It  has  a  compass 
of  about  two  octaves  from  middle  C  or  D 
upwards. 

Harmonica.  A  name  sometimes  given  to 
a  mixture  stop  on  foreign  organs. 

Harmonic  Flute.  [Harmonic  stops.] 
Harmonichord.  An  instrument  played 
like  a  pianoforte,  but  sounding  like  a  violin. 
The  tone  is  produced  by  the  pressure  of  the 
keys,  which  sets  a  revolving  cylinder  of  wood, 
covered  with  leather,  and  charged  with  rosin, 
in  action  over  the  strings.  It  has  also  been 
called  piano-violin,  violin-piano,  tetrachordon, 
&c. 

Harmonici.  The  followers  of  the  Pytha- 
gorean system  of  music  as  opposed  to  that 
taught  by  Aristoxenus.  They  were  also 
called  Musici.  The  Aristoxenians  viewed 
music  as  an  art  governed  by  appeal  to  the 
ear  ;  the  Pythagoreans,  as  a  science  founded 
on  physical  laws. 

Harmonicon.  An  instrument  only  used 
as  a  toy,  which  consists  of  free  reeds  enclosed 
in  a  box  in  such  a  way  that  inspiration  pro- 
duces one  set  of  sounds,  respiration  an- 
other. 

Harmoni-Cor.  An  instrument  invented 
by  Jaulin  of  Paris,  consisting  of  a  series  of 
free  reeds  similar  to  those  used  in  the  Har- 
monium, placed  in  a  tube  shaped  like  a 
clarinet.  The  compass  of  the  instrument  is 
two  octaves  with  intermediate  semitones,  the 
keys  are  arranged  m  a  manner  similar  to 
those  of  a  pianoforte,  that  is  to  say,  all  the 
notes  of  the  normal  scale  are  in  one  row  and 
the  chromatic  notes  in  another.  The  wind  is 
supplied  by  means  of  a  mouth-piece. 

Harmonics.  The  sounds  produced  by  a 
vibrating  string  or  column  of  air,  when  it  is 
subdivided  into  its  aliquot  parts.  [Acous- 
tics, §io.] 

Harmonic  scale.  The  scale  formed  by  a 
series  of  natural  harmonics.  [Acoustics,  §io.] 

Harmonic  stops.  Organ  stops,  both  flute 
and  reed,  having  tubes  twice  the  normal 
length,  but  pierced  with  a  small  hole  in  the 
middle.  Harmonic  flute  stops  are  of  great 
purity  and  brilliancy,  they  are  of  8  ft.  or  4  ft. 
pitch.  Harmonic  piccolos  are  of  2  ft.  pitch. 
Harmonic  reed  stops  (tromba,  tuba,  trumpet, 
&c.,)  are  generally  on  a  high  pressure  of  wind, 
one  of  the  great  advantages  of  all  harmonic 
stops  being  that  they  will  take  a  very  strong 
pressure  of  wind  without  overblowing.  The 
fact  is,  that  the  harmonic-tube,  having  two 
synchronous  vibrating  columns  of  air,  par- 
takes of  the  nature  of  a  pipe  already  over- 
blown to  its  first  harmonic,  the  octave. 

{  2 


Harmonie-musik  (Ger.)  Music  for  wind 
instruments. 

Harmonique.  (Fr.)  Harmonic. 
Harmonist.    One  who  can  sing  or  play 
in  harmony. 

Harmonium.  A  keyed  wind  instrument 
whose  tones  are  produced  by  the  forcing  of 
air  through  free-reeds.  The  better  class  of 
harmoniums  have  several  sets  of  vibrators  of 
different  pitch  and  of  various  qualities  of  tone. 
The  stop  called  expression  is  a  mechanical 
contrivance  by  which  the  waste-valve  of  the 
bellows  is  closed,  so  that  the  pressure  of  the 
foot  has  direct  influence  on  the  intensity  of  the 
sounds  produced.  A  tremolo  is  produced  by 
causing  the  wind  to  quaver  as  it  passes 
through  the  reeds.  The  Vox  Angelica  gives 
a  delicate  undulating  tone  which  is  produced 
by  two  sets  of  vibrators  to  each  note  tuned 
slightly  apart.  [Reed.] 

Harmony.  In  its  earliest  sense  among 
the  Greeks  this  word  seems  to  have  been  a 
general  term  for  music,  a  sense  in  which  our 
own  poets  often  use  it.  But  from  its  meaning 
of  "  fitting  together"  it  came  to  be  applied  to 
the  proper  arrangement  of  sounds  in  a  scale, 
or,  as  we  should  say,  to  "  systems  of  tuning." 
Whatever  opinions  may  be  held  as  to  the 
antiquity  of  harmony  in  the  sense  of  sym- 
phony or  "  sounds  in  combination,"  it  is  quite 
certain  that  among  the  ancients  the  art  of 
harmony  never  advanced  beyond  the  use  of 
accompanying  chords.  Treatises  on  music, 
which  we  in  these  days  call  on  "  harmony," 
dealt  (among  the  Greeks)  with  the  following 
subjects  : — The  divisions  of  the  monochord, 
the  three  genera,  the  sounds  proper  to  the 
different  modes,  the  shape  and  position  of 
the  letters  representing  musical  sounds,  and, 
to  a  limited  extent,  the  art  of  tune-making, 
about  which,  however,  but  little  is  known. 
Boethius,  who  turned  into  the  Latin  tongue 
all  the  most  important  elements  of  Greek 
music,  writes,  on  the  rudiments  such  as 
sound,  interval,  consonance  ;  on  the  ratios  of 
intervals  ;  on  letter-notation  ;  on  the  modes  ; 
on  the  discussions  arising  from  the  use  of 
the  monochord.  When  this  work  vvas  written 
(in  the  early  part  of  the  sixth  century)  there 
had  already  been  growing  up  for  a  consider- 
able period  a  school  of  church  music,  probably 
started  by  Ambrose  in  the  fourth  century, 
whose  function  it  was  to  form  a  practical 
j  school  of  music  rather  than  scientific.  But 
notwithstanding  this  fact,  writers  thought  it 
either  fashionable  or  necessary  to  found  all 
their  works  on  the  then  defunct  Greek  system. 
Even  in  the  eleventh  and  following  centuries, 
when  the  Hexachord  system  had  rendered  a 
study  of  the  Greek  scales  practically  useless, 
their  discussion  formed  an  important  part  of 
every  treatise.    Under  the  word  Descant  will 

17  ) 


HARMONY. 


be  found  a  short  description  of  the  different 
stages  through  which  early  forms  of  harmony 
passed.  But  although  a  treatise  on  Descant 
and  Counterpoint  in  one  sense  is  a  "treatise 
on  harmony,"  yet,  a  very  different  meaning 
is  carried  by  the  word  in  its  more  modern 
sense — it  signifies,  in  fact,  a  statement  of  the 
system  of  forming  chords  with  an  account  of 
their  proper  movement  or  progression  accord- 
ing to  key-relationship. 

The  authors  of  the  earliest  treatises  upon 
harmony,  in  the  sense  just  described,  seem 
to  have  laboured  to  reconcile  the  old  teaching 
with  new  discoveries,  and  though  ostensibly 
treating  with  harmony,  they  began  with  ratios 
and  proceeded  into  counterpoint,  avoiding 
harmony  in  its  proper  sense  altogether.  In 
some  cases  the  writers  quietly  and  cleverly 
avoided  the  main  question,  giving  apparently 
elaborate  descriptions  of  the  subject,  which 
after  all  amounted  to  nothing.  Thus  Bateman, 
who  in  1582  published  an  edition  of  Trevisa's 
translation  of  "  Bartholomaeus  de  proprieta- 
tibus  rerum,"  gives  to  posterity  the  accepted 
signification  of  the  word  harmony  in  his  own 
time,  for  although  he  is  supposed  only  to 
have  translated  into  more  modern  English 
the  work  of  Trevisa,  written  in  1400,  he 
actually  altered  and  added  to  the  text  in  such 
a  fashion  that  hh  changes  are  as  valuable  as 
the  original : 

"  De  Armonya. 

"  Armonya  Rithmica  is  a  sownynge  melodye,  and 
comyth  of  smything  of  stringes,  and  of  tynklyng  other 
ryngj'nge  of  metalle.  And  dyverse  instrumentis  seruyth 
to  this  manere  armonye,  as  Tabour,  and  Tymbre, 
Harpe,  and  Sawtry,  and  Nakyres,  and  also  Sistrum. 

"  And  the  melodye  of  musyk  is  nemdnyd  and  callyd 
by  the  names  of  the  nombres.  Dyatesseron,  Dyapente, 
and  Dyapason  have  names  of  the  nombres  whyche 
precedeth  and  gooth  tofore  the  begynnynge  of  those 
sayd  names.  And  the  proporcion  of  theyr  sownes  is 
foimde  and  had  in  those  said  nombres,  and  is  not  founde, 
nother  had,  in  none  other  nombres." 

One  of  the  earliest  books  printed  by  its 
author  on  the  subject  of  harmony  was  the 
"  Theorica  Musicae  "  of  Franchinus  Gaffurius, 
Milan,  1480.  The  doctrines  taught  are  essen- 
tially the  same  as  those  of  Boethius,  and  as 
this  has  been  described  already  nothing  more 
need  be  said.  It  may  here  be  noted,  that  the 
examples  of  harmony  by  Franchinus  are 
more  modern  in  style  than  those  of  other 
writers  contemporary  with  or  previous  to  him. 

The  next  writer  of  any  note  among  the 
scores  of  authors  who  wrote  upon  music  was 
Andreas  Ornithoparcus,  whose  "  Micrologus," 
written  in  Latin  and  printed  at  Cologne  in 
1535,  was  translated  into  English  by  John 
Douland,  and  published  in  1609.  His  chapters 
on  harmony  (concentus)  show  no  advance  of 
thought  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  some 
modern  writers  claim  a  place  for  him  in  that 


part  of  the  Temple  of  Fame  devoted  to  dis- 
coverers. The  majority  of  the  treatises  ot 
the  1 6th  century  were  very  learned  and 
doubtless  very  clever,  but  they  add  nothing 
to  literature  not  already  known.  Neither 
Salinas  "  De  Musica,"  Salamanca,  1577; 
Calvisius  "  Melopeian,"  Erfurth,  1595  ;  Zar- 
lino,"  Institutione  Harmoniche,"  Venice,  1592; 
Valerio  Bona,  "  Regole  di  Contrappunto," 
Milan,  1595  ;  Zacconi,  "  Prattica  di  Musica," 
Venice,  1596;  Bottrigari,  "II  Melone,"  Fer- 
rara,  1602  ;  Cerone,  "  El  Melopeia,"  Naples, 
1613;  nor  the  multitude  of  lesser  writers  of 
the  period  in  which  the  above  named  authors 
existed,  do  anything  but  repeat  the  received 
theories,  in  a  more  or  less  wordy  manner, 
rather  increasing  the  confusion  into  which 
the  knowledge  of  the  science  of  harmony  had 
fallen  by  their  controversies  and  partisanships. 
While  the  writers  of  Italy,  Spain,  and  Ger- 
many were  adding  to  the  "  learned  ignorance," 
our  countryman,  Thomas  Morley,  was  not 
a  whit  more  far-seeing  than  his  contem- 
poraries. If  the  state  of  music  could  be 
judged  by  the  treatises  alone,  it  might  reason- 
ably be  considered  that  no  new  musical  dis- 
covery had  been  made  for  centuries,  and  the 
constitution'  of  music  was  such  that  new 
discoveries  were  impossible.  But  while  the 
theorists  sought  to  confine  all  music  to  ceitain 
"  proportions  and  ratios,"  practical  musicians 
were  quietly  finding  out  new  and  forbidden 
combinations  of  chords,  to  the  utter  confusion 
of  the  theorists,  who  gradually  had  the  con- 
viction forced  upon  them  in  such  wise  that 
they  were  compelled,  reluctantly  howevei ,  to 
confess  that,  "  II  senso  d'udito  e  stato  e  sara 
sempre  il  solo  legislatore  dell'  arte  musica." 
The  more  daring  musicians  were  supported 
by  a  large,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  an  in- 
fluential crowd  of  admirers  who  delighted  in 
the  unscientific  pleasures  the  new  music 
brought  to  the  ear.  We  read  of  Claudio 
M(  nteverde,  in  the  year  i6oo,  being  engaged 
in  dispute  with  "some  of  the  ablest  musicians 
of  his  time,"  in  consequence  of  his  use  of 
certain  dissonances  which  were  employed  in 
an  unprecedented  manner.  Also  of  Ludovico 
Viadana,  about  the  same  time,  inventing  or 
rather  perfecting  the  system  of  musical  short- 
hand now  known  as  "  thorough  bass."  And 
in  later  years  Frescobaldi,  following  the  path 
laid  open  by  Monteverde,  boldly  introduced  a 
series  of  progressions  in  his  works,  which 
were  against  all  accepted  rules.  By  this 
time — the  first  quarter  of  the  17th  century — 
writers  on  theory  silently  abandoned  the 
"  proportions  and  ratios."  Though  it  is  easy 
to  trace  the  effects  of  the  old  teaching,  even 
when  it  is  not  expressed  openly. 

The  principles  of  harmony  or  composition, 
as  set  forth  by  Dr.  Thomas  Campion,  1620, 


f  218  ) 


HARMONY. 


and  later  by  Christopher  Simpson,  1678,  treat 
of  nothing  more  terrible  than  such  common 
chords  as  could  be  formed  out  of  the  unaltered 
notes  of  the  scale.  Throughout  the  whole  of 
the  works  by  these  authors  the  chord  of  the 
seventh  on  the  dominant  is  introduced  but 
sparingly,  and  when  it  is  used,  its  "  dis- 
cordance is  softened  as  much  as  possible." 
There  is  little,  if  anything,  entirely  new 
in  these  books,  nothing  at  all  to  account 
for  the  new  chords  that  musicians  were  occa- 
sionally introducing  into  their  compositions. 
As  Simpson's  "  Compendium  "  had  a  con- 
tinued and  steady  sale,  running  through 
many  editions,  teaching  the  same  old  and 
worn-out  principles,  while  Purcell  was  writing 
with  all  the  hardihood  of  enthusiastic  youth 
such  chords  and  progressions  as  those  found 
in  the  song  quoted  in  the  article  "  Ground 
Bass  "  theory  running  in  a  widely  different 
direction  from  practice,  did  not  hesitate  to 
condemn  these  inventions  ;  and,  moreover,  to 
wonder  "  how  any  judge  of  correct  and  pure 
harmony  could  tolerate  such  licences."  It 
was  probably  owing  to  the  fact  of  this  diver- 
sity of  opinion  between  the  laws  that  were 
made  for  composers  and  those  they  made  for 
themselves,  that  there  are  but  few  treatises 
on  harmony  belonging  to  the  latter  part 
of  the  17th  and  the  early  part  of  the  i8th 
centuries.  The  many  editions  of  Simp- 
son's"  Compendium,"  Elway  Bevin's  "  Briefe 
and  Short  Introduction,"  Morley's  "  Plaine 
and  Easie  Introduction,"  show  how  little 
improvement  had  been  effected,  and  how 
rare  a  thing  a  new  idea  on  the  subject 
was.  This  state  of  things  continued  for 
some  years  more,  when  the  publication  of 
Rameau's  "Traite  D'Harmonie,"  Paris,  1722, 
turned  all  thinking  minds  into  the  direction 
suggested  by  that  book.  Looking  at  it  by 
the  improved  light  of  the  19th  century,  it 
is  difficult  at  first  to  trace  the  cause  of 
the  enormous  popularity  of  the  work,  and 
its  powerful  influence  on  all  classes  of 
theorists.  The  plan  is  very  simple  but  incom- 
plete, accounting  for  a  part,  but  not  attempting 
to  grapple  with  the  whole  science  of  harmony. 
The  eagerness  with  which  it  was  received 
and  imitated,  goes  to  prove  how  ripe  men's 
minds  were  for  the  subject,  and  how  willing 
they  were  to  receive  that  which  attempted  to 
account  for  some,  if  not  for  all  the  intricacies 
of  their  art.  The  marrow  of  the  whole  work, 
the  plot  of  the  whole  scheme  proposed  by 
Rameau,  is  comprised  in  the  following  words, 
according  to  the  English  edition  of  1752 : — 
"  All  notes  that  carry  the  perfect  or  common 
chords  may  be  deemed  key-notes,  and  all 
notes  that  carry  the  chord  of  the  seventh 
may  be  deemed  governing  notes,  with  this 
difference,  that  the  governing  note  of  the 


key  must  have  a  sharp  third.  These  two  are, 
as  it  were,  the  only  chords  in  harmony." 

The  main  principle  of  this  book,  the  re- 
ferring all  harmony  to  a  regular  fundamental 
bass  on  which  chords  are  constructed  after 
the  above  plan,  led  its  author  into  some 
errors,  which  were  copied  and  increased  by 
subsequent  writers.  In  order  to  make  the 
theory  fit  into  and  agree  with  practice, 
Rameau  considered  suspensions  as  essential 
chords,  chords  by  supposition  as  he  calls 
them.  His  desire  to  derive  all  the  chords 
of  modern  harmony  from  a  construction  of 
third  upon  third  was  a  praiseworthy  one,  and 
nearer  the  truth  than  many  other  theories. 
He  avoids  the  chord  of  the  ninth,  calling  it 
a  secondary  seventh,  speaks  of  the  fourth  as 
an  eleventh,  admits  that  the  judicious  use  of 
discords  gives  greater  liberty  to  composers, 
states  F  and  D  to  be  the  fundamental  bass  of 
the  same  chord,  the  chord  now  known  by  the 
name  of  the  added  sixth,  and  adds  one  or 
two  other  peculiar  notions  needless  here  to 
particularise. 

The  following  is  a  figured  bass  passage 
with  the  fundamental  bass,  as  given  by 
Rameau : 


6  6  6 

4  66466  4 

3654345  63 


4   4      645       4ft  6 


The  chords  marked  *,  though  really  the 
same,  are  derived  from  different  roots  by 
Rameau.  Godfrey  Keller  ("  Rules  for  a 
Thorough  Bass,"  London,  1731)  proceeds 
upon  a  somewhat  different  plan  to  Rameau. 
He  makes  no  mention  of  the  fundamental 
bass,  employs  many  new  chords,  including 
those  now  known  by  the  names  of  the  major 
and  minor  ninth,  e.g. : 


<   '.TO  ) 


HARP. 


He  allows  that  "  the  composer  (especially  in 
few  parts)  may  compose  as  many  sixes  either 
ascending  or  descending  by  degrees  as  he 
thinks  fit,"  but  he  does  not  lay  claim  to 
novelty  in  suggestion,  though  he  might  have 
done  so  safely. 

The  next  writer  on  harmony,  Roussier 
("  Traite  des  Accords,"  Paris,  1764),  simply 
copies  Kameau  without  acknowledgment. 
Following  a  rough  chronological  order, 
Marpurg  next  demands  attention.  In  his 
"Handbuch  bey  dem  General-Bass,"  Berlin, 
1755,  he  professedly  agrees  with  Rameau,  but 
differs  from  him  throughout  by  making  the 
added  thirds,  which  are  to  form  chords  by 
supposition,  fundamental  notes  contrary  to 
Rameau's  teaching.  Tartini,  in  his  "Trattato 
di  Musica,"  Padua,  1754,  and  "  De'  Principii 
deH'Armonia  Musrcale,"  Padua,  1767  ;  Kirn- 
berger,  in  his  works, "  Die  wahren  Grundsatze" 
and  "Die  Kunst  des  reinen  Satzes,"  pub- 
lished in  Berlin  in  1773  and  1774,  considered 
suspensions  and  all  interruptions  as  no  real 
part  of  a  system,  but,  as  the  last  named 
writer  regarded  them,  "  as  clouds  may  be 
considered  in  astronomy,  viz.,  as  occasional 
occurrences,  which  must  be  tolerated  when 
there,  but  which  are  passed  by  as  if  they 
had  not  been  there  at  all."  A  very  con- 
venient, if  not  a  satisfactory,  method  of 
getting  over  a  difficulty.  Twenty  years  later, 
Kollman  ("  Essay  on  Musical  Harmony," 
London,  1796)  endeavoured  to  found  an 
ertirely  new  system  or  theory;  the  gist  of 
hid  arguments  is  that  "  No  interval,  or  chord, 
eught  to  be  judged  of  or  treated  according 
to  its  individual  appearance  alone,  but  accord- 
ing to  the  proofs  of  a  regular  connection," 
which  is  almost  the  same  idea  as  that  pro- 
pounded by  Rameau  seventy  years  before. 
Our  own  countryman,  William  Shield  ("  In- 
troduction to  Harmony,"  1800),  does  not 
progress  a  single  step  in  a  new  direction, 
but  VVeberf'Versuch  einer  geordnetenTheorie 
der  Tonsetzkunst,"  Mainz,  1817)  does  ad- 
vance, for  he  says  that  "  The  harmonical 
truths  are  by  no  means  (as  many  have 
thought,  or  affected  to  think),  as  in  a  philo- 
sophical science,  deducible  from  one  inde- 
pendent superior  principle,  and  subordinate 
one  to  another,  as  it  were  in  a  tabular 
manner,"  and  therefore  every  combination  is 
explained  according  to  its  individual  appear- 
ance. 

Harp.  Harpe  {Fr.),Arpa  {It.),  Harfe  (Ger.) 
A  stringed  instrument  of  triangular  form,  fur- 
nished with  gut  strings.  It  has  a  compass 
varying  from  three  to  six  octaves  and  a  half, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  instrument.  There 
are  several  kinds  of  harps  still  in  use: 

(i)  The  triple  or  Welsh  harp,  with  three 
rows  of  strings,  two  rows  tuned  diatonically 


in  unisons  or  octaves,  the  third  or  inner  row 
arranged  to  supply  the  accidentals,  sharps  or 
flats.  The  strings  are  thin,  and  the  tone  is 
consequently  consonant  with  the  character 
of  the  strings.  "  It  is  simply  impossible  to 
modulate  upon  this  instrument  farther  than 
to  touch  an  occasional  accidental  from  among 
the  inner  row  of  strings."  This  harp  is  de- 
rived from,  and  is  almost  identical  with,  the 
Irish  harp,  of  which  more  will  be  said  pre- 
sently. 

(2)  The  double  harp  (arpa  doppia)  with 
two  rows  of  strings  is  less  inconvenient  but 
equally  imperfect ;  all  alterations  of  the  pitch  of 
the  strings  having  to  be  made  with  the  thumb. 

(3)  The  single-action  pedal  harp,  with  one 
row  of  strings,  containing  a  compass  of  nearly 
six  octaves: 


in  the  scale  of  E  flat.  There  were  seven 
pedals  which  altered  the  pitch  of  the  note  to 
which  each  pedal  belonged,  a  semitone.  The 
imperfection  of  the  mechanism  of  the  pedals 
involved  the  player  in  many  difficulties,  and 
rendered  some  keys  perfectly  useless. 

(4)  The  double-action  pedal  harp,  the  in- 
vention of  Erard.  The  compass  of  this  in- 
strument : 

Sva.  alla.^ 


Sva.  bassa. 

six  octaves  and  a  quarter,  and  the  power  of 
the  pedals  to  change  the  pitch  of  each  note 
two  semitones,  made  it  almost  equal  to  the 
pianoforte  in  facility  of  modulation.  This 
last-named  harp  is  the  one  now  generally 
employed  for  concert  or  orchestral  purposes. 

The  invention  of  pedals  to  the  harp  has 
been  variously  attributed  to  Hochbrucker,  of 
Donauworth,  in  1720,  and  to  Paul  Velter,  of 
Niirnberg,  in  1730.  The  harp  in  use  before 
those  times  was  generally  tuned  according 
to  the  key  of  the  piece  it  was  required  in. 

In  the  single  harp  passing  modulations 
were  made  by  stopping  certain  strings  with 
the  thumb,  for  continued  change  of  key,  all 
the  notes  in  the  new  scale  not  in  the  ordinary 
tuning  of  the  harp  were  made  by  turning  the 
wrest  pins  during  the  progress  of  tlie  music 
of  all  the  notes  required  to  be  altered.  Music 
for  the  harp  is  written  on  two  staves.  The 
instrument  is  capable  of  playing  a  melody 
with  accompanying  harmonies  similar  in 
character  to  pianoforte  music.  Successions 
of  staccato  chords  have  .a  fine  effect  upon  the 
instrument,  but  broken  chords  (arpeggio)  are 
better  and  more  characteristic.  The  harp 
has  been  introduced  into  the  orchestra  with 


(  220  ) 


HARP. 


good  effect,  by  several  modern  composers, 
Wagner  and  Gounod  more  especially.  There 
is  at  present  but  little  variety  in  the  manner 
in  which  it  has  been  used,  arpeggios  accom- 
panied by  violins  playing  on  the  high  register 
tremolo  with  or  without  mutes,  whenever 
angelic  voices  or  exalted  or  heavenly  ideas 
are  intended  to  be  presented. 

The  harp,  like  the  guitar,  may  be  traced  to 
a  very  remote  ancestry  ;  it  has,  likewise,  been 
subject  to  many  vicissitudes  of  fortune.  A 
favourite  instrument  with  kings,  it  has  also 
been  the  companion  of  beggars.  Inspired 
strains  have  been  sung  to  its  strings,  and  it 
has  accompanied  verses  neither  pious  nor 
inspired.  By  turns  cultivated  and  neglected, 
it  has  never  been  wholly  without  a  witness  n 
the  several  ages  of  the  history  of  music. 

Engel,  in  "  The  Music  of  the  Most  Ancient 
Nations,"  says,  that  many  Eastern  nations 
have  harps  of  different  sorts,  names  and 
methods  of  stringing.  The  Burmese  harp, 
called  saun,  has  thirteen  silken  strings  wound 
round  a  curved  bar  at  one  end  in  a  way 
which  admits  of  their  being  pushed  up  or 
down  to  be  tuned.  The  harp  is  called  chang 
in  Persian,  anijunk  in  Arabic.  The  Negroes 
in  Senegambia  and  Guinea  call  it  bonlon  or 
ontbl,  and  use  strings  made  of  fibre. 

The  harp  in  its  primitive  form  is  supposed 
to  have  been  suggested  by  the  warrior's  bow. 
Many  barbarous  tribes  preserve  this  form 
with  some  slight  degree  of  variation.  The 
"  Nanga,"  or  Negro  harp  is  of  this  kind,  as 
will  be  seen  in  the  subjoined  figure. 


Nanga  or  Negro  Harp. 
It  is  said  that  some  savage  tribes  still  use 
their  bows  in  times  of  peace  as  musical  instru- 
ments. The  harp  of  the  Ossetes  and  Indo- 
Germanic  tribe  of  the  Central  Caucasus  have 
an  instrument  which  supplies  the  connecting 
link  between  the  form  of  the  Nanga  and  the 
harps  represented  on  ancient  monuments. 
It  is  furnished  with  twelve  strinj;s  of  horse- 


hair, each  string  composed  of  six  or  eight 
hairs.  It  is  about  two  feet  in  height,  and 
has  no  forepillar.  A  specimen  of  this  kind 
of  harp  is  preserved  in  the  South  Kensington 
Museum. 

The  harp  is  mentioned  in  the  authorised 
version  of  the  Bible,  Gen.  iv.  21,  "The  father 
of  all  such  as  handle  the  harp  and  the  organ. 
The  word  in  the  original,  "  kmnor,"  appears  in 
thirty-six  other  places  in  the  Old  Testament: 
in  every  case  it  is  translated  "  harp."  But 
while  there  is  reason  for  believing  that  the 
Hebrews  were  acquainted  with  the  harp,  it  is 
not  certain  that  the  word  kinnor  really  means 
harp.  The  form  of  the  kinnor  is  a  matter  of 
much  uncertainty. 

Kalkbrenner,  who  is  considered  as  an 
authority  on  the  subject  of  Hebrew  music, 
in  his  Histoire  de  la  Musique,  Paris,  1802, 
makes  no  attempt  to  describe  it,  but  merely 
contents  himself  with  a  commonplace  remark 
after  quoting  the  early  writers  who  speak  of 
it.  "  Le  kinnor,  en  grec  kinnyra,  qui  d'aprfes 
la  description  de  Saint  Jerome,  avoit  la  figure 
d'un  A  et  qui  etoit  monte  de  24cordes; 
I'autre  description  hebraique  du  livre  Schilte 
Haggeborin,  donne  au  kinnor  32  cordes, 
tandis  que  I'historien  Joseph  et  beaucoup 
d'autres  ne  lui  en  attribuent  que  dix  ;  quelles 
contradictions!"  These  contradictions  may 
be  reconciled  by  supposing  that  the  kinnor, 
like  the  Egyptian  boiina  (both  of  which  words 
are  translated  "  harp  "),  was  of  various  sizes, 
variously  strung. 

There  are  numerous  representations  of 
harps  upon  the  Assyrian  bas-reliefs,  from 
which  it  would  appear  that  the  instrument 
consisted  of  a  slightly  curved  frame  acting 
as  a  resonance  body  and  as  a  stay  for  the 
strings  at  one  end,  while  at  the  other  they 
were  secured  to  a  horizontal  bar.  There  was 
apparently  a  sort  of  tassel,  supposed  to  be 
made  of  the  unstretched  ends  of  the  strings. 


(  221  ) 


HARP. 


A  slight  difference  of  form  may  be  seen  in 
the  various  sculptures,  but  the  general  cha- 
racter of  the  Assyrian  harp  is  the  same  as 
that  shown  above.  It  v^^ill  be  seen  that  there 
is  no  front  pillar  such  as  modern  harps  pos- 
sess, by  which  it  may  be  assumed  that  these 
harps  were  similar  in  construction  to  the 
Egyptian  harp.  The  ancient  Egyptian  harps 
were  of  many  sizes,  and  according  to  the  repre- 
sentations preserved  were  strung  with  various 
numbers  of  strings,  from  three  upwards.  The 
player  stood,  knelt,  or  supported  his  instru- 
ment upon  a  stand  while  performing.  Of  the 
scale  to  which  these  harps  were  tuned,  or  of 
the  manner  in  which  they  were  kept  in  tune, 
no  reasonable  idea  can  be  formed. 


Egyptian  Harp. 


Egyptian  Harp. 


If  they  were  kept  in  tension  by  the  simple 
process  of  twisting  with  the  finger  and  thumb 
round  the  horizontal  bar,  it  is  difficult  to 
realise  the  idea  that  anything  like  a  pre- 
arranged melody  could  be  performed  upon 
them.  It  is,  moreover,  probable  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  of  the  performer  was 
engaged  in  tightening  the  strings  which  his 
gripping  had  stretched.  These  views  are 
grounded  upon  the  assumption  that  the 
Egyptian  and  Babylonian  artists  have  been 
as  accurate  in  their  delineations  as  they  are 
said  to  be.  But  it  was  shown  in  the  article 
"  Guitar,"  that  ancient  artists  are  not  always 
trustworthy  as  regards  th^iir  pictures  of  lutes, 


for  the  drawings  and  sculptures  often  deli- 
neate a  performer  actively  engaged  in  playing 
upon  an  instrument  in  a  position  in  which  it 
cannot  possibly  be  supported.  But  admitting 
them  to  be  correct  in  form,  and  acknowledg- 
ing that  the  artist  may  have  omitted  to  show 
the  means  by  which  the  performer  steadied 
his  instrument,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
ancient  harps  had  either  power  or  sweetness  ; 
for  the  ornament  which  overloads  many  of 
the  depicted  musical  instruments  must  have 
greatly  interfered  with  the  tone. 

The  Greeks,  who  borrowed  all  their  musical 
instruments,  and,  as  some  say,  even  the  very 
names  from  foreign  nations,  must  have  known 
the  harp,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
chosen  it  as  a  subject  for  representation, 
either  in  their  paintings,  sculpture,  or  pottery. 
The  famous  vase  now  in  the  Munich  museum, 
dating  from  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
offers  one  of  the  few  instances  in  which  it  is 
depicted.  The  instrument  is  in  form  like  the 
Assyrian  harp. 


Grecian  Harp. 


The  most  favoured  instrument  in  Grecian 
art  was  the  lyre,  which  like  the  harp  is  des- 
cribed, in  Greek  literature,  as  having  different 
numbers  of  strings,  and  to  have  been  mounted 
occasionally  on  stands.  The  Pektis,  the 
Simekion,  and  the  Epigoneion,  are  supposed 
to  have  been  actual  harps.  The  first  had 
only  two  strings,  the  others  thirty-five  and 
forty  respectively.  There  was  another  instru- 
ment, the  Phorminx,  usually  understood  to 
be  a  lyre,  which  is  sometimes  translated  harp. 

The  monuments  of  ancient  Rome  show 
very  few  examples  of  the  harp  in  the  forms 
familiar  in  those  of  Assyria  and  Egypt.  The 
word  "  cithara,"  which  is  translated,  harp, 
lyre,  lute,  guitar,  &c.,  indifferently,  offers  no 
help  in  clearing  away  the  cloud  obscuring  all 
knowledge  of  this  matter.  The  claim  of  the 
Irish,  asserted  by  Vincentis  Galilei,  in  his 
"  Dialogue  Delia  Musica,"  1581,  to  the  in- 
vention of  the  harp  cannot  now  be  supported 


(  222  ) 


HARP. 


since  the  discovery  of  the  Assyrian  remains, 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  were  ac- 
quainted with  it  at  a  very  early  period  of 
the  world's  history.  They  had  four  kinds  of 
harp — (i)  the  clar  seth,  clar-scat,  or  clar-seach ; 
(2)  the  keir-nine ;  (i)  the  cionar-cruit ;  (4)  the 
cream  tine  cruit. 

The  first  was  brought  to  Ireland  by  the 
Celtc-Phoenicians,  the  second  was  similar  to 
the  Eastern  Kanun,  and  like  it,  was  played 
with  plectra.  The  third  had  ten  strings 
stretched  over  a  resonance-body ;  and  the 
fourth  was  the  same  as  the  Crwth,  had  six 
strings,  four  of  which  passed  over  a  finger 
board,  and  could  be  stopped  at  the  will  of  the 
player,  the  two  others  formed  a  drone.  The 
clar-seth,  also  called  •cea-clojt)  pronounced 
Tealoin,  or  Telin,  was  the  instrument  adopted 
from  the  Irish  by  the  Welsh.  It  received  its 
new  name  from  the  fact  that  its  adopters 
strung  it  with  gut  and  hair,  instead  of  the 
metal  strings  as  used  by  the  Irish. 


Irish  Harp. 


Vincentino  Galilei  (p.  143  of  his  "  Dialogo 
de"a  Musica  Antica  e  Moderna,"  Florence, 
1602),  speaking  of  ancient  instruments,  says  : 
"  Ci  e  prima  mente  I'Harpa,  la  quale  non  e 
altro  che  un'  antica  Cithara  di  molte  corde  ; 
se  bene  di  forma  in  alcuna  cosa  differente, 
non  da  altro  cagionatagli  dagli  artefici  di  quel 
tempi,  che  dalla  quantita  di  esse  corde  & 
dalla  ioro  intensezza ;  contenendo  I'estreme 
graui  con  I'estreme  acute  piu  di  tre  ottaue. 
Su  portato  d'lrianda  a  noi  questo  antichissimo 
strumento  (commemorato  da  Dante)  doue  si 
lauorano  in  eccellenza  &  copiososamente ; 

habitatori  della  quale  isola  si  esercitano 
molti  &  molti  secoli  sono  in  essa,  &c."  By 
which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Welsh  were  not 
the  only  people  who  adopted  the  harp  from 
the  Irish.  The  old  Italian  harp  had  two  rows 
of  strings,  arranged  after  the  manner  of  the 
old  Irish  harp,  from  which  it  is  supposed  to 
be  derived.  An  instrument  of  this  sort,  an 
"  Arpa  doppia  "  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the 
accompanying  instruments  in  Monteverde's 
"  Orfeo,"  1607. 


The  harp  was  a  favourite  instrument  among 
the  ancient  Britons.  The  old  laws  of  Wales, 
the  Triads,  if  they  are  to  be  trusted,  specify 
the  use  of  the  harp  as  one  of  the  three  things 
necessary  to  distinguish  a  freeman  or  gentle- 
man from  a  slave.  Pretenders  were  discovered 
by  their  unskilfulness  in  "  playing  of  the 
harp."  The  same  laws  forbade  a  slave  to 
touch  a  harp,  either  out  of  curiosity,  or  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  it,  and  none  but  the 
king,  his  musicians,  and  other  gentlemen 
were  permitted  to  possess  one.  The  harp 
was  exempt  from  seizure  for  debt,  as  it  was 
presumed  that  he  who  had  no  harp  lost  his 
position,  and  was  degraded  to  the  condition 
of  a  slave. 

The  harp  was  a  familiar  instrument  with 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  as  many  references  in 
existing  chronicles  prove  conclusively.  The 
harp-player  was  respected  for  his  skill, 
whether  he  was  known  or  unknown.  Harp 
in  hand  he  might  wander  scot  and  scathe 
free  even  in  the  camp  of  an  enemy.  Colgrin, 
the  son  of  Ella,  when  besieged  in  York, 
about  495,  received  assistance  from  his 
brother,  who  went  through  the  camp  of  the 
besiegers  disguised  as  a  harper  ;  an  artifice 
also  adopted  by  King  Alfred  four  hundred 
years  later. 

Bede  states  that  it  was  the  custom  at  festive 
meetings  to  iiand  the  harp  round  for  each  of 
the  company  to  sing  and  play  in  turn,  and 
mentions  the  fact  that  Caedmon,  the  poet,  had 
so  neglected  his  studies  in  this  respect  in  the 
pursuit  of  more  serious  knowledge,  that  at  an 
assembly  where  he  was  present,  and  the  harp 
was  sent  round,  he  being  unable  to  play,  rose 
from  the  table  in  shame,  and  went  home  to 
his  house.  "  Surgebat  a  medea  coena,  et 
egressus,  ad  suam  domum  repedebat,"  or  as 
King  Alfred  has  rendered  it  into  Saxon, 
"  Thonne  aras  he  for  sceome  fram  tham  symle, 
and  ham  yode  to  his  huse." 

Performers  upon  the  harp  of  special  skill 
were  notable  before  the  reign  of  William  the 
First.  The  services  rendered  by  Taillefer. 
the  harper,  on  the  battle  field  are  well  known 
matters  of  history,  as  also  is  the  foundation 
of  the  priory  and  hospital  of  St.  Bartholomew 
in  Smithfield,  by  Rahere,  harper  to  King 
Henry  the  First. 

Musicians  were  courted  and  respected  in 
olden  times,  the  harp  was  a  sure  passport 
everywhere,  and  a  warrant  of  welcome  in 
every  society  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest, 
among  kings  or  churls,  among  friends  or  foes. 
Where  other  men  failed,  the  minstrel  suc- 
ceeded ;  admission  to  a  house  or  castle  was 
granted  to  a  "  gleeman,"  which  was  denied 
to  all  else.  The  existence  of  this  privilege 
is  frequently  taken  advantage  of  by  writers  of 
tne  old  ballads,  rom.ances,  Ac,  who  often 


C  223  ) 


HARP. 


describe  a  luckless  lover  or  chivalrous  adven- 
turer, gaining  access  to  some  giant's  fortress 
or  enchanted  castle,  in  the  garb  of  a  minstrel 
or  harper  : 

"  Horn  sette  him  abenche 
Is  harpe  he  gan  clenche 
He  made  Rymenild  a  lay." 

The  Romdnce  of  Horn  mid  Rymenild. 

Well-known  historians  and  poets,  besides  the 
anonymous  ballad  writers  of  mediaeval  times, 
make  frequent  mention  of  the  harp,  thus 
showing  its  continued  popularity.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  guitar  made  the  harp  less 
cultivated  by  private  people,  and  as  lutes, 
viols,  and  other  more  easily  portable  instru- 
ments became  known,  the  harp  was  more  and 
more  disused.  That  which  the  guitar  and 
viol  had  begun,  the  clarichord,  virginals,  and 
harpsichord  completed,  and  the  harp  became 
rarely  seen  and  still  more  rarely  used.  It 
never  became  wholly  silent,  but  was  to  be 
heard  in  rural  districts  played  in  the  same 
style,  strung  in  the  same  fashion,  and  tuned 
after  the  same  mode,  as  when  it  belonged  to 
a  more  remote  generation.  It  was  a  sort  of 
a  Rip  van  Winkle  among  instruments,  living 
through  many  changes,  yet  unconscious  of 
them.  Older  than  all  of  the  existing  members 
of  the  great  family  of  musical  instruments  by 
which  it  was  surrounded,  but  uninfluenced 
and  untouched  by  the  progress  towards  per- 
fection which  all  else  were  making.  Before 
Hochbrucker"s  invention,  the  harp  had  been 
unchanged  for  centuries,  remaining  in  the 
condition  it  had  been  left  by  the  ancestors  of 
the  various  peoples  with  whom  it  was  found. 
When  Handel's  oratorio  "  Esther  "  (written 
in  1720)  was  produced  at  the  request  of  the 
Duke  of  Chandos,  harp  parts  to  one  of  the 
choruses,  for  two  Welsh  players  of  the  name 
of  Powell  were  inserted  by  the  composer. 
The  harp  they  used  was  the  old  Welsh  harp 
already  described.  Even  after  Hochbrucker 
and  Velter  had  made  their  improvements, 
and  rendered  the  harp  more  available  as  an 
orchestral  instrument,  it  was  rarely  employ  ed 
as  such,  all  harp  effects  being  made  by  pizzi- 
cato playing  on  the  violin. 

Hoyle  ("  Dictionarium  Musicae,"  1770)  de- 
scribes the  harp  as  having,  in  his  day,  "three 
rows  of  strings,  which  in  all  make  seventy- 
eight  ;  the  first  row  contains  twenty-nine, 
which  makes  four  octaves,  tlie  second  row 
makes  the  half  turn  :  the  third  is  unison  with 
the  first  row.  It's  musick  is  like  that  of  a 
spinet,  all  the  strings  going  by  semitones, 
and  is  played  on  with  both  hands,  by  pinching 
them  in  the  same  manner  together.  Some 
give  it  the  name  of  the  inverted  spinet.  '  .As 
this  style  of  stringing  is  nearly  the  same  as 
the  Irish  method  of  tuning  in  use  ages  before, 
it  is  difficult  to  believe  Hoyle's  statement  that 


the  "  moderns  have  much  improved "  the 
harp.  The  name  of  "  inverted  spinet "  is 
singular,  as  one  of  the  names  for  the  spinet 
was  the  "  Couched  harp."  The  harp  was 
not  popular  in  those  days,  it  required  closer 
application  to  master  its  difficulties  than  the 
musical  young  people  of  the  time  cared  to 
devote  to  it.  One  instrument  of  the  harp 
kind,  called  the  "  Bell-harp,"  was  in  constant 
use  in  the  time  that  Hoyle  wrote,  and  has 
not  completely  disappeared  in  the  present 
day.  No  great  skill  is  required  to  perform 
upon  it,  all  that  is  necessary  is  prehensile 
power  and  strength  of  wrist.  The  instrument 
is  a  wooden  box  a  little  more  than  two  feet 
long,  all  closed  except  over  the  wrest  pins, 
and  a  space  near  the  opposite  end.  It  is 
strung  with  steel  wire,  with  eight  strings  or 
more,  tuned  with  the  lowest  notes  outside : 


Left  thumb,  *  II  '    I    i    T  B  R'ght  thumU 


The  fingers  of  each  hand  grasp  the  body  of 
the  box,  leaving  the  thumbs  free  to  strike  the 
strings.  The  player  swings  the  instrument 
as  he  strikes,  producing  the  effect  of  the 
sound  of  a  peal  of  bells  borne  on  the  wind. 

To  return  to  the  main  subject ;  when,  in 
1820,  Erard  improved  the  harp,  it  became 
suddenly  and  widely  fashionable ;  nearly  all 
the  music  published  was  "  arranged  for  the 
pianoforte  or  harp."  The  instrument  was  as 
indispensable  in  the  drawing-room  of  those 
calling  themselves  "  musical,"  as  the  piano- 
forte is  now.  It  was  chiefly  played  by  ladies, 
especially  by  those  who  possessed  the  ad- 

1  vantages  of  a  pretty  hand  and  arm,  not  to 
mention   a  "  neat  foot,"   all   these  motive 

I  powers  being  well  shown  in  harp  playing. 
As  the  fair  performers  grew  old,  the  charms 
of  the  harp  decayed,  and  although  the  instru- 
ment is  still  played  and  taught,  it  is  not 
cultivated  to  the  extent  which  its  merits  might 
seem  to  warrant. 

The  derivation  of  the  word  is  a  matter  of 
doubt,  none  of  the  earlier  terms  supplying 
the  least  etymological  link.  Du  Cange,  in 
his  "  Glossary,"  asserts  that  the  harp  takes 
its  name  from  the  Arpi,  a  people  of  Italy  who 
were  the  first  who  invented  it.  In  this  he  is 
not  quite  correct,  as  will  be  gathered  from  the 
foregoing  account.  Arpi  was  a  very  ancient 
city,  without  doubt,  it  was  of  a  higher  an- 
tiquity than  Livy,  who  mentions  it  as  an 
Apulian  city.  It  is  not  at  all  improbable  that 
the  people  of  Arpi  may  have  been  the  first  to 
adopt  the  instrument  upon  its  introduction 

i  into  Italy,  and  as  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that 

\  the  Northern  people  adopted  it  from  the  Ro- 
mans, the  name  may  have  been  transmitted 

{  in  its  present  form  from  the  Arpi,  the  people 


(  224  ) 


HARPE  HARPSICHORD  GRACES. 


whom  the  Romans  may  have  believed  to  have 
been  the  inventors.  That  the  word  has  a 
common  origin,  its  similarity  in  most  modern 
tongues  may  tend  to  prove.  There  is  evidence 
enough  in  music  to  show  that  the  name  of  a 
people  may  give  a  permanent  title  to  a  com- 
position, and  also  to  an  instrument.  There 
is  no  apparent  connection  between  the  words 
Kinnor,  Bouni,  Saun,  Chang,  Junk,  Boulon, 
Ombi,  Nanga,  Pektis,  Simikion,  Epigonion, 
Phorminx,  Cithara,  Clar-seth,  Telyn,  and 
Harp,  the  names  by  which  the  instrument  has 
been  called  by  various  peoples ;  but  the  words 
Earpe,  Harp,  Harpe,  Harfe,  and  Arpa,  point 
conclusively  to  one  origin,  and  Du  Cange 
may  be  right  with  regard  to  one  part  of  his  ! 
statement,  for  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  the 
harp,  when  brought  by  the  conquering  legions 
to,  and  adopted  by  the  more  northern  nations, 
would  be  called  by  the  title  given  to  it  by  the 
people  from  whom  it  was  most  favourably 
received. 

Harpe  (Fr.)    A  harp. 

Harpist  [Eng.  and  Ger.)    A  player  upon 
the  harp. 

Harpsecol.  Harpsichord. 

Harpsichord.  Clavicembalo,  Cembalo  {It.) 
Clavecin  {Fr.)  Fliigel  {Ger.)  A  stringed  in- 
strument with  a  key-board,  similar  in  form  to 
a  modern  grand  pianoforte.  As  the  pressure 
of  the  fingers  upon  the  keys,  when  heavy  or 
light,  made  no  difference  in  the  quantity  of 
tone  produced,  the  harpsichord  sometimes 
had  two  key-boards,  one  for  the  loud,  the 
other  for  the  soft  tones.  There  were  also 
stops  in  some  instruments,  by  means  of 
which  the  tone  could  be  modified  by  connect- 
ing the  mechanism  with  or  detaching  it  from 
the  three  or  even  four  strings  with  which 
each  tone  was  furnished.  The  keys  were 
attached  to  levers,  which  at  their  ends  had 
slips  of  wood,  called  "jacks,"  furnished  with 
plectra  of  crow-quill  or  hard  leather;  these 
struck  or  twanged  the  strings  and  produced  the 
tone,  which  has  been  likened  to  "a  scratch 
with  a  sound  at  the  end  of  it."  [Clarichord.] 
[Spinett.]  [Pianoforte.] 

Harpsichord  graces.  Certain  turns  and 
ornaments  employed  in  playing  upon  the 
harpsichord,  introduced  for  the  most  part  as 
compensation  for  the  lack  of  sustaining  power 
m  the  instrument.  They  were  called  by  the 
general  term  of  agremens  in  French,  and 
Manieren  in  German.  The  chief  of  these 
ornaments  were  the  following,  other  signs 
are  explained  according  to  alphabetical  order, 

Tjirn  or  Double  {Fr.),  Doppelschlag  {Ger.) 


commenced  a  note  lower  than  the  one  ever 
which  it  was  Written  : 


played 

When  the  sign  was  placed  upright  it  was 
understood  to  signify  that  the  turn  was  to  be 


When  the  double  was  preceded  by  a  small 
note  or  notes  on  the  same  line  or  space,  the 
turn  was  to  commence  from  that  note : 

written  -fij-        |     ||  played 


When  the  marked  note  was  tied,  the  turn  was 
to  be  commenced  from  the  preceding  note  : 


Battery,  Cadence  {Fr.),  indicated  by  the 
sign  +  .  When  the  cadence  was  written  thus  : 


it  was  played  : 


and  was  called  a  lull  Cadence  or  Cadence 
pleine  ;  when  it  was  w  i  atcn  : 


it  was  played ; 


and  was  called  cadence  brisle,  or  broken 
cadence. 

Sliding  trill,  Flatte  {Fr.),  Schleifer  {Ger.) : 
written  played 


Trill ;  Tremblement  {Fr.),Pralltriller  {Ger.), 
expressed  by  the  signs  tr,  ^  ,  It  was 

in  effect  a  trill  without  the  final  turn,  unless 
altered  by  other  signs.  There  were  six  sorts 
of  tremblements  ;  namely,  (i)  the  simple 
tremblement  {tremblement  simple) : 

tr.    ^    w  nO 

played 


(2)  The  doubled  or  turned  trill  {tremblement: 
double) : 


played 


(  225  ) 


HAUPT  HOCKET. 


(3)  The  detached  trill  {tremblement  detache), 
which  was  performed  when  the  note  which 
should  begin  the  trill  had  a  place  in  the 
melody  preceding  the  marked  note  : 


played 


(4)  The  tied  trill  [tremblement  lie)  was  almost 
the  same  at  the  preceding,  only  that  the  first 
two  notes  were  tied  : 


played 


(S)  The  prepared  trill  [tremblement  appuye 
■or  prepare)  was  when  a  slight  pause  was 
made  before  commencing  the  shake,  and  its 
speed  gradually  increased  : 


written  played 

(6)  A  slided  trill  [tremblement  coule)  when 
the  shake  was  preceded  by  a  slide : 


plaved 


Haupt  [Ger.)  Principal,  chief,  head  ;  as 
Hmiptnote,  the  essential  note  in  a  turn  or 
shake,  &c. 

Hauptmanual  [Ger.)    The  great  organ. 
Hauptnote  (Ger.)    An  essential  note. 
Hauptperiode  [Ger.)  Principal  subject. 
Hauptsatz   [Ger.)     Principal  theme  or 
sabject. 

Hauptschluss  (Ger.)    A  perfect  cadence. 

Hauptstimme  {Ger.)    Principal  part. 

Hauptwerk  {Ger.)    The  great  organ. 

Hausse  [Fr.)    The  nut  of  a  violin  bow. 

Hausser  [Fr.)    To  raise,  lift,  to  sharpen. 

Haut  [Fr.)  High  ;  as,  haute  contre,  the 
alto  part ;  haute  dessus,  treble  part ;  haute 
taille,  first  or  high  tenor. 

Hautbois  {Fr.)  [Oboe.] 

Hautbois  d'amour  (Fr.)  A  small  species 
of  oboe,  now  obsolete.  Music  written  for  it 
can  be  played  on  the  ordinary  instrument. 

Hautboy.  [Oboe.] 

H  dur.  [Ger.)    The  key  of  B  major. 

Head,  (i)  The  membrane  stretched  upon 
a  drum.  (2)  That  part  of  a  violin  or  other 
stringed  instrument  in  which  the  pegs  are 
inserted.  (3)  The  portion  of  a  note  which 
determines  its  position  upon  the  stave,  and 
to  which  the  tail  is  annexed. 


Head-stall.    A  head-band  or  Capistrum, 

q.  v.  The  use  of  the  v/ord  stall  in  the  sense 
of  bandage  is  still  to  be  found  in  our  word 
finger-stall. 

Head-voice.  [Voice.] 

Heftig  [Ger.)    Boisterous,  impetuous. 

Heiss  [Ger.)    Hot,  ardent. 

Heiter  [Ger.)  Clear,  calm.  Feierlich 
heiter,  solemn  and  calm. 

Helicon  [Gk.)  iXiKwv.  An  instrument  used 
by  the  Greeks  in  the  calculation  of  musical 
ratios. 

Hemidiapente.    An  imperfect  fifth. 

Hemiditone.    The  lesser  or  minor  third. 

Hemiolios  [Gk.)  ii^wXioc.  (i)  The  ratio 
3  to  2.  The  same  as  the  sesquialtera  in  Latin 
treatises  on  music.  (2)  A  kind  of  metre.  A 
verse  consisting  of  a  foot  and  a  half. 

Hemiopus  {Gk.)  ImionoQ.  Having  a  small 
number  of  holes.  ti^io-Koi  uvXvi,  small  flutes 
with  three  ventages. 

Hemitone.    A  semitone. 

Heptachord,  (i)  A  series  of  seven  notes. 
A  diatonic  octave  without  the  upper  note. 
(2)  An  instrument  with  seven  strings. 

Herabstrich  {Ger.)  The  down  stroke  of 
the  bow  in  playing  stringed  instruments.  A 
down -bow. 

Herstrich.  [Herabstrich.] 

Hexachord.  A  series  of  six  sounds. 
[Notation.] 

Hey  de  Guise.     A  country  dance. 

"  In  our  antique  hey  de  guise  we  go  beyond  all  nations." 

Middleton. 

[Country  dance.] 
Hidden  Fifths,  or  Octaves 
tives.] 

Hinaufstrich 
Hinstrich 


[Ger. 


[Consecu- 
An  up-bow. 


His  [Ger.)    The  note  B  sharp. 

Hissing.  A  manner  of  showing  dissatis- 
faction.   [Applause.]  [Fiasco.] 

H  moll  {Ger.)    The  key  of  B  minor. 

Hoboe.  [Oboe.] 

Hoboy.    [Oboe.]  [Waits.] 

Hocket,  Hoket,  Ochetus.  A  species  oi 
part  music,  in  which  the  voices  seem  to  have 
had  to  keep  a  large  number  of  rests,  the  notes 
being  divided  into  several  parts  for  the  purpose. 
It  was  the  same  as  truncatio  (truncatio  idem 
est  quod  hoket).  The  truncatio  was  certainly 
a  division  of  a  long  note  into  many  smaller 
ones  with  rests  between  {pausatio),  and  was 
founded  either  on  an  original  theme  [tenorem 
excogitatum),  or  a  well-known  tune  {certuh 
cantum)  either  popular  {vulgare)  or  ecclesi 
astical  {latinum).  The  application  of  the 
word  to  part-music  seems  to  have  been 
brought  about  by  its  Latin  synonym  conductus, 
for  the  Greek  d^froc  signifies  also  a  conduct 
or  conduit,  and  this  name  was  commonly 
given  in  the  15th  century  to  a  kind  of  moteti 


(  226  ) 


HOCHZEITMARSCH  HORN. 


probably  from  the  "  bringing  together"  of  the 
voices. 

Hochzeitmarsch(G^r.)  Aweddingmarch. 
Hohlflote  {Ger.)  [Flute.] 
Hold.    An  old  English  name  for  the  sign 
of  a  pause 

Holding  note.  A  note  sustained  in  one 
part,  while  the  others  are  in  motion. 

Homophony  (Gk.)  Unison  of  voices  or 
instruments  of  the  same  character.  oji6(pb>voQ. 

Hopper.    [Pianoforte.]  ^  ' 

Hopser  or  Hops-tanz  (Ger.)  A  country 
dance. 

Horee  Canonicae.  The  canonical  hours 
at  which  religious  services  are  held.  In  time 
of  persecution  a  night-service  was  held  called 
Nocturns,  which  was,  however,  at  a  later 
period  merged  into  Lauds — the  thanksgiving 
for  the  dawn  of  day,  and  the  whole  was  called 
Matins.  But  when  Matins,  or  Nocturns,  are 
retained  they  take  place  before  Lauds.  The 
following  is  the  order  of  the  Canonical  hours  : 
Lauds,  at  daybreak  ;  Prime,  or  first  hour,  a 
later  service  ;  Tierce,  or  third  hour,  at  nine 
a.m.  ;  Sext,  or  sixth  hour,  at  noon  ;  Nones, 
or  ninth  hour,  at  three  p.m. ;  Vespers,  or 
evening  service  ;  Coniplitie,  or  final  service,  at 
bed  time.  Each  of  these  has  fixed  Psalms, 
except  Vespers,  which  has  certain  Psalms  read 
in  course,  and  a  Canticle.  The  Anglo-Saxon 
names  of  these  services  were,  Uhtsang, 
1  ■  i.-iesang,  Undersang,  Middaysang,  Noon- 
sang,  Evensang,  and  Nightsang.  The  book 
for  these  Offices  came  to  be  called  Breviary 
towards  the  end  of  the  nth  century.  It  was 
sometimes  called  in  England  the  Portifory. 

Horn  (Cor,  Fr.;  Corno,  It.;  Horn,  Ger.) 
A  metal  wind  instrument,  formed  of  a  con- 
tinuous tube  twisted  into  a  curved  shape  for 
the  convenience  of  holding.  It  is  furnished 
with  a  mouthpiece  and  a  bell.  The  mouth- 
piece is  moveable,  so  as  to  allow  additional 
pieces  of  tubing  called  crooks,  to  be  added  to 
its  length  in  order  to  alter  the  pitch,  and  the 
bell  is  sufficiently  wide  to  admit  the  hand  of 
the  player. 

The  horn  sounds  the  harmonics  of  the  fun- 
damental note  of  its  tube.  That  is  to  say,  a 
horn  in  C,  or  sounding  C  as  a  generator  has 
the  following  compass  : 


Notes  written  in  the  bass  clef  sound  as 
they  are  written,  those  in  the  treble  clef,  an 
octave  lower. 

The  notes  in  the  section  marked  B  are 
more  difficult  to  produce  than  those  in  the  sec- 
tion marked  A. 

The  whole  of  the  above  notes  are  called  the 


'*  open  "  notes  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  can  be 
produced  by  simple  blowing,  and  certain 
modifications  of  the  form  of  the  lips.  There 
are  other  sounds  called  "  closed,"  which  are 
obtained  by  closing  the  bell  in  a  certain  man- 
ner with  the  hand. 

The  closed  notes  are  less  free  in  quality 
than  the  open  notes,  and  they  are  therefore 
only  employed  when  especial  eflects  are  re- 
quired. Horns  are  generally  employed  in 
pairs,  and  the  parts  are  usually  written  in  the 
treble  clef  in  the  key  of  C.  The  most  useful 
parts  of  the  compass  of  the  horn  are  tiiose 
marked  in  section  A.  The  "  crooks" — 
alluded  to  above — serve  to  alter  the  pitch  by 
lengthening  the  sounding  tuhe,  and  the  com- 
poser indicates  the  horn  or  horns  retjLiiieJ  at 
the  beginning  of  a  piece  of  music  thus : 
Corni  in  C ;  Corni  in  B  flat  ;  Corni  in  A, 
&c.,  though  the  parts  are  written  as  though 
they  were  to  be  played  in  C,  the  presumed 
normal  key  of  the  horn.  All  horns  other  than 
those  in  C  are  called  transposing  instruments, 
because  the  actual  sounds  produced  are  dif- 
ferent to  those  represented  on  paper.  And 
strictly  speaking,  the  C  horn  is  also  a  trans- 
posing instrument,  because  the  notes  are 
written  an  octave  higher  than  they  are  played. 
Thus  the  passage: 


would  sound  differently  according  to  the  horn 
employed  : 

Written,  in  C.        in  D.  in  E  flat.        in  B  flat  basso. 


in  B  flat  alto.         in  G.  in  F.  in  A. 


If  in  D,  it  would  be  a  seventh  ;  in  E  flat  a 
major  sixth;  in  E  a  minor  sixth;  in  F  a  fifth; 
in  G  a  fourth;  in  A  a  minor  third;  in  B  flat 
alto  a  second  ;  in  B  flat  basso,  a  ninth  lower 
than  the  notation. 

In  movements  in  a  major  key,  in  which 
four  horns  are  used,  two  are  generally  in  the 
key  of  the  tonic,  two  in  that  of  tlie  dominant. 
Sometimes,  two  are  in  the  tonic  key,  two  in 
that  of  the  mediant. 

When  horns  are  required  for  minor  keys, 
one  is  set  in  the  key  of  the  relative  major,  tha 


(  227  ) 


HORNER  HORNPIPE. 


other  in  the  tonic  major.  Thus  in  G  minor, 
one  horn  would  be  in  B  flat,  another  in  G. 
Composers,  however,  vary  in  their  use  of 
horns  in  minor  l<eys,  so  that  no  definite  rule 
can  be  laid  down. 

There  are  other  kinds  of  horns  used  in  the 
orchestra,  which,  by  means  of  valves,  pistons, 
or  ventils,  are  capable  of  producing  the  "  open  " 
and  "  closed"  sounds  in  a  scale  of  semitones 
throughout  the  compass,  of  very  nearly  even 
quality,  and  with  comparatively  little  difficulty 
to  the  player. 

The  horn,  sometimes  called  the  French 
horn,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  English  horn 
(cor  Anglais),  which  is  altogether  a  different 
instrument,  was  introduced  into  the  orchestra 
towards  the  end  of  the  17th  century,  and 
as  it  became  very  fashionable  and  popular 
in  the  early  part  of  the  i8th  century,  it  is 
frequently  found  in  the  scores  of  orchestral 
compositions,  and  is  also  employed  as  an 
accompaniment  to  hunting  songs.  A  horn- 
player,  named  Spandau,  was  one  of  the  first 
who  discovered  the  art  of  producing  the  closed 
or  stuffed  notes  {sons  etouffes)  on  the  instru- 
ment. Sir  John  Hawkins  makes  a  note  in 
his  "  History  of  the  performance  of  a  Con- 
certo in  1773,"  of  this  player,  "  part  whereof 
was  in  the  key  of  C  with  the  minor  third." 
The  "  improvement  was  effected  by  putting 
his  right  hand  into  the  bottom  or  bell  of  the 
instrument,  and  attempering  the  sounds  by 
the  application  of  his  fingers  in  the  different 
parts  of  the  tube  ;"  by  which  means  "  the 
intervals  seemed  to  be  as  perfect  as  in  any 
wind-instrument." 

The  earliest  attempts  to  make  the  scale  of 
the  horn  perfect  are  attributed  to  Hampel,  of 
Dresden,  in  1748.  Twelve  years  later  Kolbel 
invented  his  amor-schall,  which  was  a  horn 
with  ventils.  Claggett,  a  Londoner,  attempted 
further  to  improve  these  plans  ;  but  all  these 
inventions  were  forgotten  or  laid  aside,  in 
favour  of  Miiller's  system  of  ventils,  first  pro- 
posed about  the  year  1830.  These  in  time 
were  superseded  by  the  inventions  of  J.  G. 
Saxe  and  others.  Although  the  horn  has  been 
so  far  improved,  that  the  difficulties  of  pro- 
ducing the  tones  intermediate  to  the  har- 
monics have  been  considerably  lessened,  it 
cannot  be  said  that  any  great  improvement 
has  been  effected  in  the  quality  of  the  added 
sounds,  and  the  old  French  horn,  the  plain 
tube,  whose  sounds  are  "  attempered  by  the 
fingers  of  the  player,"  is  still  unsurpassed  in 
brilliancy  of  tone  by  any  of  the  modern 
inventions. 

Horner.  Horns.  Corni  {It.),  as  Horner 
in  Es,  Horns  in  E  flat. 

Hornpipe,  (i)  The  name  of  an  old  wind 
instrument  of  the  shawm  or  waits  character, 
receiving  its  name  from  the  fact  that  the 


"  bell  "  or  open  end  was  sometimes  made  of 
horn.  In  Wales,  Ireland,  and  Cornwall,  in 
Brittany,  it  was  called  pib-corn.  "  Pib  "  or 
"  piob,"  meaning  pipe,  and  "  corn,"  horn. 
Chaucer  uses  the  word  to  describe  an  instru- 
ment of  music  in  his  translation  of  the 
"  Romaunt  of  the  Rose." 

"  Controve  he  vvolde,  and  foule  fayle 
With  hornepipes  of  Cornewaile." 
The  original  (written  in  1260)  is: 
"  Une  hore  dit  les  et  descors 
Et  sonnez  doux  de  controvaille 
As  Estives  de  Cornoaille." 

The  word  "  controve "  comes  from  the 
same  root  as  that  from  which  "  Trovere  "  or 
"  Troubadour  "  is  derived,  and  means  to  invent, 
or  compose,  so  that  the  passage  translated 
into  modern  English  would  be  : 

"  He  would  compose  and  play  songs  (l^s) 
To  the  accompaniment  of  the  hornpipe." 

That  the  hornpipe  was  harsh-sounding  may 
be  gathered  from  the  context  in  Chaucer  when 
he  says  in  the  preceding  lines  : 

"  yit  would  he  lye 

Discordaunt  ever  fro  armonye 

And  distoned  from  melodie." 

In  some  editions  of  the  "  Romaunt  of  the 
Rose,"  the  words  "  chalemeaux  de  Cor- 
nouaille,"  stand  instead  of  "  estives  de  Cor- 
noaille." That  the  Waits  or  Shawms  had 
reeds  is  well  known,  and  that  the  hornpipe, 
its  rustic  relation,  was  not  likely  to  have  a 
softer  tone  may  be  assumed.  Robert  Bell 
supposes  that  Chaucer  "  wrote  corn-pipes, 
which,"  says  he,  "  would  be  the  proper  trans- 
lation of  Chalemeaux."  Thus  Virgil : 
"  Musam  meditaris  avena." 

And  Shakespeare : 

" "  And  shepherds  pipe  on  oaten  straws.' 

Others  imagine  the  word  "  estive  "  to  come 
from  ^stas,  the  hot  season,  whence  our 
word  Estival  for  summer,  and  the  word 
"  Chalameau  "  employed  as  a  synonym  for 
"  estive  "  to  be  derived  from  "  chaleur,"  heat. 
That  the  "  estive,"  "  Chalameau,"  or  "  horn- 
pipe," is  '*  a  shepherd's  pipe  made  of  corn 
which,  growing  in  summer,  furnishes  the 
material  for  the  instrument."  These  theories 
are,  to  say  the  least,  ingenious.  It  is,  however, 
much  more  in  accordance  with  probability  to 
infer  that  the  word  "  Chalameau,"  or  "  Chale- 
meaux," comes  from  Calamus,  a  reed  ;  which 
is  only  similar  to  a  straw  in  being  hollow, 
and  that  the  word  "  corn  "  has  no  connection 
with  either  reeds,  straws,  or  oats.  The  word 
"corn "comes  from  "Ktpac"  through  "  cornu," 
and  as  the  hard  "  c  "  is  only  one  form  of  the 
guttural  sound  sometimes  represented  by  the 
letter  "  h,"  the  words  "corn"  and  "horn" 
are  the  same  when  applied  to  a  musical  in- 
strument.   It  may  not  necessarily  be  formed 


(  228  ) 


HORNPIPE. 


of  horn  or  have  horn  in  its  composition,  but 
may  receive  its  name  from  being  bent  or 
curved  as  a  horn. 

The  horn-pipe  was  probably  the  same  kind 
of  instrument  as  that  now  known  as  the  "  Cor 
Anglais  "  or  English  horn.  The  words  corn, 
cornet,  cornamusa,  &c.,  are  applied  to  dif- 
ferent sorts  of  wooden  wind  instruments  with 
reeds.  The  hoboy,  shalin,  shawn,  wait,  or 
reed-pipe  were  common  instruments  in  days 
gone  by,  and  often  furnished  the  melodies  to 
which  dancing  was  performed.  Therefore 
the  supposition  that  the  "  hornpipe "  gave 
the  name  to  the  dance  so  called  may  not  be 
very  far  from  the  truth. 

(2)  A  dance  of  English  origin,  so-called 
from  the  instrument  which  played  the  tune 
to  which  it  was  danced.  The  measure  or 
rhythm  of  the  Hornpipe  is  as  varied  as  that 
of  the  tunes  for  country  dances,  therefore  all 
descriptions  of  the  dance,  which  are  founded 
upon  the  supposition  that  there  is  only  one 
form  of  rhythm,  are  misleading.  One  writer 
says,  "  It  is  in  compound  triple  time  of  nine 
crotchets  in  a  bar,  six  down  and  three  up;" 
another  says,  *'  It  is  in  triple  time  of  six 
crotchets  in  a  bar,  four  whereof  are  to  be 
beat  with  a  down,  and  two  with  an  up  hand;" 
another  says,  that  it  is  in  "  common  time  of 
four  crotchets  played  lively;"  and  another 
says,  "  It  is  always  in  double  triple  time  of 
two  parts  of  four  and  eight  bars  each  with 
repeats."  These  descriptions  tally  with  the 
character  of  the  measure  of  the  dance  which 
was  called  hornpipe  at  the  time  the  descrip- 
tion was  written.  But  the  hornpipe  is,  and 
has  been,  often  danced  to  tunes  called  by  other 
names,  such  as  Brawl,  Coranto,  Canaries, 
Fandango,  Jig,  Loure,  Reel,  Matelotte,  &c., 
the  steps  being  varied  to  suit  the  several  mea- 
sures. The  hornpipe  now-a-days  is  danced 
by  a  single  performer,  to  a  tune  in  duple 
measure.  The  performer  generally  stands 
still  with  arms  folded  during  the  time  the 
first  phrase  of  the  melody  is  played,  and  then 
commences  the  dance  by  running  round  in  a 
circular  direction  ;  and  when  dancing  a  horn- 
pipe called  by  some  special  title,  such  as 
"  The  Sailor's,"  "  The  Jockeys,"  "  The 
Countryman's,"  or  "The  Monkey's"  horn- 
pipe, generally  introduces  some  gestures  cha- 
racteristic of  the  distinguishing  title. 

The  following  are  some  specimens  of  the 
various  sorts  of  melodies  of  hornpipes  ; 
HORNPIPE. 

Mr.  Jerry  Clark,  1700. 


isi  part  a  game. 


RAVENSCROFT'S  HORNPIPE  (1730). 


( 229  ^ 


HOSANNA  : 


HURDY  GURDY. 


THE  COLLEGE  HORNPIPE. 


MISS  CATTLEY'S  HORNPIPE. 


PERFORMED  AT  SADDLER's  WELLS,  I780. 


JACK  AT  GREENWICH. 

C.   DiBDIN,  1800. 


Hosanna.  [Mass.] 
Huchet  (Fr.)    A  postman's  horn. 
Hulfsiinien  (Ger.)    Leger  lines. 
Hulfsnote  (Ger.)    An  auxiliary  note. 


Hummelchen  {Ger.)  A  kind  of  small 
bagpipe.  A  drone.  The  word  Hummel  is 
cognate  with  our  bumble;  see  Bombaulius,  a 
bagpiper. 

Hunting  Horn.  Cor  de  chasse  (Fr.) 
Corno  di  caccia  (It.)  Hief  horn  (Ger.)  [Horn.] 

Hunting.  A  term  in  change-ringing. 
There  are  two  kinds,  hunting  up,  and  hunting 
down.  The  first  is  performed  on  any  number 
of  bells,  "  by  pulling  after  the  bell  which 
pulled  last  after  you  ;  "  the  second  is  accom- 
plished by  looking  out  for  which  bell  strikes 
first  of  the  set,  and  alter  his  number  in  the 
set  at  each  change  until  he  has  gone  through 
the  full  number  of  the  bells,  and  then  return 
to  his  original  place.  Thus,  if  he  be  first,  he 
will  next  be  second,  then  third,  then  fourth, 
fifth,  sixth,  and  so  on,  according  to  the 
number  of  bells,  and  return  backwards  in 
counting  sixth,  fifth,  fourth,  <&c. 

Huntsup.  A  morning  song,  of  a  noisy 
boisterous  character,  afterwards  applied  to 
any  unstemly  clamour  at  any  time  of  the 
day. 

"  I  never  was  yet 
At  such  a  hunts  up." 

Massinger,  The  Duke  of  Milan. 

There  is  an  old  song  of  the  time  oi 
Henry  VHI.  called  "  The  King's  Hunts  up," 
the  tune  of  which  is  lively  and  spirited.  The 
term  "hunts  up"  may  have  been  derived 
from  the  noise  of  horses,  dogs,  and  men 
setting  out  on  a  hunting  expedition.  Butler, 
in  his  "  Principles  of  Musick  "  (1636),  defines 
a  "  hunts  up  "  as  morning  music  ;  as  does 
Cotgrave  (1660),  "  Resveil,  a  hunts-up,  a 
morning  song  for  a  new  made  wife."  This 
last  is  an  allusion  to  the  custom  of  perform- 
ing an  aubade  before  a  bride's  window,  thus 
mentioned  by  Gay : 

"  Here  rows  of  drummers  stand  in  marshal  file, 
And  with  their  vellum  thunder  shake  the  pile, 
To  greet  the  new  made  bride." 

Hurdy  gurdy.  An  instrument  of  ancient 
origin,  popular  among  most  of  the  European 
nations  under  the  names  of  Leyer  or  Bauern- 
leyer.  It  consists  of  a  flat  oblong  sounding 
board,  upon  which  are  stretched  four  gut 
strings,  two  of  which  are  tuned  a  fifth  apart 
to  form  a  drone  bass,  and  placed  where  they 
cannot  be  acted  upon  by  the  ten  or  twelve 
keys  fixed  upon  one  side  of  the  belly  of  the  in- 
strument ;  the  other  two  are  tuned  in  unison, 
and  are  so  arranged  that  they  may  be 
shortened  by  the  pressure  of  the  keys.  The 
instrument  is  thus  capable  of  sounding  a 
scale  often  or  twelve  notes.  The  strings  are 
set  in  vibration  by  the  friction  of  a  wooden 
wheel  charged  with  rosin  and  turned  by 
means  of  a  handle  at  one  end.  The  hurdy  gurdy 
i  is  only  adapted  to  the  production  of  melodies 


(  230  ) 


HURRY  HYMN  TUNES. 


of  the  simplest  character.  The  old  name  for  the 
hurdy  gurdy  (vielle)  has  misled  many  authors 
with  regard  to  the  derivation  and  description 
of  the  instrument.  Dr.  Burney  says,  "  That 
the  instrument  called  a  rote,  so  frequently 
mentioned  by  Chaucer,  as  well  as  by  the  old 
French  poets,  was  the  same  as  the  modern 
vielle,  and  had  its  name  from  rota,  the  wheel 
with  which  its  tones  were  produced." 

The  word  rota  is  simply  a  Latinised  form  of 
the  word  crwth,  chrotta,  rotta,  which  was 
originally  a  sort  of  cithara  or  guitar,  played 
by  plucking  the  strings  with  the  fingers. 

In  after  time  when  an  instrument  of  similar 
shape  was  played  with  a  bow,  it  still  retained 
the  ancient  name  crwth  or  crowd. 

Hurry.  The  technical,  theatrical,  or  stage 
name  for  a  tremolo  passage  on  the  violin,  or 
a  roll  on  the  drum.  The  "  hurry  "  is  generally 
played  as  a  preparation  for  the  culminating 
point  of  a  dramatic  incident,  the  leading  to  a 
"  picture,"  during  stage  struggles  or  like 
exciting  actions. 

Hurtig  (Ger.)  Nimble,  quick,  agile. 
Allegro, 

Hydraulic  organ.  [Organ,] 

Hymenaion,  vfxiiaioQ  {Gk.)  An  epitha- 
lamium  or  marriage  song. 

Hymnology.  The  art  of  composing 
hymns. 

Hymn  tunes.  The  keen  attention  paid, 
in  our  time,  to  all  forms  of  Church  music, 
particularly  to  such  as  come  under  the  term 
"  Congregational,"  renders  doubly  interesting 
the  distinction  of  style  which  can  be  traced  in 
the  "  Corale,"  as  we  find  it  at  different  periods, 
and  in  the  different  churches  of  Christendom. 
We  shall  probably,  from  year  to  year,  become 
better  informed  of  the  historical  relations 
between  sacred  and  secular  music,  especially 
as  our  method  of  translating  into  modern 
notation  the  neumas  of  the  manuscripts 
of  the  loth  and  nth  centuries  becomes 
more  certain  and  less  open  to  doubt.  There 
is  in  the  library  of  the  "  Ecole  de  Medicine," 
of  Montpelier,  a  MS.  "  Horace,"  in  which 
the  ode  to  Phillis  is  noted  to  the  melody 
assigned  by  Guy  d'Arezzo  to  the  Hymn  "  Ut 
queant  laxis."  "Was  the  melody,"  asks  a 
modern  critic,  "  written  for  the  ode,  or  for 
the  hymn?"  In  close  connection  with  the 
reply  to  this  question  is  the  inquiry  of  which 
it  may  be  considered  a  part,  "  To  what  extent 
did  the  growth  of  musical  measure  or  rhythm 
influence  the  manner  in  which  the  mediaeval 
hymns  were  recited  or  sung?"  It  was  the 
only  part  of  the  ancient  church  office  in  which 
this  characteristic  of  "  measure"  was  felt,  and 
the  form  of  such  melodies  as  the  following 
(both  from  the  "  Directory  "  of  Guidetti)  seems 
to  point  the  "  style  of  transition"  from  un- 
measured Plain  Sontr  to  measured  music. 


In  No.  I  there  is  nothing  but  the  "  mono- 
tone "  of  the  ancient  chant  in  phrases  i  and  2, 
while  every  phrase  of  No.  2  commences  with 
the  same,  and  ends  with  the  simplest  inflection 
by  way  of  melody.  The  strong  "  measure  " 
or  accent  of  both  is  noticeable — the  latter 
would  fall  naturally  into  the  following  chant 
form  : 


The  Latin  hymn  tune,  dating  from  about 
the  4th  till  the  end  of  the  12th  century,  and 
as  it  appears  in  the  office  books  in  present 
use,  must  be  considered  as  the  first  distinct 
"  style  "  for  the  attention  of  the  student.  The 
distinctive  characteristics  of  it  are  :  i.  The 
scales  to  which  its  melodies  belong — not 
the  modern  major  or  minor  modes  of  the 
diatonic  scale,  but  the  so-called  "modes" 
of  the  Church  [Plain  Song].  2.  The  peculi- 
arities of  their  rhythm,  partly  derived  from 
the  metrical  flow  of  the  verse  itself,  partly 
from  the  continually  advancing  sense  of 
accent,  or  the  alternation  of  heavy  and 
light." 

It  is  matter  of  "  pious  belief,"  that  in  the 
great  majority  of  cases  the  author  of  the 
hymn  was  the  composer  of  the  melody — a 
point  which  it  will  always  be  imposs'ble  to 
verify  or  to  deny.  It  is  certain  that  many  of 
them  are  truly  beautiful ;  as  e.g.  the  following, 
from  the  Salisbury  Hymnal : 


E  -  jus  dul  -  cis  pree  -  sen  -  ti  -  a. 


(  ) 


HYMN  TUNES. 


Or  the  following,  from  Guidetti  : 


rences  of  Luther's  life — the  following,  for 
example,  "  Ein  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott," 
which  is  probably  his  composition  : 

EIN  FESTE  BURG  IST  UNSER  GOTT.' 


La;  -  ti3  ca  -  na  -  mus  men 

Others,  on  account  of  these  two  pecu- 
liarities, are  probably  wanting  in  that  appeal 
to  the  popular  sensibility  which  would  make 
them  "  popular"'  in  the  vulgar  sense. 

The  following  authorities  may  be  consulted 
on  this  part  of  the  subject : 

"  Vesperale  Romanum  Mechliniae,"  8vo.  F. 
J.  Hanicq,  1848.  This  is  one  volume  of  a  mag- 
nificent reprint  of  office  books,  carried  out  with 
great  care  and  exactness,  under  the  influence 
of  Cardinal  Sterkx,  Archbishop  of  Mechlin. 

"  Manuel  de  L'Organiste  ou  Accompagne- 
ment  diatonique  des  Chants  Liturgiques  les  1 
plus  usuels  (particularly  as  to  accompani- 
ment according  to  the  laws  of  the  Gregorian 
Modes),  par  P.  G.  C.  Bogaerts  et  Edmond 
Duval.    Malines,  Dessain. 

"  Hymnal   Noted."      Rev.   T.  Helmore. 
Novelio. 

"  Accompanying  Harmonies  to  ditto." 

The  period  of  the  Reformation  was  one  of 
great  musical  activity.  For  some  time  pre- 
vious a  quiet  and  half  unconscious  preparation 
had  been  going  on,  in  the  circulation  among 
the  people  of  popular  hymns  and  their  tunes 
in  the  vernacular,  and  of  course  only  sung  in 
private  ;  and  when  Luther  furnished  his  fol- 
low?rs  with  metrical  versions  of  the  Creed,  the 
Lori's  Prayer,  and  other  portions  of  the  old 
Offi:e  Books,  there  were  no  bounds  to  the 
pop  '.larity  of  both  hymns  and  tunes.  Edition 
followed  edition  of  books  under  the  title  of  | 
•'Ge'stHche  Lieder,"  &c.,  and  in  their  multi- 
plication many  slight  changes  occurred  in 
the  original  melodies  ;  even  in  some  that  by 
the  popular  voice  are  accredited  to  Luther 
himself,  and  even  during  his  lifetime.  As  it 
has  become  the  custom  in  Germany  for  each  \ 
diocese  to  be  provided,  by  authority,  with  its 
own  "  Gesang-Buch,"  the  variations  of  these 
popular  melodies  have  themselves  become 
stereotyped,  as  it  were,  in  different  localities, 
so  that  the  original  is  often  difficult  to  trace. 
The  great  Sebastian  Bach  has  often  har- 
monized different  forms  of  the  same  melody, 
and  has  even  (so  it  seems)  not  hesitated  to 
alter  it,  if  it  suited  the  counterpoint  of  his  ; 
accompanying  "  parts  "  to  do  so.  The  place 
occupied  to  this  day  by  these  melodies  of 
the  i6th  century  in  the  heart  of  the  German 
people  is  perhaps  only  just  less  in  reverence  | 
than  that  due  to  Holy  Writ.  Some  of  them  | 
were  intimately  associated  with  the  occur-  | 

( 23 


The  following,  "  Nun  danket  alle  Gott,"'  has 
become  the  "  National  Hymn,  "  and  on  occa- 
sions of  popular  rejoicing  is  often  sung,  in 
the  open  air,  accompanied  b}'  all  available 
force  of  military  bands,  and  by  the  discharge 
of  a  cannon  on  each  note  of  the  melody.  It 
was  the  composition  of  John  Criiger,  froi 
1622  to  1662  Music-Director  in  the-  St. 
Nicholas  Church,  Berlin. 

NUN  DANKET  ALLE  GOTT. 

JoH.  CrCger,  1649. 


As  an  example  of  the  alterations  in  melodies 
referred  to,  attention  may  be  called  to  the 
various  readings  here  given  of  the  melody 
known  in  England  as  "Luther's  Hymn;" 
with  the  authorities  for  each.  

•  Thisisthe  melody  treated  sovariou'^lv,  and  with  such 
consummate  mastership,  in  Meyeibeer's  "  Huguenots." 


HYMN  TUNES. 


VARIOUS  READINGS  OF  THE  MELODY  KNOWN  IN  ENGLAND  AS  "LUTHER'S  HYMN." 
WITH  THE  AUTHORITIES  FOR  EACH. 


6. 


8. 


(  233  ) 


HYMN  TUNES. 


1.  Is  the  original  melody,  ascribed  to 
Luther,  from  the  "  Klug'schen  Gesangbuch," 
1535- 

2.  "  Geistliche  Lieder,"  Wittemberg,  1545 
(Luther  died  1546;.  "Geistliche  Lieder," 
Leipzig,  1557.  "  Geistliche  Lieder  D.  Martin 
Luther,"  Nuremberg;  1570.  "  Kern  des 
Deutschen  Kirchengesangs,"  Lairiz,  Nord- 
lingen,  1854.  "Zion's  Harpe,"  Kocker,  1855. 
Tucker,  Stutgart,  1854.  D.  W.  Volkmar, 
Erfurt  and  Leipzig,  1853.  Winterfeld's 
edition  of  "  Luther  s  Corales,"  1840. 

3.  "Geystliche  Lieder,"  Nurmberg,  1558. 

4.  "  Bin  schon  geistliche  Gesangbuch, 
darinnen  Kirchen  Gesange  und  geistliche 
Lieder,  D.  M  Lutheri  und  anderer  frommen 
Christen,  so  in  den  Christlichen  Gemeynden 
zu  singen  gebrauchlich  begriffen."  Durch 
Melchiorem  Vulpium,  Cantorem  in  Weymar, 
1609. 

5.  From  Graun's  Oratorio,  "  Der  Tod 
Jesu."  Followed  by  Sir  Henry  R.  Bishop,  in 
his  "  Twelve  Corales,"  as  performed  from 
time  to  time  under  his  direction  at  the 
"  Ancient  Concerts,"  dedicated  to  H.  R.  H. 
Prince  Albert. 

6.  7.  From  J.  S.  Bach's,  371  Vierstimmige 
Choralgesange :  Ed.  C.  F.  Becker,  Organist 
an  der  Petri  Kirche,  Leipzig,  183 1.  No.  6  is 
also  to  be  found  in  his  "  Choralvorspiele," 
Griepenkerl's  Ed.,  Peters,  Leipzig,  in  the  key 
of  G  (vol.  vi.,  p.  36).  See  also  J.  S. 
Bach's  "Choralgesange  und  Geistliche  Arien, 
herausgegeben  von  Ludwig  Erk."  Peters, 
1850. 

8.  "  Evangelische  Gesang  Buch,"  Elber- 
feld,  1843.  "  Chorale  Book,"  Heinrich  Wach- 
ter,  organist  in  Wiburg;  Halle, 1856.  "Chorale 
Book,"  Adolphe  Hesse,  Breslau,  1840. 

9.  "  Chorale  Gesang  Buch,"  C.  H.  Strube, 
of  Wolfenbiittel,  1841.  "  Wirtemberg  Choral 
Book,"  1841,  "  Stutgart  Choral  Book,"  1857. 

10.  "Chorale  Book."  John  Augustus  Bechel, 


Leipzig,  1847.  "Sixty-one  Choral  Melodies 
to  Paul  Gerhard's  Hymns  ;"  Becker,  Leipzig, 
1851. 

11.  "Chorale  Book,"  Adolphe  Hesse, 
Konig.  Preus.  Musick-direktor  und  Ober- 
Organist,  Op.  69;  Breslau,  1851. 

12.  "  Evangelische  Chorale  Buch."  Adolph 
Bernard  Marx,  Dr.  and  Prof,  in  the  University 
of  Berlin.  1832.  "  Chorale  Book,"  dedicated 
to  the  Queen  of  Prussia,  D.  H.  Engel, 
Berlin,  1844. 

13.  "460  Choral-Melodien."  C.  Karow,  of 
Bunzlavv-in-Schlesten ;  Dorpat,  1848.  "Alte 
und  newere  Chorale-Melodien,"  C.  G 
Schramm,  of  Halle  ;  Leipzig. 

14.  "  Evangelische  Choral  Melodien  Buch.' 
A.  G.  Fischer,  Musik-Direktjr  und  Dom 
Organist  zu  Merseburg  ;  1846-7. 

15.  From  Martini's  "  Ecole  d'Orgue,"  dedi 
cated  to  the  Empress  Josephine ;  Paris 
1804.  (?) 

16.  The  modern  form  of  the  melody:  sup- 
posed to  have  been  introduced  by  the  tenor 
singer  Braham,  who  also  interpolated  an 
imitation  of  the  trumpet  of  the  "  Dies  Iras." 
This  form  is  also  known  in  France  (Chants 
Chretiens  ;  Paris,  1857,  et  ante). 

17.  From  "Choral-Melodien  for  Hanover, 
Luneburg  and  Hildesheim:"  Heinrich  Enck- 
hausen  :  Adolph  Nagel,  Hanover  (Modern). 

18.  Choral-buch,  von  August  Haupt,  Or- 
ganist der  Parochial  Kirche,  in  Berlin.  Berlin  : 
Schlesingerschen  Buch  und  Musikhandlung : 
Robert  Lienau. 

19.  20.  Both  said  to  be  of  1535,  from 
■Winterfeld's  "  Der  Evangelische  Kirchen- 
gesang,"  3  vols,  quarto  ;  Leipzig,  1843— 
a  work  to  which  reference  may  be  made  on 
the  whole  subject  of  German  Hymnody. 

21.  From  the  "  Introduction  "  to  the 
"  'Woman  of  Samaria,"  by  Sir  Sterndale 
Bennett.  Here  inserted  as  an  example  of 
the  Melody,  really  in  Common  Tune,  driven 


HYMN  TUNES. 


against  and  in  combination  with  a  move- 
ment in  Triple  Measure. 

Among  the  early  labourers  in  this  field 
should  be  mentioned  two  French  composers, 
Claude  Goudimel  and  Claude  Le  Jeune,  of 
whom  the  former  published  "  Lcs  pseaumes 
mis  en  rime  fran^aise,  par  Clement  Marot  et 
Theodore  de  Beze.  Mis  en  Musique  a  quatre 
parties  par  Claude  Goudimel."  Without 
name  of  place,  but  with  these  words  at  the 
foot  of  frontispiece :  "  Par  les  heritiers  de 
Francois  Jaqui,  1565,"  lamo.  The  melody 
is  in  the  tenor  (see  below.)  A  second  edition 
was  published  at  Geneva,  in  the  same  year; 
a  third  at  the  same  place  in  1580;  and  another 
at  Charenton,  in  1607. 

By  the  latter,  i.  Do  de  ca  corde  con- 
tenant  douze  pseaumes  de  David,  mis  en 
musique  selon  les  douze  modes  approuves 
des  meilleurs  autheurs  anciens  et  modernes, 
a  2,  3,  4,  5,  6  et  7  voix,  par  Claude  Le 
Jeune,  compositeur  de  la  Musique  de  la 
Chambre  du  roy.  A  La  Rochelle  par  Hierome 
Haultin,  1598,  6  vol.,  in  4°  obi.  The  words 
are  from  Clement  Marot.  The  form  of  com- 
position is  that  of  the  motets  of  the  early 
Italian  masters.  Other  editions  of  this  work 
appeared  at  Paris  in  1608  and  in  i5i8.  2. 
Premier  livre  contenant  cinquante  Pseaumes 
de  David,  mis  en  Musique  a  3  parties,  par 
Claude  Le  Jeune,  natif  de  Valenciennes,  com- 
positeur en  Musique  de  la  Chambre  du  roy, 
Paris,  1607,  3  vol.,  in  4°  obi.  The  second 
and  third  books  were  published  in  1608.  No 
second  edition  of  the  work  is  known.  3.  Les 
psaumes  de  Marot  et  de  Theodore  de  Beze, 
mis  en  Musique  a  4  et  5  parties,  par  CI.  Le- 
jeune,  natif  de  Valenciennes.  La  Rochelle 
1608,  4°-  Premiere  edition,  publiee  par  Cecile 
Lejeune,  sceur  du  compositeur,  et  dediee  au 
due  de  Bouillon,  prince  de  Sedan.  This 
edition  is  very  rare.  A  second  was  published 
at  Paris,  1613  ;  a  third  at  Geneva,  in  1627  ; 
another  at  Amsterdam,  in  1629  ;  one  at  Paris, 
from  which  the  Psalms  in  5  parts  had  dis- 
appeared ;  one  at  Amsterdam,  in  1633  ;  and 
one  at  Leyden,  in  1635.  The  music  was  also 
printed  with  a  Dutch  translation  of  the  words 
at  Schiedam,  in  1664. 

The  first  portion  of  the  Church  Service 
printed  in  the  English  language  was  the 
Litany,  1544;  the  celebrated  letter  of  Cranmer 
to  Henry  VIIL,  in  October  of  that  year,  men- 
tions also  his  effort  at  translating  the  Hymn 
"  Salve  festa  dies,"  to  which  he  had  "  put  the 
Latin  note  "  as  being  "  sober  and  distinct." 
(See  Jenkyn's  Cranmer,  i.  315.)  Within  the 
next  few  years  the  custom  of  psalm-singing 
had  become  common  enough  to  warrant  the 
"  Church  Tunes"  being  referred  to  as  "usual" 
or  "wonted  tunes."  In  1562,  the  version  of 
the    Psalter,   nov,    known   as   the   "  old  " 


version,  the  joint  production  of  Sternhold 
and  Hopkins,  was  first  printed  with  these 
melodies  ;  and  in  the  year  after,  under  the 
editorship  of  John  Day,  "  The  whole  Psalms, 
in  foure  partes,  which  may  be  sung  to  a! 
musical  instruments,"  &c.,  &c.,  in  which 
Thomas  Tallis,  William  Parsons,  Thomas 
Causton,  Richard  Edwards,  and  three  others 
were  the  harmonizers.  This  was  followed  in 
1579  by  another  publication  by  Day,  the 
music  arranged  by  William  Damon,  and  in 
1585  and  1591  other  contributions  of  a  like 
nature  appeared  ;  but  inferior  in  their  pre- 
tensions and  interest  to  the  collection  pub- 
lished in  1592  by  Thomas  Est  or  Este,  "the 
assigne  of  William  Byrd,  dwelling  in  Alders- 
gate  Street,  at  the  signe  of  the  Black  Horse." 
The  arrangers  of  the  tunes  were  Richard 
Allison,  E.  Blancks,  Michael  Cavendish, 
Wm.  Cobbold,  John  Dowland,  John  Farmer, 
Giles  Farnaby  (Bac.  Mus.,  Oxford,  1592), 
Edmund  Hooper  (Organist  and  Gentleman  of 
the  Chapel  Royal),  Edward  Johnson  (Mus. 
Bac,  Cantab.),  and  George  Kirbye.  Of  this 
work,  a  second  edition  appeared,  in  1594,  and 
a  third,  in  1604,  and  during  the  next  twenty 
years  more  than  twenty  editions  of  the  old 
version  with  Church  tunes  were  published  by 
the  Company  of  Stationers,  into  whose  hands 
the  matter  had  fallen. 

In  1621  appeared  "The  whole  Book  o\ 
Psalmes,  with  the  hymnes  evangelicall  and 
songs  spiritual!,  composed  into  4  parts  by 
sundry  authors,  to  such  severall  tunes  as  have 
beene  and  are  usually  sung  in  England,  Scot- 
land, Wales,  Germany,  Italy,  France,  and  the 
Netherlands,  never  as  yet  before  in  one  vol. 
published,"  &c.,  &c.  As  it  is  also  said  to  be 
"  newly  corrected  and  enlarged,"  by  Thomas 
Ravenscroft,  Bachelor  of  Musicke  ;  it  is  pos- 
sible this  may  not  have  been  the  original 
edition.  Every  Psalm  of  the  old  version  is 
printed  in  full,  with  its  tune,  in  four  parts  • 
some  tunes,  however,  being  several  times  re- 
peated, so  that  the  total  number  is  ninety- 
eight,  of  which  forty  are  new  compositions. 

Of  these  Psalters,  two  particulars  should  be 
noted:  ist,  that  many  of  the  tunes,  though 
not  all,  are  distinguished  by  names — "  Nor- 
wich," "  Martyrs,"  &c.,  a  custom  which  was 
English  and  Scotch  exclusively ;  and  2nd, 
that  the  arrangement  of  voices  places  the 
tune  in  the  tenor  part,  not  in  the  treble,  as  is 
the  modern  custom.  Though  the  vocal  parts  in 
Ravenscroft  are  much  more  difficult  than  in 
Este,  it  is  doubtful  whether  either  became  a 
manual  for  use  in  Church,  or  whether  it  was 
ever  intended  to  be  so.  If  it  were,  the  skill 
necessary  for  the  correct  execution  of  these 
parts  must  have  been  much  greater  then 
than  is  common  in  any  but  the  best  Church 
choirs  now. 


i  235  ) 


HYMN  TUNES. 


The  following  arrangement  of  the  "  Old 
Hundredth,"  by  John  Douland,  is  from  Este, 
and  will  give  a  fair  idea  of  his  book  : 


ye      be  -  fore    Him      and        re   -      -  ioice. 


The  following  is  Ravenscroft's  Harmony  of 
the  old  137th  ;  the  melody,  as  before,  in  the 
tenor.  It  is  thought  better  for  the  general 
reader  to  reduce  this  to  "  short  score."  The 


frequent  occurrence  of  syncopation  in  the 
accompanying  parts  should  be  noticed  ;  the 
correct  execution  of  this  harmony  would  not 
be  easy,  even  for  an  accomplished  church 
choir: 


In  1728,  a  professedly  corrected  edition  of 
"  Ravenscroft,"  edited  by  William  Turner, 
was  published  by  William  Pearson  ;  and 
another  edition  by  J.  Buckland  in  1746.  The 
"  Harmonia  Perfecta "  of  1730,  which  pro- 
fessed to  give  the  chief  of  Ravenscroft's 
tunes,  avoided  most  of  his  syncopations,  and 
spoiled  many  of  his  harmonies. 

In  1615  appeared  Andrew  Hart's  "  Scotch 
Psalter ;  the  cl.  Psalms  of  David  in  prose 
and  metre;  with  their  usual  notes  and  tunes, 
newly  corrected  and  amended."  Edinburgh, 
printed  by  Andrew  Hart.    In  this  edition  the 


(  235 


HYMN 


TUNES. 


melody  only  appears,  the  harmonized  edition 
being  dated  1635.  It  contains  a  tune  for 
each  Psalm. 

That  the  versifications  of  Tate  and  Brady, 
known  as  the  "  New  Version"  of  the  Psalms, 
had  any  beneficial  influence  on  the  culture  of 
psalmody  has  never  been  pretended  ;  but 
with  the  composition  of  hymns  by  Wesley  and 
his  followers  came  a  new  poetic  material  of 
which  musicians  were  not  slow  to  avail  them- 
selves. New  compositions,  in  the  new 
measures,  and  with  the  greater  warmth  of 
feeling  suggested  by  the  words,  and  differing 
entirely,  both  in  melody  and  harmonization 
from  the  older  school,  follow  naturally.  The 
tune  books  and  hymnals  with  which  the  press 
abounds,  present  every  variety  of  these — 
from  the  very  time  of  Wesley  to  the  present 
— and  these  lie  open  before  the  student.  In 
both  melody  and  harmony  they  reflect  not 
unhappily  the  style  of  the  time  in  which  they 
were  written. 

In  the  following  example  the  employment 
of  the  voices  is  akin  to  that  in  a  glee,  and 
short  passages  are  employed  "a  la  fugue." 
It  is  from  "  Melodia  Sacra  ;  or,  The  Devout 
Psalmist's  New  Musical  Companion,"  &c., 
&c.  By  William  Tans'ur,  Senior.  "  Musico 
Theorico,"  &c.,  London,  G.  Bigg,  1772.  The 
method  employed  has  long  been  acknow- 
ledged as  utterly  unsuited  to  any  good  pur- 
pose : 

WESTERHAM.  CM. 

As  Ps.  Ixxxi.    Old  or  New  Version. 

In  Four  Parts.   W.  T. 


The  following  is  from  "Parochial  Psalmody," 
dedicated  to  His  Majesty  George  the  Fourth, 


(  237  ) 


HYPER  HYPORCHEMA. 


by  Thomas  Greatorex,  Conductor  of  His 
Majesty's  Concert  of  Ancient  Music,  and 
Organist  of  Westminster  Abbey ;  London, 
182  .  .  (?)  Many  good  examples  of  this  style 
of  writing  may  be  found  in  the  works  of 
composers  of  the  same  date  : 

WESTMINSTER.  CM. 


Psalm  cv.    New  Version.     "  Sing  praise  to  God." 


•  A  qnotation  from  an  older  melody. 


Remark  in  both  the  above  (though  separated 
by  an  interval  of  fifty  years,  and  the  latter 
about  fifty  years  only  from  our  own  time), 
the  frequent  occurrence  of  the  "  tr,"  even  on 
the  four  notes  of  the  same  chord.* 

The  following  are  examples  of  a  style  "  to 
be  avoided."  They  are  reprinted  without 
words,  and  in  melody  only,  to  show  how 
unlike  any  accepted  or  acceptable  form  of 
music  suited  for  Divine  worship  they  are  : 


8.7.8.7.  (DOUBLE.) 


Hyper,  vTrip  (Gk.)  Above.  A  prefix  to 
the  names  of  modes  one  fourth  above  the 
authentic;  as,  Hyper-Eolian,  Hyper-Dorian, 
Hyper-Iastian  or  Ionian,  Hyper-Lydian, 
H;.per-Phn,-f;ian.    [Greek  Music] 

Hyper-diapason.  Super-octave. 

Hypo,  vTTij  iGk.)  Below.  A  prefix  to  the 
names  of  modes  commencing  one  fourth 
below  the  authentic,  otherwise  called  Plagal, 
as,  Hypo-Dorian,  Hypo-Eolian,  Hypo-Iastian 
or  Ionian,  Hypo-Lydian,  Hypo-P.hrygian 
[Greek  Music]    [Plain  Song.] 

Hyporchema  {Gk.)  'viropxnfia-  A  religious 
hymn  and  dance  connected  with  the  worship 
of  Apollo  from  the  earliest  times. 


*  For  some  interesting  remarks  as  to  the  trilUi  as  an 
integral  part  of  a  composition,  see  Preface  to  Hullah'i 
edition  of  Pergolesi's  "  Stabat  Mater." 


(238) 


IAMBUS  IMITATION. 


I. 


Iambus.  A  metrical  foot  consisting  of  a 
short  syllable  and  a  long.  [Metre.] 

Hymns  are  roughly  said  to  be  Iambic  when 
they  consist  of  such  feet,  the  music  com- 
mencing on  the  upbeat,  e.g.,  "  All  praise  to 
Thee,  my  God,  this  night." 

lastian.    Ionic.    [Greek  Music] 

Idyll  (Gk.)  elSvWiov.  Lit.,  a  small  form. 
Hence,  a  beautiful  form,  (i)  A  poem  of  elegant 
structure,  frequently,  though  not  always,  on 
a  pastoral  subject.  (2)  Music  set  to  a  poem  of 
this  character. 

II  doppio  movimento  {It.)  Double  time, 
twice  as  fast. 

II  fine  (It.)    The  end. 

II  piii  (It.)  Lit.,  the  most,  as,  il  pih  piano 
possibile,  as  soft  as  possible,  &c. 

Imboccatura (7^. ),  Embouchure [Fr.)  Birn 
[Ger.)  The  mouth-piece  of  a  wind-instrument. 

Imitando  {It.)  Imitating,  as,  imitando  la 
voce,  imitating  the  voice  part,  &c. 

Imitation.  The  repetition  of  a  short 
subject  by  another  part.  The  subject  pro- 
posed is  sometimes  called  the  antecedent,  and 
the  passage  which  afterwards  imitates  it  the 
consequent.  If  the  consequent  is  at  a  fixed 
interval  from  the  antecedent  throughout,  the 
imitation  is  said  to  be  strict,  e.g.  : 


If  the  consequent  only  roughly  follows  the 
antecedent,  the  imitation  is  said  to  be  free, 


Imitation  may  be  at  any  interval,  and  may 
be  supported  by  any  number  of  parts,  and 
though  it  often  forms  an  important  element 
of  fugue,  it  is  unrestricted  by  the  laws  of 
subject  and  answer  which  are  binding  in  that 
form  of  composition.  The  following  are 
examples  of  imitation  at  the  second  : 


Peroolbsi. 


This  subject  may  be  treated  in  three  parts 
as  follows,  including  imitation  at  the  third 
and  sixth  : 


Examples  of  imitation  at  various  intervals 
and  numbers  of  parts  might  be  multiplied  to 
any  extent.  Imitation  by  augmentation  is 
when  the  consequent  is  in  notes  twice  the 
length  of  those  of  the  antecedent,  e.g. : 


Handel. 


Imitation  by  diminution  is  when  the  con- 
sequent is  in  notes  half  the  length  of  those  of 
the  antecedent,  e.g. : 


Imitation  by  inversion  is  when  the  intervals 
of  the  antecedent  are  inverted  in  order  to 


form  the  consequent : 

Bach. 


(  ) 


IMMER  INSTRUMENT. 


Imitation  is  said  to  be  convertible  when 
antecedent  and  consequent  are  interchange- 
able. If  strict  imitation  be  continued  for  any 
length  of  time  it  is  said  to  be  canonical. 

Immer  {Ger.)  Always,  as,  immer  langsam, 
slow  throughout. 

Impaziente,  impazientemente  (It.) 
Impatient,  impatiently. 

Imperfect.  Not  perfect,  (i)  An  imperfect 
interval  is  one  which  is  a  semitone  less  than 
perfect.  (2)  The  imperfect  consonances  are 
the  third  and  sixth,  as  opposed  to  the  fourth 
and  fifth.  (3)»An  imperfect  cadence  is  one 
which  does  not  give  complete  rest  in  key. 
All  cadences  not  having  a  dominant  or  sub- 
dominant  penultimate  are  said  to  be  imper- 
fect. [Cadence.]  (4)  An  imperfect  stop  on 
an  organ  is  one,  the  pipes  of  which  do  not 
extend  through  the  whole  compass  of  the 
manual.  A  short  stop.  (5)  Duple  measure 
was  formerly  called  imperfect,  as  opposed  to 
tempus  per/ectum, triple  time. 

Imperioso  (7^.)  With  grandeur,  dignity, 
imperiously. 

Impeto,  con  {It.)  i 

Impetuosamente  (7^.)  i  Impetuously. 

Impetuoso  (It.)  J 

Implied  discord.  A  discord,  the  actual 
percussion  of  which  is  not  found  unless  other 
parts  be  added  to  the  chord,  e.g. : 


The  intervals  forming  the  above  chord  are 
practically  minor  thirds,  which  are  not  in 
themselves  discordant. 

Implied  intervals.     Intervals   not   ex-  ' 
pressed  in  thorough  bass  figuring.  [Figured 
bass.] 

Imponente  (It.)  In  an  emphatic,  pom- 
pous style. 

Impresario  (It.)  A  designer,  conductor, 
or  manager  of  a  concert  or  opera  party.  This 
term  is  often  applied  to  a  man  who  trains 
singers,  or  obtains  them  for  public  per- 
formances. 

Impromptu  (It.)  (i)  A  piece  of  music 
written  or  played  without  previous  prepara- 
tion of  the  subject.  An  extempore  perform- 
ance. [Extempore.]  (2)  A  composition  not 
in  any  set  form,  having  the  character  of  an 
extempore  piece. 

Improvvisamente  (It.)  Unprepared,  un- 
premeditated, extempore. 

Improvvisare  (It.)  To  found  an  extem- 
pore piece  upon  a  suddenly  suggested  sub- 
ject. 

Improvvisatore  (It.)  Improvisateur  (Fr.) 
One  who  has  the  gift  of  improvising.  [Extem- 
pore.] 


Improviser  (Fr.)    To  improvise. 

In  alt  (7/.)  All  notes  in  the  first  octave 
beyond  the  range  of  the  treble  stave.  [Pitch.] 

In  altissimo  [It.)  All  notes  beyond  the 
range  of  the  first  octave  in  alt.  [Pitch.] 

Incantation.  The  utterance  of  a  charm 
or  spell  in  a  singing,  monotonous  tone. 

Inchoatio  [Lat.)  The  Intonation  or  in- 
troductory' notes  of  a  plain-song  chant. 

Indeciso  {It.)  Undetermined.  In  an 
undecided  manner. 

IndifTerente  ^      ,    nr-.u  •  j-o- 

Indifferentemente  V^^'^    ^^'^^  '"^'ff^'"- 

Indifferenza,  con  j         °'  ""concern. 

Inferior.  {Lat.)  Lit.,  lower.  At  an 
interval  below,  as,  Inversio  in  octavam  in- 
feriorem;  inversion  at  the  octave  below,  &c. 

Infinite  Canon.    [Canon  ] 

Inflexion.  A  departure  from  the  Monotone 
in  chanting.    [Accent,  §  4.] 

In  fretta  {It.)    In  haste.  Hurriedly. 

Inganno  (It.)  Lit.,  deception,  SiS,  cadenza 
d'inganno,  a  deceptive  cadence. 

Inner  parts.  Those  portions  of  the 
harmony  that  are  not  at  the  top  or  bot- 
tom. 

Inner  pedal.    A  sustained  note  in  one  of 
the  inner  parts.    [Sustained  note.] 
Inno  (It.)    A  Hymn. 
Innocentemente  ^  (7^.)   Innocently.  Ir» 
Innocente  Va    child-like  artless 

Innocenza,  con  j  manner. 
In  nomine,  (i)  The  name  given  to  a 
free  fugue  as  opposed  to  one  constructed  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  rules  of  fugue-form. 
(2)  A  piece  in  fugal  style,  that  is,  consisting 
largely  of  imitation  and  of  contrapuntal 
devices,  sometimes  vocal,  sometimes  for  in- 
I  struments  alone.  When  used  in  this  sense 
the  name  has  been  by  some  traced  to  the 
words  forming  part  of  the  Benedictus — in 
nomine  Domini,  a.nd  by  others  from  the  words 
of  the  Antiphon  "in  festo  sanctissimi  nominis 
Jesu,"  commencing  "  in  nomine  Jesu  omne 
genu  flectatur."  Others  again-  trace  it  to 
verse  5  of  Psalm  xx.  "  We  will  rejoice  in 
Thy  salvation,  and  triumph  in  the  name  (in 
nomine)  of  the  Lord  our  God."  The  in 
Homines  which  exist  are  chiefly  the  pro- 
duction of  composers  of  the  i6th  century. 
Inquieto  (7^.)  Restless,  agitated. 
Insensibile  (7^.)  i  Imperceptibly,  by 

Insensibilmente  (It.)  )  degrees. 
Instrument  a  I'archet  {Fr.)     An  instru- 
ment played  with  a  bow. 

Instrument  a  cordes  {Fr.))  A  stringed 
Instrumento  a  corda  {It.)  \  instrument. 
Instrument.  Any  mechanical  contri- 
vance for  the  production  of  sound  :  The 
musical  instruments  employed  are  divided 
into  the  following  classes.  Stringed,  wind, 
and  pulsatile.    The  stringed  instruments  are 


(  240  ) 


INSTRU  MENTATION  INTERVAL. 


the  pianoforte  and  older  instruments  of  its 
kind  which  are  played  by  means  of  a  clavier 
or  key-board  ;  the  guitar  and  others  whose 
strings  are  struck  or  plucked  by  the  fingers  ; 
and  the  violin  class  played  with  a  bow.  Wind 
instruments  are  of  wood  or  metal ;  those  that 
are  of  wood  are  the  flute,  piccolo,  hautboy, 
cor  anglais,  clarionet,  basset  horn,  and 
bassoon ;  those  that  are  of  metal  are  the 
horn,  trumpet,  cornet-a-pistons,  trombone, 
ophicleide,  saxhorn,  bombardon,  &c.  The 
pulsatile  or  percussion  instruments  are  the 
kettle-drums,  great  drum,  side  drum,  triangle, 
cymbals,  and  tambourine.  A  description  of 
each  will  be  found  under  its  proper  head. 

Instrumentation.  The  art  of  using 
several  musical  instruments  in  combination  ; 
also,  the  st)'le  or  treatment  of  orchestral  in- 
struments with  a  view  to  the  production  of 
special  effects.  [Orchestra.] 

Instrument  a  vent  (F/-.)     )A  wind  in- 

Instrumento  da  fiato  {It.)\  strument. 

Instrumentirung  (Ger.)  Instrumentation. 

Intavolare  {It.)  To  set  in  notes,  to  score, 
to  copy. 

In  tempo  (It.)  or  a  tempo,  in  strict  time. 
A  direction  to  follow  strict  time  after  any 
passage  in  which  has  occurred  a  rail.,  &c. 

Interlude,  interludium  {Lat.)  A  piece 
of  music  either  impromptu  or  prepared, 
played  between  the  acts  of  a  drama,  the 
verses  of  a  canticle  or  hymn,  or  between 
certain  portions  of  a  church  service. 

Intermede  (Fr.)  Intermedio  (It.)  An 
interlude. 

Intermedietto  (It.)    A  short  interlude. 

Intermezzo  (It.)    An  interlude. 

Interrupted  Cadence.  [Cadence.] 

Interruzione,  senza  [It.)  Without  hin- 
drance, without  pause. 

Interval.  The  distance  between  any  two 
sounds.  In  discussing  all  subjects  relating 
to  melody,  or  to  the  construction  of  chords,  it 
is  necessary  to  find  names  for  the  various 
kinds  of  intervals.  Hence,  in  the  earliest 
treatises  on  music  they  are  divided  into 
classes.  The  old  axiom  that  consonance 
depends  on  simplicity  of  ratio  naturally  led 
authors  to  draw  a  line  at  the  point  at  which 
two  sounds  ceased  to  be  consonant  and  became 
dissonant.  Among  the  Greeks,  the  unison, 
octave,  fifth,  and  fourth,  were  considered 
more  perfect  than  the  third  and  sixth  and 
other  intervals.  In  mediceval  treatises  an 
interesting  division  of  intervals  into  perfect, 
medium,  and  imperfect  is  found  ;  the  unison 
and  octave  belonged  to  the  first  class,  the 
fourth  and  fifth  to  the  second,  the  third  and 
sixth  to  the  last.  In  later  works  appeared  a 
division  which  is  to  this  day  followed  by 
many  writers,  namely,  into  Perfect  and  Im- 
perfect.   This  division  runs  thus  : 


Intervals 

Consonant  Dissonant 

Perfect       Imperfect    2nd,  yth  All  aug- 
4th,  5th,  8th.  3rd,  6th.  mented 
and  di- 
minished 
intervals. 

So  far,  this  division  seems  plain  enough. 
But  modern  music  requires  that  intervals  shall 
be  designated  according  to  their  scale  value. 

Hence  a  perfect  interval  when  accidental!}' 
flattened  becomes  imperfect,  and  a  major 
interval  minor.  But  the  application  of  the 
word  imperfect  to  a  perfect  interval  made 
smaller  led  to  serious  confusion,  because, 
an  imperfect  fifth  came  as  a  subdivision  of 
perfect  intervals,  while  imperfect  intervals  of 
themselves  formed  a  separate  class.  To 
avoid  this  cross-division,  theorists  have  in 
the  last  few  years  used  the  name  diminished 
for  perfect  fifths  reduced  by  one  semitone. 
But  it  is  important  to  note  that  by  this  change 
of  name  a  new  difficulty  arises,  for  diminished 
has  almost  by  universal  consent  been  applied 
to  certain  intervals  when  made  less  than  minor, 
for  example,  CJ  to  B?  is  a  diminished  seventh 
because  CJ  to  BJ  is  a  major  seventh,  to  Bj 
a  minor  seventh,  Cff  to  B7  one  semitone  less 
than  minor.  The  word  diminished  when 
applied  by  these  authors  to  a  fourth  or  fifth 
signifies  that  it  is  reduced  from  its  normal 
state  by  ojte  semitone,  but  the  same  word 
"  diminished "  when  applied  to  a  seventh 
signifies  that  it  is  reduced  by  two  semitones. 
That  utter  confusion  should  result  from  such 
an  undigested  system  is  absolutely  inevit- 
able ;  and  it  will  be  found  that  professors  and 
teachers  of  music  to  this  day  are  unable  to 
talk  intelligibly  to  each  other  on  the  simple 
subject  of  "  Intervals/'  For  many  years  a 
system  has  been  taught  in  Germany  which 
makes  the  whole  matter  perfectly  phiin.  It 
is  this : — 

1.  Intervals  are  reckoned  upwards,  inclu- 
sively, and  by  the  number  of  names  of  notes 
they  contain. 

2.  Intervals  are  in  their  normal  state  when 
reckoned  from  the  first  note  of  the  major 
scale.  The  lowest  note  of  the  interval  being 
considered  for  the  time  as  a  tonic. 

3.  Normal  intervals  are  major.  Thus,  D 
to  Fff  is  a  major  third,  because  Fj  is  the  third 
degree  of  the  scale  of  D ;  F  to  B?  is  a  major 
fourth,  because  BC  is  the  fourth  of  the  scale  of 
F  ;  B  to  Ff  is  a  major  fifth,  because  FJ  is  the 
fifth  of  the  scale  of  B  ;  and  so  on.  In  other 
words,  all  the  intervals  of  any  major  scale 
reckoning  up  from  the  tonic  respectively  ara 
major. 

4.  Intervals  one  semitone  less  than  major 
are  minor.    Thus,  C  to  D'7  is  a  minor  second 


(  241  ) 


INTIMO  INTONATION. 


because  it  is  one  semitone  less  than  the 
normal  D  in  the  scale  of  C  ;  B  to  Flj  is  a 
minor  fifth  because  one  semitone  less  than 
the  normal  FJ  in  the  scale  of  B  ;  and  so  on. 

5.  Intervals  one  semitone  greater  than 
major  are  augmented.  Thus,  C  to  is  an 
augmented  second,  because  it  is  one  semitone 
greater  than  C  to  D,  the  normal  interval ; 
C  to  Gj,  an  augmented  fifth  ;  and  so  on. 

6.  Intervals  one  semitone  less  than  minor 
SiTediminisJted.  Thus,  FJ  to  E!7  is  a  diminished 
seventh  ;  Ci  to  G>,  a  diminished  fifth;  CJ  to 
E!7,  a  diminished  third;  and  so  on. 

The  simplicity  of  this  system  is  already 
apparent.  The  following  diagram  shows  it 
at  a  glance  : 

Major  8th 
Major  7th 
Major  6th 
Major  5th 
Major  4th 
Major  3rd 
Major  2nd 


CDEFGABC 


Minor  8th 
Minor  7th 
Minor  6th 
Minor  5th 
Minor  4th 
Minor  3rd 
Minor  2nd 


C~Db  ED  Fb  Gl?  Ab  Bb  C7 


Augmented  Sth^. 
Augmented  jth^. 
Augmented  6th, 
Augmented  5th! 
Augmented  4thi 

Augmented  3rd  

Augmented  2nd  ,  I 

C     D#  Et  F$  G$  A#  B#  C# 

Diminished  8th 
Diminished  7th 
Diminished  6th 
Diminished  5th 
Diminished  4th 
Diminished  3rd 
Diminished  2nd 

c     be  1'  Et>!'  Fi>}?  Gbl>  Abb  Bbb  ebb 
or     ct '  Db  Eb  Fb   Gb  Ab  Bp  Cb 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  last  that  diminished 
intervals  are  produced  in  two  ways — either  by 
making  the  upper  note  of  a  minor  interval 
flatter,  or  by  making  the  lower  note  of  a 
minor  interval  sharper.  Hence  it  is  that 
some  intervals  have  to  be  calculated  from 
notes  not  having  a  diatonic  scale  of  their 
own  ;  thus,  BJ  to  A!^.  In  such  cases,  the 
nature  of  the  interval  is  readily  found  by 
temporarily  reducing  the  lower  note ;  thus, 


Btj  to  is  a  minor  seventh,  therefore  BJf  to 
Aijj,  being  a  semitone  less  than  minor,  must 
be  a  diminished  seventh. 

The  following  is  the  simplest  form  of 
stating  the  rule  for  naming  intervals  accord- 
ing to  this  system.  "When  asked  the 
nature  of  any  interval,  bear  in  mind  the 
major  scale  of  the  lower  note,  then,  if  the 
upper  note  is  higher  by  a  semitone  than  it 
would  be  in  the  major  scale  of  the  lower  not';, 
it  is  augmented ;  if  the  upper  note  is  actually 
a  note  of  that  major  scale  it  is  major  ;  if  it  is 
less  than  major  by  one  semitone  it  is  minor ; 
if  it  is  less  than  minor  by  one  semitone  it  is 
diminished.  When  the  lower  note  is  a 
sharpened  note,  which  has  no  scale  of  its 
own,  consider  it  as  one  semitone  lower,  when 
the  interval  can  be  easily  determined,  e.g., 
CJ5  to  Git  is  a  minor  fifth,  because  the  in- 
terval is  one  semitone  less  than  CJ  to  GjJ, 
the  normal  fifth.  When  the  lower  note  is  a 
flattened  note,  which  has  no  scale  of  its  own, 
consider  it  as  temporarily  raised  before  deter- 
mining the  nature  of  the  interval,  thus  C\>\}  to 
G7  is  an  augmented  fifth,  because  it  is  one 
semitone  greater  than  the  normal  fifth  CI?  to 
G7." 

The  only  obstacle  to  the  general  adoption 
of  this  excellent  method  of  tabulating  intervals 
is  to  be  found  in  the  pertinacity  with  which 
professors  adhere  to  the  expression  perfect 
fifth  and  perfect  fourth,  and  abhor  the  term 
major  fifth  and  major  fourth.  T'.is  absurd 
prejudice,  which  arguments  drawn  tinm  the 
history  and  science  of  music  seem  to  have  no 
power  to  remove,  must  be  allowed  to  die  of 
old  age.  If  there  is  any  real  distinction 
between  the  perfection  of  a  fifth  and  the 
imperfection  of  a  third,  it  might  even  then 
be  allowed  to  students  to  call  fourths  and 
fifths  major,  on  the  understanding  that  they 
also  possessed  a  remarkable  perfection  which 
no  other  intervals  possess. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  intervals  should 
be  called,  instead  of  (i)  minor,  (2)  major,  and 
(3)  augmented;  (i)  minor,  (2)  normal,  and 
(3)  major.  This  would  certainly  be  a  better 
system  than  any  yet  devised  ;  but  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  disturb 
the  universally  accepted  meaning  of  the  word 
major. 

Intervals  greater  than  major  or  normal 
have  been  termed  (besides  augmented)  ex- 
treme, sharp,  superfluous,  pluperfect,  &c. 

Intimo  [It.)    With  inward  emotion. 

Intonare  [It.)    To  tune,  to  sing. 

Intonation,  (i)  The  method  of  producing 
sound  from  a  voice  or  an  instrument.  (2) 
Correctness  of  pitch  ;  e.g.,  just  intonation, 
singing  or  playing  in  perfect  tune.  (3)  The 
method  of  chanting  certain  portions  of  the 
church  services.    [Accent,  §  4.]     (4)  The 


(  242  ) 


INTONATOR  -ITE  MISSA  EST. 


notes  which  precede  the  reciting-note  in  a 
Gregorian  chant. 

Intonator.  A  monochord,  or  single  string 
stretched  across  a  flat  sound-board.  Below 
the  string  is  a  diagram  of  the  exact  divisions 
of  the  monochord  necessary  for  the  produc- 
tion of  the  true  musical  scale.  By  means  of 
a  moveable  bridge,  the  student  is  able  to 
sound  the  notes  represented  on  the  diagram, 
and  so,  to  educate  his  ear  to  a  true  sense  of 
relative  pitch. 

Intonazione  {It.)  Intonation. 

Intoning.  The  practice  of  chanting  in 
the  Anglican  church  service,  which  includes 
the  delivery  of  the  prayers  in  monotone,  and 
the  precenting  or  leading  of  the  plain  song  of 
the  Psalms,  Credo,  Canticles,  &c. 

Intrada  (It.)  (From  intra,  between).  An 
interlude  or  entracte. 

Intrepidamente 


Intrepidezza,  con 


{It.)  Boldly,  dar- 
ingly, with  courage. 


Intrepido 

Introduction.  A  preparation  for,  or  pre- 
amble of,  a  movement  or  series  of  movements. 
Introductions  were  formerly  employed  only 
before  larger  musical  works  such  as  oratorios 
and  operas,  but  are  now  used  as  preparations 
to  works  of  nearly  every  kind  from  a  cantata 
to  a  waltz. 

Introducimento  {It.)    An  introduction. 

Introduzione  (7^.)  Introduction. 

Introit.  Introito  {It.)  Introitus  {Lat. 
from  intro-eo).  An  antiphon  sung  while  the 
priest  proceeds  to  the  altar  to  celebrate  mass. 
In  the  Anglican  Church,  a  short  anthem, 
psalm,  or  hymn,  sung  while  the  minister  pro- 
ceeds to  the  table  to  administer  the  Holy 
Communion.  Formerly,  in  some  English 
cathedrals,  the  Sanctus  was  sung  as  an  In- 
troit. This  practice  arose  probably  from  the 
fact  that  the  Communion  Service  soon  after 
the  Reformation  ceased  to  be  performed 
chorally,  a  proof  of  which  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  for  nearly  two  centuries — namely, 
from  1660  to  1840 — the  Sanctus  was  never 
set  to  music  except  as  an  Introit,  nor  was  the 
Gloria  in  excelsis  set,  but  as  an  anthem. 
[Cathedral  music] 

Invention,  (i)  The  gift  of  finding  new 
melodic  phrases,  or  new  combinations  in  har- 
mony. The  possessor  of  such  a  gift  is  fre- 
quently the  founder  of  a  school  or  style  in 
music.  (2)  Suites  des  pieces.  [Suite.]  (3)  The 
name  of  a  piece  of  music  of  a  fanciful 
character. 

Invenzione  {It.)  Invention. 

Inversion.  The  transposition  of  certain 
phrases  having  a  common  root.  There  are 
three  kinds  of  inversions  in  music — (i)  of 
chords  ;  (2)  of  intervals  ;  (3)  of  subjects. 

(i)  The  inversion  of  a  chord  is  effected  by 
making  one  of  the  inner  notes  act  as  a  bass 


note,  and  by  this  means  as  many  inversions 
can  be  made,  as  there  are  actual  notes  in  the 
chord,  not  counting  the  root.  In  such  inver- 
sions the  harmony  remains  the  same,  although 
the  order  of  component  parts  is  changed. 

(2)  Intervals  are  inverted  by  making  that 
which  was  the  upper  note  the  lower,  and  the 
reverse.  The  inversion  of  an  interval  within 
the  octave  may  readily  be  found  in  the  differ- 
ence between  the  figure  9  and  the  interval 
known  ;  thus  an  interval  of  a  second  becomes 
a  seventh  by  inversion,  &c. 

(3)  The  inversion  of  a  subject  is  produced 
by  inverting  the  intervals  of  which  it  con- 
sists.   [Al  rovescio.] 

Invitatorium  [Lat.)  A  sort  of  introduc- 
tory sentence  or  antiphon  immediately  pre- 
ceding one  of  the  oi?ices  of  the  Church  ;  such, 
for  instance,  as  parts  of  the  Venite  cxulteinus, 
or  other  words  inviting  the  presence  or  atten- 
tion of  the  congregation. 

Invitatory.  [Invitatorium.] 

Ionian  mode.  The  Church  mode  com- 
mencing on  the  note  C. 

Ira,  con  \ 

Iratamente  [  {It.)  Wrathfully,  with  anger. 
Irato  ) 

Irish  bagpipe.  [Bagpipe.] 

Irish  harp.  [Harp.] 

Irlandais  {Fr.)    In  the  Irish  style. 

Ironicamente)  .r.  .  „ 

Ironico  H^^-^  Ironically. 

Irresoluto  {It.)  Uncertain,  without  set- 
tled purpose,  in  an  undecided  manner. 

Isochronism.  Periodical  recurrence. 
[Acoustics.] 

Ison  {Gk.)  In  the  music  of  the  early 
Greek  Church,  the  ison  was  the  key-note  or 
tonic  of  a  chant.    The  ison  was  moveable. 

Istesso  {It.)  The  same;  as,  I'istesso  tempo, 
at  the  same  pace. 

Istrumento.  An  old  form  of  stromento, 
an  instrument. 

Italian  sixth.  The  name  of  a  chord  con 
taining  a  bass  note  accompanied  by  a  majo. 
third  and  a  sharp  sixth. 


[Extreme  sixth.] 

Italian  strings.  Catgut  strings  for  violins 
and  similar  instruments,  prepared  in  a  pecu- 
liar manner,  so  that  they  are  more  transparent 
in  appearance,  and  less  liable  to  become  false 
in  use  than  ordinary  strings.  The  majority  of 
real  Italian  strings  are  made  in  Rome.  [Catgut.] 

Italienne,  a  1'  {Fr.)        the  Itahan  style. 

Italiano  {It.)  ) 

Ite  missa  est  {Lat.)  The  concluding 
words  of  the  Mass  in  the  Romish  Church, 
from  whence  the  name  of  that  service  (Mass) 
is  derived. 


(  243 


JACK  ^JIG. 


J. 


Jack.  The  name  of  the  hoppers  attached 
to  the  keys  of  a  harpsichord  ;  the  end  of  the 
jack  was  furnished  with  a  quill,  as  plectrum, 
to  pluck  the  strings.  [Pianoforte.] 

Jager-chor  {Ger.)    Hunting  chorus. 

Jaleo.  Zaleo  (S/>.)  A  national  dance  of 
Spain. 

Janitscharen-musik  {Ger).  Janissary 
music,  noisy  music  on  instruments  of  per- 
cussion. 

Jeu  {Fr.)  A  stop  on  the  organ,  or  har- 
monium.   Grand  jeu,  the  full  power. 

Jeu  d'anche  {Fr.)    Reed  stop. 

Jeu  d'ange  {Fr.)    The  vox  angelica  stop. 

Jeu  de  flute  {Fr.)    Flute  stop. 

Jeu  d'orgue  (Fr.)    An  organ  stop. 

Jeux  doux  {Fr.)    Sweet  or  soft  stops. 

Jeux  forts  {Fr.)    Loud  stops. 

Jew's  harp.  Jew's  trump,  tromp  de  beam, 
{Fr.),  Mundtrommel,  Brnnimeisen  {Ger.)  A 
simple  musical  instrument  held  between  the 
lips,  the  musical  sound  coming  from  the  vibra- 
tions of  a  tongue  of  metal,  bent  at  a  right  angle, 
which  is  set  in  motion  by  being  twitched  with 
the  forefinger.  The  sound  is  increased  in 
intensity  by  the  breath,  and  altered  in  pitch  by 
the  shape  of  the  cavity  of  the  mouth,  which 
acts  as  a  reflector.  This  name  some  derive 
from  jeu,  play,  from  the  fact  of  its  being  a  toy; 
others  find  the  derivation  of  the  word  in  the 
manner  in  which  the  instrument  is  used,  jfaw's 
trump;  the  German  word  Maultrommel  seems 
to  confirm  the  latter  derivation.  Insignificant 
as  the  instrument  seems,  it  is  capable  of 
producing  the  most  beautiful  and  pleasing 
sounds  of  a  melancholy  character. 

A  common  soldier,  named  Koch,  who  served 
in  the  army  of  Frederick  the  Great,  first  raised 
the  Jew's  harp  from  a  toy  to  a  solo  instru- 
ment, and  a  M.  Eulenstein  gave  concerts  in 
London  some  fifty  years  ago,  during  which 
he  performed  upon  sixteen  instruments,  by 
which  means  he  obtained  a  compass  of  four 
octaves.  The  Jew's  harp  is  an  old  invention, 
being  mentioned  under  the  name  of  Cremba- 
lum  by  Praetorius  in  his  Organographia,  in 
the  year  1619.  It  is  a  favourite  instrument 
with  the  Hottentots,  at  the  Cape,  who  load 
the  end  of  the  elastic  spring  or  vibrator  with 
small  portions  of  hard  wax  to  deepen  the 
tone.    The  inhabitants  of  the  island  of  St.  1 


I  Kilda  were  formerly  great  proficients  upon 
i  this,  which  was  their  only  instrument  of 
music. 

Jig.  Gigue  [Fr).  Giga  {It.)  (i)  A  lively 
dance  which  may  be  performed  by  one  or 
more  dancers.  It  is  popular  among  many 
nations,  is  distinguished  by  various  titles, 
and  has  a  certain  amount  of  difference  in  the 
steps  according  to  the  habits  and  customs  of 
the  people  by  whom  it  is  adopted.  With 
some  it  is  a  sober,  steady,  jog-trot  sort  of  a 
country  dance,  with  others  it  is  a  wild,  savage 
exercise,  without  point  or  meaning.  With 
some  it  is  made  a  means  of  displa}  ing  the 
agility  of  the  lower  limbs  of  a  combined 
company  of  dancers ;  with  others  it  is  a 
terpsichorean  drama  for  two  performers,  in 
which  all  the  emotions  excited  by  love  are 
represented  by  gestures  and  monosyllabic 
cries.  The  Hornpipe,  La  Matelotte,  La  Segui- 
dilla,  the  Czardasch,  the  Reel,  the  Rant, 
are  portions  of  the  country  dance;  the  Bolero 
and  the  Chica  are  only  jigs  in  various  forms. 

The  term  has  been  derived  from  the  word 
chica,  the  name  of  a  dance  identical  with  the 
jig  in  some  of  its  characteristics.  But  the 
similarity  of  the  title  of  the  instrument 
"Geige,"  a  fiddle,  with  which  the  dance  was 
usually  accompanied,  with  the  name  of  the 
dance,  would  seem  to  point  to  an  origin 
similar  to  that  of  "  hornpipe,"  where  the 
character  of  the  instrument  gave  the  name  to 
the  tunes  played  upon  it. 

The  jig,  gigue,  gighe,  or  giga,  as  it  is 
variously  spelt,  was  one  of  the  mstruments 
used  by  the  musicians  of  the  12th  and  13th 
centuries,  and  this  is  generally  understood  to 
have  been  a  sort  of  fiddle. 

The  "Geige,"  or  "jigg"  may  have  received 
its  name  from  the  "  up  and  down  "  motion 
with  which  it  is  played.  A  fiddlestick  is  still 
called  in  the  west  of  England  a  "jigger," 
and  there  is  a  sort  of  pump  used  by  brewers 
which  has  the  same  name.  In  the  east  of 
England  a  sieve  is  called  a  "jiggin,"  and 
there  are  many  other  words  of  cognate  origin, 
which  it  would  scarcely  serve  the  present 
purpose  to  quote. 

Songs  sung  by  clowns  in  the  interludes  to 
the  plays  were  called  jigs,  and  any  ambling 
rhyme  was  also  called  a  "jig." 


(  244  ) 


In  the  romance  of  "  Gawaine  and  the 
Green  Knight,"  the  word  Bauderyk  is  used. 
It  is  explained  in  the  "  Promptorium  Parvu- 
lorum"  as  meaning  "  guige,"  a  transverse 
strap,  by  which  the  shield  was  suspended 
round  the  neck.  The  use  of  the  word  with 
such  a  meaning  may  account  for  the  fact  that 
the  vielle  or  hurdy-gurdy  is  called  geige, 
gigalira  or  giga-vel-lira  from  having  been 
slung  round  the  body.  ; 

Jig-tunes  or  fiddle-tunes  are  frequently 
found  in  old  MS.  and  printed  collections  from 
the  i6th  century  onwards.  They  are  all  of 
lively  character  though  of  no  special  or  dis- 
tinctive rhythm.  Jigs,  though  now  danced 
by  one,  or  by  two  at  the  most,  were  formerly 
"  round  dances,"  in  which  many  did  indulge. 

 "  the  mad  lads 

And  country  lasses,  every  mother's  child 
With  nosegays  and  bridle-laces  in  their  hats 
Dance  all  their  country  measures,  rounds, 
and  jigs." 

Heywood  "  A  woman  killed  with  kindness." 

Mr.  Chappell  (Popular  Music,  p.  792),  says 
that  "  the  jig  is  now  associated  in  the  public 
mind  with  Ireland."  but  he  further  says  that 
he  has  "  not  found  one  called  Irish  before 
the  latter  part  of  the  17th  century."  Scotch 
jigs  were  noticed  before  Irish  jigs,  as  for 
example, by  Shakespear  in  "  Much  Ado  about 
Nothing,"   comparing   "  wooing,  wedding, 
and  repenting"  with  a  Scotch  jig,  a  measure  1 
and  a  cinque-pace;  and  this  comparison  im-  j 
plies  that  the  Scotch  jig  was  of  a  lively  , 
character.  j 

(2)  As  a  movement  in  a  "  suite,"  the  jig  is 
found  in  works  produced  towards  the  latter 
part  of  the  17th  century,  and  onwards  to  the 
time  of  Haydn.    At  first  the  phrases  were  1 
short,  and  of  no    more  variety  than   was  ! 
needed  for  the  purposes  of  the  dance,  for  the  [ 
jig  was  occasionally  one  of  the  figures  of  the 
country  dance.    But  later  it  was  made  the 
vehicle  for  display  in  harpsichord  playing,  and 
was  lengthened  and  elaborated  and  became 
the  origin  of  the  last  movement  of  the  sonata. 
It  was  written  in  |,  f ,  f ,  |,  |,  |,  and  l^-  time  ; 
the  peculiarity  of  the  rhythm  of  triplets  was 
nearly  always  preserved  if  not  insisted  upon. 

Sir  John  Hawkins  says  that  the  character- 
istic of  the  jig  "  is  duple  time,  thus  marked 
I  or  y,"  and  "that  the  air  consists  of  two 
strains,  undetermined  as  to  the  number  of 
bars;"  others  say  it  is  "of  compounds  of 
threes  in  time,"  and  many  of  the  "gigues" 
belonging  to  the  "suites"  are  written  to  j 
show  the  prominence  of  the  triplets.  But  the 
following  "jigg"  out  of  "  Compositions  for 
Broken  and  Whole  Consorts  of  two,  three, 
ffower,  ffive  and  six  parts,  made  by  Matthew 
Locke,  composer  in  ordinary  to  His  Majesty 
Charles   the   II.,"  written   in   1672,  is  an 


example  of  duple  measure  and  unusual 
rhythm. 


The  subjoined  specimens  of  jig  tunes  will 
give  an  idea  of  the  progress  in  treatment 
from  the  earliest  time  when  the  dance  was 
adopted  as  a  harpsichord  piece,  until  it  began 
to  be  disused. 


A  JEGG. 

Ben  Rogers,  of  Windsor,  1678. 


JIG.« 

Mr.  EccLES,  c.  1690. 


•  A  modification  of  this  tune  is  still  employed  for  the 
so-called  Irish  Jig. 


(  245  ) 


JIG. 


(  246  ) 


JINGLES  ^JUSTESSE. 


Jingles.  Discs  of  tin,  brass,  or  bell  metal, 
fastened  at  intervals  round  a  tambourine. 
[Tambourine.] 

Jobel  (Heb.)  A  word  applied  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  to  certain  trumpets  or  horns.  It 
is  probably  equal  to  the  affix  jubilee ;  but, 
jubilee-horns  were  used  for  other  purposes 
besides  that  of  proclaiming  of  jubilees. 

Joculator.  [Troubadour.] 

Jodeln  (Ger.)  Jodie,  Jodl.  A  peculiar 
method  of  singing  adopted  by  the  Swiss  and 
Tyrolese,  by  the  rapid  alternation  in  melodic 
progressions,  of  the  natural  and  falsetto 
voice. 

The  following  is  a  specimen  of  a.  jodl  at 
the  close  of  a  national  Swiss  song. 


au      di  -  a  lo 


Jongleurs.  [Confrerie  de  St.  Julien.] 
[Troubadour.] 

Jump.  Another  name  for  the  dance  called 
a  dumpe.  [Dump.] 

Just  intonation.  The  correct  sounding 
of  intervals  in  singing  or  playing.  [In- 
tonation.] 

Juste  (Fr.)    Lit.,  just.    In  tune. 

Justesse  {Fr.)  Equality,  purity,  and  cor- 
rectness ;  as  justesse  de  la  voix,  purity  of 
intonation,  justesse  de  I'oreille,  correctness 
of  ear. 


KABARO  KETTLE-DRUMS. 


K. 


Kabaro.  A  small  drum  used  by  the  Egypt- 
ians and  Abyssinians. 

Kalamaika.  A  Hungarian  dance. 

Kammer  (Ger.)  Chamber,  e.g.,  Kammer- 
concert,  chamber- concert ;  Kammer -musik, 
chamber-music  {q.v.) ;  Kammer-ton,  concert 
pitch.  [Chorton.] 

Karidele  or  Kantele.  The  ancient  min- 
strel's harp  of  the  Finns.  The  name  is  also 
given  to  a  species  of  dulcimer,  having  five 
strings,  in  use  among  the  same  people. 

Kanon.  [Canon.] 

Kanonik.  [Canon.] 

Kanoon.    A  dulcimer.  [Canun.] 

Kapellmeister  {Ger.)  The  leader  or  con- 
ductor of  a  band  of  music.  [Capellmeister.] 

Keckheit  {Ger.)  Boldness,  audacity, 
vigour. 

Keeners.  Irish  singing  mourners,  who,  in 
olden  times,  were  hired  to  howl  at  funerals, 
in  perpetuation  of  a  heathen  custom  derived 
from  a  Phoenician  ancestry.  The  duty  of 
professional  keeners  was  undertaken  by  the 
females  of  the  family,  or  acquaintance  of  the 
deceased.  After  the  body  had  been  dressed 
in  grave-clothes,  adorned  with  flowers,  and 
placed  upon  a  bier,  the  chief  keener  arranged 
his  followers  at  the  foot  and  head  of  the 
corpse,  and  recited  at  the  first  the  Caoinan.  in 
which  were  described  the  virtues  and  pos- 
sessions of  the  departed.  This  eulogy  sung  I 
softly,  and  accompanied  upon  the  harp,  was 
followed  by  a  full  chorus  of  all  assembled  ; 
the  ullalii,  or  Jiuhbahoo  as  it  was  sometimes 
called,  next  followed,  joined  in  by  every  one 
in  a  louder  voice  ;  and  after  this  was  ended, 
the  gonl,  or  lament,  followed,  m  which  the 
sounds  were  often  raised  to  howls  and  yells. 
The  process  was  repeated  during  the  wake  or 
vigil  before  the  burial,  the  keeners  sometimes 
following  the  corpse  to  the  grave.  When  the 
body  was  laid  down  for  the  purpose  of  resting 
the  bearers,  or  the  procession  came  in  sight 
of  a  wayside  cross  or  chapel,  the  keening  was 
suspended,  and  all  present  knelt  to  say  in 
silence  an  Ave  or  a  Pater  noster,  a  practice 
which  may  be  held  to  denote  that  keening 
was  felt  to  be  incongruous  with  Christian 
usage. 


Kent  Bugle.    [Metal  wind  instruments.] 

Kermangeh.  An  Arabian  instrument  of 
the  fiddle  class.  [Violin.] 

Keras  (G^.)  Ktpnc,  a  horn.  Originally,  any 
instrument  made  out  of  the  horn  of  an  animal. 
Lat.,  cormi. 

Kerana  or  Kerrena.  The  name  of  the 
Persian  horn  which  is  sounded  at  sunset  and 
at  midnight. 

Keraulophon.  An  organ  stop,  invented  by 
Gray  and  Davison.  Its  pipes  are  of  small 
scale,  and  are  surmounted  by  a  moveable  ring 
of  metal.    Its  tone  is  soft,  delicate,  and  reedy. 

Keren.  A  Hebrew  trumpet.  The  word  is 
sometimes  used  in  the  Bible  as  synonymous 
with  shophar,  and  to  it  is  sometimes  affixed 
jobel,  rendered  in  the  English  version  rams'- 
horns. 

Kern  [Ger.)  The  language  of  an  organ- 
pipe. 

Ketten-triller  {Ger.)  [Catena  di  trilli,] 
Kettle-drums.  Timbales  (Fr.);  Timpani 
{It.) ;  Pauken  {Ger.)  Instruments  formed  of 
shells  of  copper  or  brass,  over  the  top  of 
which  parchment  is  stretched.  Parchment  is 
considered  best  when  most  transparent. 

There  are  two  drums  usually  employed,  the 
tuning  of  the  larger  being  limited  to  the  notes 
between 


And  of  the  smaller  between 


So  that  the  two  drums  overlap  each  other  in 
compass  by  a  tone. 

The  tuning  is  effected  by  tightening  or 
loosening  the  head  or  skin  by  means  of  a 
ring  of  metal  moved  by  screws  turned  by  a 
key.  Several  plans  have  been  invented  by 
v/hich  they  may  be  tuned  from  one  screw. 
Cornelius  Ward's  plan  was  by  means  of  an 
endless  cord  passing  into  the  interior  of  the 
drum.  Potter's  is  by  curved  rods  outside  the 
shell  and  meeting  in  the  centre  at  the  botton,. 
Drums  are  usually  tuned  to  the  tonic  anci 
dominant  of  the  piece  in  which  they  are  em- 
ployed, but  other  tunings  are  found  in  somo 


KEY  KEY-BOARD. 


scores,  as,  for  example,  in  Mendelssohn's 
Rondo  in  Btl,  in  which  the  drums  are  in  D 
and  E.  Beethoven,  the  first  who  elevated  the 
drum  from  a  mere  noise-producing  machine 
into  an  orchestral  instrument,  has  his  drums 
tuned  in  various  ways  in  his  scores,  as  a 
reference  to  his  symphonies  will  show.  In 
No.  7,  I  St  and  2nd  movements,  they  are  in 
fifths  played  as  written  ;  3rd  movement,  in 
sixths  as  written.  In  No.  8,  ist  and  3rd 
movements,  in  fifths  played  as  written  ;  4th 
movement,  in  octaves.  In  No.  9,  ist  move- 
ment, in  fourths  as  written  ;  2nd  movement, 
in  octaves  ;  3rd  movement,  in  fifths  ;  4th,  in 
fourths. 

Drums  for  all  modern  scores  are  of  8ft. 
tone,  giving  a  definite  and  accurate  note. 
When  the  drums  are  required  simply  for 
marking  rhythmical  measures,  the  i6i't.  tone 
is  best.  For  this  reason  modern  writers  add 
the  long  drum  (grosse  caisse,  Fr.;  gran  cassa, 
//. ;  Trommel,  Ger.)  to  their  scores.  The  bass 
clef  is  usually  employed  in  writing  for  the 
kettle-drums.  Sometimes  the  notes  required 
are  written  in  their  proper  places  on  the  stave, 
but  the  notes  to  which  they  are  to  be  tuned  is 
always  stated,  as : 

Timpani  in  D,  A.  t-~iC=J::^-^ — J    t-  || 

Neither  sharps  nor  flats  are  ever  written 
as  signatures  for  the  drums.  If  the  sounds 
required  are  the  tonic  and  dominant  of  the 
key,  the  drum  part  may  be  written  in  C.  If 
other  notes  are  needed,  the  rule  is  to  write 
the  actual  notes,  but  without  sharps  or  flcits  : 

Timpani  in  Bt>,  F.  ( 

Drums  were  formerly  used  in  combination 
with  trumpets  [Dettingen  Te  Deum,  Mozart's 
No.  6  Symphony],  Beethoven  being  the  first 
to  employ  them  as  a  means  of  gaining  special 
solo  effects  (see  his  Symphony  in  F,  No.  8, 
and  Scherzo  of  No.  9). 

Snare,  or  side-drums,  are  employed  in  the 
same  manner  that  the  long-drum  is,  that  is 
to  say  for  rhythmical,  not  for  harmonic  effects. 
[See  Rossini's  overture  to  "  La  Gazza  ladra," 
and  the  "  Benedizione  de  pugnali "  scene  in 
Meyerbeer's  "  Huguenots."] 

The  long-drum  being  played  with  one  stick, 
the  player  is  frequently  called  upon  to  per- 
form upon  the  cymbals  at  the  same  time,  not 
with  the  best  effect  with  regard  to  the  cymbals, 
for  cymbals  ought  to  be  slided  one  over  the 
other  and  not  struck  flat  together. 

The  best  sort  of  sticks  for  the  kettle-drums 
are  those  having  whalebone  handles  with  a 
wooden  button  covered  by  a  piece  of  sponge  ; 
by  the  use  of  these  the  finest  gradations  of 
tone  may  be  gained. 


A  lone 
dicated  : 


A  short  roll  thus 


roll  upon  the  drum  is  thus  in- 


Kettle-drums  are  said  to  have  been  intro- 
duced into  the  orchestra  by  Handel,  who 
employed  a  pair  taken  as  part  of  the  spoil  at 
the  battle  of  Dettingen,  in  the  score  of  the 
Te  Deum,  written  in  celebration  of  that 
event ;  but  the  drum  was  first  employed  by 
Lully  to  strengthen  the  tutti  parts  of  his 
overtures  and  choruses. 

Among  many  remarkable  passages  for  the 
drum  may  be  noted  that  in  A  in  the  slow 
part  of  the  overture  to  "  Der  Freischutz," 
also  one  note  C  piano  when  the  first  subject 
(syncopated)  of  the  middle  movement  returns. 
Four  notes  in  Violin  Concerto,  Beethoven.  In 
Haydn's  Mass  No.  2,  and  of  "  Agnus  Dei," 
on  the  words  "  Dona  nobis  paceiji,"  some 
soft  notes  of  the  drum  are  introduced  which 
at  first  seem  inappropriate. 

Key.  (i)  A  mechanical  contrivance  for 
closing  or  opening  ventages,  as  in  flutes, 
clarinets,  ophicleides,  &c.  By  means  of  keys 
on  such  instruments,  apertures  too  remote  to 
be  reached  by  the  outstretched  fingers  are 
brought  under  control  of  the  player.  (2)  A 
lever  which  brings  the  pallets  of  an  organ 
under  the  control  of  the  hand  or  foot  of  an 
organist.  (3)  A  lever  which  controls  the 
striking  apparatus  of  a  key-stringed  instru- 
ment. In  the  harpsichord  it  acted  on  the  jack, 
in  the  pianoforte  it  acts  on  the  hammer.  (4) 
The  wrest  or  key  used  for  tuning  instruments 
having  metal  pegs.  Its  end  is  hollowed  out, 
so  as  to  fit  over  the  four-sided  end  of  the  peg, 
and  the  crossbar  with  which  it  is  surmounted 
gives  leverage  to  the  hand  of  the  tuner,  so 
that  he  is  enabled  to  tighten  or  loosen  a  string, 
or  (in  the  case  of  a  drum)  slacken  or  strain  a 
parchment.  (5)  The  sign  placed  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  musical  stave  which  shows 
the  pitch  of  the  notes,  was  originally  called  a 
clavis  or  key.  This  sign  is  called  in  modern 
music  a  clef.  [Clef.]  (6)  Key,  in  its  modern 
sense,  is  the  starting  point  of  the  definite 
series  of  sounds  which  form  the  recognised 
scale.  Different  starting-points  require  the 
relative  proportion  of  the  steps  of  the  scale 
to  be  maintained  by  means  of  sharps  or  flats 
in  the  signature.  The  key  of  C  requires  no 
flats  or  sharps  for  this  purpose,  hence  it  is 
called  the  7iormal  key. 

Key-board.  Clavier  {Ger.)  The  range 
of  keys  upon  a  pianoforte  or  organ.  Keys 


(  249 


KEY-BUGLE  KYRIE  ELEISON. 


played  by  the  fingers  are  called  manuals ; 

those  by  the  feet  are  called  pedals. 

Key-bugle.    [Metal  wind  instruments.] 
Key-chord.    The  common  chord  of  the 

tonic,  e.g.  :  C,  E,  G  is  the  key-chord  of  C. 
Key-note.    The  note  which,  according 

to  the  signatui forms  the  starting  point  of 

the  scale.    The  tonic.    The  doh. 

Key-trumpet.  [Metal  wind  instruments.] 
Khalil,  Chain,   or   Halil   [Heb.)  The 

ilute  of  the  Hebrews.    As  the  word  is  traced 

to  a  root  signifying  bored  through,it  is  quite 

possible  that  it  may  have   been   like  the 

aidos,  used  to  describe  either  a  flute  or  an 

oboe. 

Kin.  A  Chinese  musical  instrument,  the 
scholar's  lute,  a  sort  of  dulcimer. 

King.  A  Chinese  instrument  of  percussion, 
consisting  of  metal  plates,  which  are  struck 
with  a  hammer. 

Kink.  A  twist  in  a  catgut  string  from 
close  laying,  which,  by  uncoiling  and  weaken- 
ing that  part  of  the  string  in  which  it  occurs, 
frequently  makes  it  useless  for  the  instrument 
for  which  it  is  intended. 

Kinnor.  Oiie  of  the  most  ancient  of  the 
Hebrew  string-instruments,  being  the  first 
mentioned  in  the  Bible  ;  Jubal  "  was  the 
father  of  such  as  handle  the  harp  {kinnor) 
and  organ  (ugab)"  (Genesis  iv.  21).  The 
German  version  has  it,  "  from  him  descended 
fi.ddLcrs  (Geigerj  and  pipers"  Pfeiffer).  Several 
theories  have  been  brought  forward  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  kinnor.  It  has  been  variously 
described  as  a  small  harp,  a  lyre,  and  a 
guitar. 

Kirche  {Ger.)  Church,  as  Kirchencom- 
ponist,  church  composer;  KircJiemnusik, 
church  music;  Kirclienstyl,  church  stvle.  &c. 

Kit.  Pochette  iPr.)  Bretgeige  [Ger.) 
A  small  violin,  about  sixteen  inches  long, 
played  with  a  bow  of  nearly  the  same  length, 
used  by  dancing  masters  because  of  its  con- 
venience for  carrying  in  the  kit  or  pocket. 
It  should  be  stated  that  some  have  derived 
the  word  from  the  Persian  kitar,  cithara, 
guitar.  The  Italian  name  of  kit,  sordino,  is 
given  to  it  because  of  its  small  stijled  tone. 

Klang  (Ger.)  Sound.  Quality  of  sound, 
timbre.  (Fr.) 

Klangboden  (Ger.)  Sound  board.  Re- 
sonance box. 

Klangfarbe  (Ger.)  Lit.,  sound-colour. 
Quality  of  sound,  timbre.  (Fr.) 

Klanggeschlecht  (Ger.)  A  kind  or  genus 
of  sounds,  as  diatonisches,chromatisches, und 
enharmonisches  Klanggeschlecht,  the  diatonic, 
chromatic,  and  enharmonic  genera. 

Klangleiter  (Ger.)  A  scale.  Lit.,  sound- 
ladder. 


Klappe  (Ger.)  The  key  of  any  wind  in- 
strument.   A  valve. 

Klappen-flugel-horn  (Ger.)  Keyed  bugle 

Klappen  -trompete  (Ger.)  Keyed  trumpet 

Klein  (Ger.)  Small,  (i)  Minor,  as  kleiner 
Hall)ton,a.  minor  semi-tone;  kleiner  Nonenak^ 
kord,  the  chord  of  the  minor  ninth,  &c. 
(2)  Small,  as  Klein-bass,  or  kleine  Bassgeige, 
a  violoncello;  klein  gedackt,  a  small  stopped 
diapason,  a  stopped  flute. 

Klingel  {Ger.)    A  small  bell. 

Knee  stop.  A  mechanical  contrivance 
on  harmoniums,  by  which  certain  shutters 
are  made  to  open  gradually  when  the  knees 
are  pressed  against  levers  conveniently  placed 
for  the  purpose.  A  crescendo  and  diminuendo 
are  thus  produced. 

Knell.  A  stroke  upon  a  bell  made  at 
periodic  intervals,  at  the  time  of  a  death  or 
funeral. 

"  When  thou  dost  hear  a  toll  or  knell, 
Then  think  upon  thy  passing  bell." 

Old  Proverb. 

A  single  stroke  is  made  for  a  child,  two 
strokes  for  a  woman,  and  three  for  a  man. 

Knicky-knackers.    The  common  instru- 
ment of  percussion  known  as  bones. 
"  Then  let  our  armies  join  and  sing," 
And  pit-a-pat  make  our  knackers  ring." 

MiDDLEioN.    Tlic  Gipsy  Ki-ut,  1623. 
Kniegeige  {^Ger.)    A  Viula  da  gamba. 
Knoll.  [Knell.] 

Kopfstimme  [Ger.)  Head  voice.  Voce 
di  testa.  {It.) 

Koppeln  [Ger.)    Couplers.  [Organ.] 

Kraft  iGer.)  Energy,  vigour.  Krd/tig, 
energetically. 

Kreis-lieder  [Ger.)  A  circle  or  series  of 
songs. 

Kreuz  (Ger.)  The  sign  for  a  sharp. 
Doppelkrettz,  a.  double  sharp. 

Kriegslied,  or  Kriegsgesang  (Ger.)  A 
battle  song. 

Krome  {Ger.)    A  quaver  0'[Lat.  chroma). 

Krotalon.  [Crotalum.] 

Kroumatic.  Instrumental.  KpovfiariK}) 
finviTtdi  (Gk.),  instrumental  music.  Sounds 
produced  by  striking. 

Krummhorn  (Ger.)  Lit.,  crooked  horn. 
Cornetto  curve  (It.)  Corno  storto  {It.)  An 
organ  stop,  consisting  of  reed  pipes.  It  is  of 
8ft.  pitch.  This  name  has  been  corrupted  to 
Cremona  on  English  organs. 

Krustische  instrumente  {Ger.)  Instru- 
ments of  percussion  (from  Gk.  Kpovw,  to  strike). 
[Kroumatic]. 

Kuhhorn  {Ger.)  Cor  de  vache  {Fr.)  A 
cow  horn.    The  common  Alpine  horn. 

Kurz  {Ger.)  Short. 

Kyrie  eleison  {Gk.)  [Mass.] 


(  250  ) 


L  LANTUM. 


L.  The  letter  employed  as  the  abbreviation 
of  the  word  left  or  linke  (Ger.),  as  L.  H.  left 
hand  or  linke  Hand. 

La.  (i)  The  solfeggio  name  for  the  sixth 
degree  of  the  scale.  (2)  The  key-note  of  the 
minor  scale  without  a  signature. 

La  bemol  (Fr.)    The  note  A  flat. 

La  bemol  majeur  {Fr.)  The  key  of  A 
flat  major. 

La  bemol  mineur  {Fr.)    The  key  of  A 
flat  minor.  | 

Labial.  Organ  pipes  with  lips.  Flue  j 
pipes.  I 

Labial-stimmen  {Ger.)  Stops  belonging 
to  the  Jliie  work. 

Labium.    The  lip  of  an  organ  pipe. 

Lacrimoso  {It.)  Mournfully. 

Lade  {Ger.)    Wind-chest  of  an  organ. 

La  destra  {It.)    The  right  hand. 

La  diese  {Fr.)    The  note  A  sharp. 

Lagrimando  {It.))      Mournfully,  sadly, 

Lagrimoso  {It.)   ]  tearfully. 

Lai  {Fr.)    A  lay,  song,  lied. 

Lament.  The  name  given  to  some  Scotch 
melodies  of  a  mournful  character,  or  to  tunes 
set  to  words  of  a  melancholy  cast. 

Lamentabile  {It.)  \ 

Lamentabilmente  {It.) 

Lamentando  {It.)  1  Mournfully, 

Lamentevolmente  {It.)  j  plaintively. 

Lamentevole  {It.) 

Lamentoso  {It.)  / 

Lampons  {Fr.)  Drinking  songs,  from  the 
word  lamper,  to  gulp  down,  whence,  pro- 
bably our  word  lampoon,  a  libellous  ballad. 

Lancers.  The  name  of  one  of  the  arrange- 
ments of  sets  of  country  dances. 

Landler  {Ger.)  The  name  given  to  a 
dance  popular  among  the  Styrian  peasants. 
The  tune  is  of  a  lively,  graceful  character  in 
I  or  f  time.  Many  of  the  melodies  proper  to 
this  dance  are  of  a  beautiful  and  simple  style. 


Langsam  {Ger.)  Slow ;  etwas  langsam, 
rather  slow ;  ziemlich  langsam,  moderately 
slow  ;  sehr  langsam,  very  slow. 

Language  of  organ  pipes.  [Organ.] 

Languemente  (/<.)  |         ^  languishing 

Languendo  (/i.)  ■ 

Languente  {It.)      )  •' 

Languettes  {Fr.)  (i)  The  vibrating 
tongues  of  brass  or  other  metal  attached  to 
the  reed-pipes  of  an  organ  or  harmonium. 
(2)  The  keys  or  valves  of  wind  instruments 
generally. 

Languid.  [Language.] 

Lantum.  A  name  of  uncertain  derivation 
given  to  a  modern  instrument  in  form  not 
unlike  the  hurdy-gurdy,  but  larger,  and  having 
metallic  reeds  or  tongues  similar  to  tliose  of 


(  251  ) 


LARGAMENTE- 


LARYNX. 


the  accordion,  concertina,  or  harmonium. 
The  air  is  supplied  by  a  rotatory  bellows,  the 
handle  of  which  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  in- 
struments and  the  series  of  small  square 
buttons  or  keys  which  are  in  front  are  played 
upon  by  the  fingers. 

Largamente  (It.)  Slowly,  widely,  freely, 
fully. 

Large.  A  note  formerly  in  use  of  the 
value  of  two  longs,  or  four  breves.  [Nota.] 

Largement  {Fr.)  [Largamente.] 

Larghetto  (It.)  Lit.,  rather  broadly, 
widely.  At  a  slow  pace,  but  not  so  slow  as /ayg-o. 

Larghissimo  (It.)  Exceedingly  slow,  as 
slow  as  possible. 

Largo  (It.)    Slow,  broadly. 

Largo  assai  (It.)    Quite  slow. 

Largo  di  molto  (/^.)    Very  slow. 

Largo  ma  non  troppo  (It.)  Slow,  but 
not  too  slow. 

Larigot  (Fr.)  (i)  An  old  name  for  the 
flageolet.  (2)  An  organ  stop  of  16  inches  pitch. 

Larynx  is  the  organ  of  voice  ;  the  organ 
by  means  of  which  we  produce  vocal  sounds. 
It  is  situated  at  the  top  of  the  trachea  or 
wind-pipe,  of  which  it  forms  a  continuation, 
and  its  position  is  known  popularly  by  that 
of  the  "  Adam's  apple,"  the  prominence  of 
one  of  the  cartilages  or  masses  of  gristle 
which  form  it. 

Fig.  I. 

FRONT  VIEW  OF  HYOID  BONE,  LARYNX,  TRACHEA,  AND 
BRONCHI  IN  THEIR  MUTUAL  RELATIONS. 


k.  Hyoid  bone ;  e.  epiglottis ;  t.  th3^oid  cartilage ; 
*.  cricoid  cartilage  j  tr.  trachea ;  b.  right  bronchus ; 
b'.  left  bronchus. 

The  essential  parts  are  two  semi-lunar 
membranes,  placed  with  their  flat  sides  next 
to  one  another,  and  called  the  "  vocal  cords," 
and  the  cartilages  which  support  them.  The 
accessory  portions  are  certain  other  carti- 
lages, the  muscles  which  move  these  cartilages, 
and  the  nerves  and  blood-vessels  by  which 
the  whole  structure  is  nourished  and  fur- 
nished with  sensation  and  motion. 

The  cartilages  are  nine  in  number,  six 
paired,  three  unpaired.  The  unpaired  carti- 
lages are  the  thyroid,  cricoid,  and  epiglottis  ; 


the  paired  are  the  two  arytenoids,  the  twc 
"  cornicula  laryngis  "  or  cartilages  of  Santo- 
rini,  and  the  cuneiform  cartilages  of  Wrisberg. 
Fig.  2. 

BACK  VIBW  OF  LARYNGEAL  CARTILAGES. 


I.  Epiglottis.  2.  ThjToid  cartilage:  a.  attachment 
of  epiglottis ;  b.  of  false  vocal  chords ;  c.  of  true 
vocal  chords.  3.  Cricoid  cartilage:  a.  facet  for  ary- 
tenoid cartilage ;  b  facet  for  lower  bone  of  thyroid 
cartilage.  4.  Arytenoid  and  accessory  cartilages :  a. 
arytenoid  cartilages;  6.  cornicula  laryngis  or  cartilages  of 
Santorini ;  c .  cuneiform  cartilage  or  cartilage  of  Wrisberg. 

The  cricoid  cartilage  is  ring-shaped,  as  its 
name  ((cpiVoc,  a  ring)  implies;  it  is  the  base  of 
the  support  of  the  other  cartilages.  It  is  not 
equally  deep  in  all  dimensions,  but  is  much 
dj:-]KT,  from  above  downwards,  behind  than 
in  Iront.  At  the  hindermost  part  are  two 
small  smooth  elevations,  and  lower  down  are 
two  other  smooth  surfaces.  The  former 
pair  of  these  smooth  surfaces  serve  as  the 
articulations  or  joints  for  the  arytenoid  carti- 
lages which  are  perched  on  them  and  work 
with  great  freedom  ;  the  latter  pair  are  the 
joints  for  part  of  the  thyroid  cartilages.  The 
movements  of  the  latter  pair  are  not  so  free 
as  those  of  the  former,  but  are  limited  to  a 
movement  round  an  imaginary  axis  running 
across  and  through  the  cricoid  cartilage, 
being  thus  a  horizontal  and  transverse  axis. 

The  arytenoid  cartilages  [apvTaivn,  a  pitcher) 
are  perched  on  the  two  smooth  elevations  on 
the  hinder  part  of  the  upper  border  of  the 
cricoid  cartilage.  They  are  more  or  less 
pyramids  of  three  sides  in  shape,  but  of  the 
sides  which  form  their  base,  two,  viz.,  the 
posterior  and  internal,  are  at  right  angles  to 
one  another.  The  anterior  tips  are  called  the 
"  processus  vocales,"  or  vocal  processes,  and 
to  them  are  attached  the  vocal  cords,  of 
which  we  shall  speak  further  on.  On  the 
summit  of  each  of  these  pyramids  are  placed 
two  other  small  cartilages,  the  "  cornicula 
laryngis "  (little  horns  of  the  larynx)  or 
"  cartilages  of  Santorini." 

The  thyroid  cartilage  (shield-like,  fiom 
dvptoQ,  a  shield)  is  the  largest  of  the  carti- 
lages of  the  larynx.  It  is  of  a  somewhat 
complicated  shape.  Take  a  thin  book — a 
note-book  will  do  very  well — open  it  in  the 
middle,  place  it   upright,  so  that  the  two 


(  252  ) 


LARYNX. 


covers  shall  be  at  an  angle  somewhat  more 
acute  than  a  right  angle  ;  cut  away  the  upper 
third  of  the  back,  or  junction  of  the  covers, 
so  as  to  leave  a  notch  above,  and  to  each  of 
the  corners  stick  a  piece  of  thin  wood,  such 
as  a  pencil,  the  two  upper  pencils  pointing 
upwards,  the  lower  downwards,  and  you  will 
have  a  fair  idea  of  the  thyroid  cartilage. 
The  two  lower  horns  articulate  or  join  with 
the  two  lower  smooth  surfaces  or  "facets"  on 
the  cricoid  cartilage  ;  to  the  two  upper  horns, 
ligaments  are  attached,  which  suspend  the 
th\  rc;id  cartilage  to  the  hyoid  bone,  a  horse- 
shoe shaped  bone,  with  its  convexity  forward, 
forming  the  base  of  the  tongue.  The  ante- 
rior part  of  the  thyroid  cartilage  projects 
much  more  in  adult  men  than  in  women  or 
children,  and  the  upper  part  of  the  anterior 
ridge,  with  the  notch,  form  the  projection 
known  as  the  "  pomum  Adami,"  or  Adam's 
apple,  from  an  old  tradition  that  the  forbidden 
fruit  stuck  in  his  throat.  The  thyroid  carti- 
lage at  the  passage  from  youth  to  adult  age 
grows  very  suddenly  larger  in  men,  and  as 
suddenly  but  to  a  less  degree  in  women.  On 
this  relative  size  and  prominence  of  the 
thyroid  cartilage  depends  the  deepness  of  the 
voice,  as  will  be  hereafter  mentioned. 

Fig-  3- 

BACK  VIEW  OF  HYOID    BONE,    LARYNX,    AND  TRACHEA 
IN  THEIR  MUTUAL  RELATIONS 

(Only  cartilages  and  bones  shown). 


k 


h.  Hyoid  bone  ;  e.  epiglottis  ;  (.  thyroid  cartilage ; 
a.  arytenoid  cartilages  ;  c.  cricoid  cartilage. 

The  epiglottis  (trrt  on,  and  yXwrra  the 
tongue)  is  a  soft  cartilage  situated  at  the  back 
of  the  tongue.  In  shape  it  resembles  what  is 
called  technically  in  botany  an  "ovate"  or 
"  obcordate  "  leaf,  i.e.,  it  is  oval  above,  and  has 
a  tail  narrowing  gradually  from  its  lower  end. 
This  tail  is  prolonged  by  fibrous  tissue  and 
attached  to  the  thyroid  cartilage  in  the  angle 
between  its  two  sides,  just  below  the  notch. 
The- front  surface  is  free  in  its  upper  part, 
but  below  it  is  attached  by  an  elastic  liga- 
ment to  the  back  of  the  hyoid  bone.  Its 
lateral  or  side  borders  are  free  at  the  upper- 
most part,  but  somewhat  lower  down  a  fold 
of  mucous  membrane  (the  skin  lining  any 
interior  cavity  is  called  by  this  name)  runs 
backwards  and  joins  the  summit  of  the  aryte- 


noid cartilage  of  each  side.  This  fold  is 
called  the  glosso-epiglottidean  fold.  In  these 
folds  lie  two  small  conical  cartilages,  the 
cunei/ortit  cartilages  or  the  "  cartilages  of 
Wrisberg."  Below  the  level  of  the  hyoid  bone 
on  the  posterior  surface  is  placed  a  pad  ol 
fat  and  mucous  membrane  called  "  the  cushion 
of  the  epiglottis,"  functionally  a  very  im- 
portant structure. 

F'g-  4- 

INTERIOR  OF  LARYNX  FROM  BELOW. 

(About  life-size.) 


cc.  Cricoid  cartilage;  ac.  arytenoid  cartilage;  tc. 
thyroid  cartilage ;  (rm.  arytenoid  muscle ;  cap.  crico- 
arytenoideus  posticus  muscle ;  vc.  vocal  cord ;  ta. 
thyro - arytenoideus  muscle;  cal.  crico- arytenoideus 
lateralis  muscle. 

The  true  vocal  cords,  otherwise  called  the 
"vocal  cords,"  are  two  semi-lunar  membranous 
folds  which  project  on  each  side  towards  the 
middle  line;  they  are  attached  behind  to  the 
tips  of  the  "  processus  vocales  "  of  the  aryte- 
noid cartilages,  and  in  front,  close  together, 
to  the  angle  between  the  two  sides  of  the 
thyroid  cartilage  just  below  the  notch.  They 
are  somewhat  complex  in  structure,  the  basis 
of  them  is  formed  by  two  elastic  bands  near 
their  edges,  and  both  along  these  bands,  the 
"inferior  thyro-arytenoid  ligaments,"  and 
more  laterally,  are  muscles  running  in  the 
same  direction,  which  will  be  described  later. 
The  whole  is  covered  by  mucous  membrane. 

Fig-  5- 

VERTICAL  TRANSVERSE  SECTION  OF  LARYNX. 


ep.  Epiglottis;  th.  thyroid  cartilage;  a.  ventricle  of 
larynx  ;  v.  vocal  cord  and  its  free  edge ;  cr.  cricoid 
cartilage. 

The  false  vocal  cords,  called  also  the 
"  superior  vocal  cords "  are  two  folds  of 
mucous  membrane  of  the  same  general  shape 
and  direction  as  the  former ;  they  are  at- 
tached behind  to  the  arytenoid  cartilages 
above,  and  more  laterally  than  the  former,  and 


f  253  ^ 


LARYNX. 


in  front  to  the  thyroid  cartilages  just  above 
the  insertion  of  the  true  vocal  cords.  They 
enclose  a  ligament,  the  "  superior  thyro- 
arytenoid ligament."  Their  inner  edges  do 
not  approach  the  middle  line  so  nearly  as  the 
true  vocal  cords.  Between  the  upper  and 
lower  vocal  cord  of  each  side  is  the  opening 
to  the  saccule  or  ventricle  of  the  larynx,  a 
small  saccule  or  cavity,  as  its  name  implies, 
containing  some  gland  cells  for  secreting 
mucus.  It  only  remains  to  say  that  all  the 
structures  are  covered  with  mucous  mem- 
brane. 

Muscles.  The  larynx  is  covered  with  many 
muscles,  but  only  those  which  are  concerned 
in  the  production  of  the  voice  will  here  be 
mentioned. 

Fig.  6. 

SIDE  VIEW  OF  LARYNX  FROM  RIGHT  SIDE. 


tc.  Thyroid  cartilage ;  ptii.  pomum  Adami ;  cc. 
cricoid  cartilage ;  ct.  crico-thyroid  muscle ;  dm.  crico- 
thyroid membrane ;  t.  trachea. 

The  crico-thyroid  rises  from  the  fore  part 
of  the  outside  of  the  cricoid  cartilage  and 
running  back,  spreads  itself  on  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  lower  part  of  the  thyroid  cartilage. 

The  posterior  crico-arytenoid  rises  from  the 
back  part  of  the  outside  of  the  cricoid  carti- 
lage and  is  inserted  into  the  outer  or  lateral 
angle  of  the  base  of  the  arytenoid  cartilage, 
sometimes  called  the  "  processus  muscularis," 
it  also  extends  some  distance  along  the  back 
part  of  the  base  of  the  arytenoid  cartilage. 

The  lateral  crico  arytenoid  rises  from  the 
upper  border  of  the  side  of  the  cricoid  carti- 
lage, and  is  inserted  into  the  front  side  of  the 
lateral  projecting  part  of  the  base  of  the 
arytenoid  cartilage  nearly  as  far  as  the  "  pro- 
cessus vocalis." 

The  arytenoid  is  a  single  muscle,  while 
all  the  other  laryngeal  muscles  are  paired;  it 
runs  across  at  the  back  of  the  arytenoid  car- 
tilages between  them  and  joins  them. 

The  aryteno-epi^lottidean  muscles  rise  from 
the  lower  and  outer  angles  of  the  back  of  the 
arytenoid  cartilages,  run  across  to  the  upper 
and  outer  part  of  the  base  of  the  opposite 
arytenoid  cartilages,  crossing  each  other  as 
they  do  so  (like  a  pair  of  braces),  and  some 
fibres  run  no  farther  but  are  attached  there  ; 
the  rest  pass  '"orwards  in  the  aryteno-epi- 


glottidean  fold  and  are  inserted  into  the  sides 
of  the  epiglottis. 

The  thyro-epiglottideus  is  composed  of  two 
parts,  rising  from  the  inner  aspect  of  the  fore 
part  of  the  thyroid  cartilage  and  having  the 
following  course,  some  (thyro-epiglottideus 
major)  curve  outside  the  saccule  of  the 
larynx  and  are  inserted  into  the  side  of  the 
epiglottis,  others  run  straight  up  and  are 
attached  to  the  epiglottis  on  each  side  of  the 
cushion  and  below  the  insertion  of  the  larger 
muscle.  This  is  called  the  "  thyro-epi- 
glottideus minor." 

The  thyro-arytenoid  is  likewise  divided  into 
two  portions.  Part  of  it  (thyro-arytenoideus 
internus)  runs  just  along  the  outer  border  ol 
the  true  vocal  cord.  The  other  part  (externus) 
runs  from  the  arytenoid  cartilage  more  ex- 
ternally, and  before  reaching  the  thyroid  carti- 
lage it  surrounds  the  saccule  of  the  larynx, 
it  is  therefore  above  as  well  as  external  to 
the  former  portion.  Some  of  its  fibres  seem 
to  lie  in  the  false  vocal  cord. 

The  nerves  of  the  larynx  are  two  in  num- 
ber, called  respectively  the  superior,  and  the 
inferior  or  recurrent  laryngeal.  Both  ot 
these  are  branches  of  the  great  vagus  or 
pneumogastric  nerve  which  rises  from  a 
special  nucleus  or  mass  of  nerve  cells  in  the 
medulla  oblongata  or  upper  portion  of  the 
spinal  cord  within  the  skull  where  this  ex- 
pands to  form  what  is  known  as  the  "  fourth 
ventricle."  It  leaves  the  cavity  of  the  skull 
by  the  same  opening  as  the  internal  jugular 
vein,  which  takes  the  greater  part  of  the 
blood  from  the  brain  to  the  heart,  and  com- 
municates with  most  of  the  large  nerves  in 
this  situation.  The  pneumogastric  nerve 
gives  nerve-supply  to  the  pharj'nx,  gullet, 
stomach,  liver,  spleen,  larynx,  windpipe, 
lungs,  and  heart,  and  extends  down  as  far 
as  the  middle  of  the  abdomen. 

The  superior  laryngeal  nerve  rises  from  the 
pneumogastric  nerve  just  below  the  exit 
from  the  skull,  and  divides  into  two  divisions 
called  external  and  internal  respectively.  The 
external  laryngeal  nerve  sends  branches  to 
some  of  the  muscles  which  preside  over 
swallowing,  and  ends  in  the  crico-thyroid 
muscle.  Theinternal  laryngeal  nerve  gains  the 
insidcof  thelirynxabove  the  thyroid  cartilage, 
supplies  the  lining  membran°,  of  the  larynx, 
and  the  arytenoid  muscle,  and  sends  a  branch 
which  joins  the  recurrent  laryngeal  nerve. 

The  inferior  or  recurrent  laryngeal  nerve 
has  a  most  remarkable  course.  We  have 
mentioned  that  the  pneumogastric  nerve 
supplies  the  lungs  and  heart ;  just  after 
reaching  the  cavity  of  the  chest,  while  on  a 
level  with,  and  in  front  of  the  large  blood- 
vessels coming  from  the  heart,  it  gives  off  on 
each   side   a  large   branch,   the  recurrent 


(  2U  ) 


LARYNX. 


laryngeal  nerve.  This  nerve  dives  •  under- 
neath the  arch  of  the  aorta  (the  main  blood- 
vessel rising  from  the  heart)  on  the  left  side, 
and  under  the  subclavian  artery  (supplying 
the  arm)  on  the  right  side,  and  then  runs 
upwards  to  the  larynx.  Thus  the  fibres  of 
the  recurrent  laryngeal  nerve,  which  come 
down  in  the  pneumogastric  nerv^e  from  the 
medulla  oblongata  (for  each  separate  strand 
in  the  smallest  nerve  has  a  separate  con- 
nection with  its  nervous  centre,  brain,  spinal 
cord  or  ganglion,  a  nerve  being  like  an 
olectric  cable,  seemingly  one  rope,  but  really 
composed  of  innumerable  insulated  wires) 
curve  back  and  run  upwards  again.  Thus 
every  separate  movement  of  the  muscles 
of  the  larynx  is  due  to  a  nervous  impression 
which  travels  from  the  medulla  oblongata 
down  into  the  chest  and  then  up  to  the 
larvnx  again.  This  seemingly  purpose- 
less length  of  course  will  be  explained  when 
the  development  of  the  larynx  is  spoken  of. 
On  their  way  to  the  larynx,  the  recurrent 
laryngeal  nerves  give  twigs  to  the  gullet  and 
wind-pipe,  and  when  they  have  reached  the 
larynx  they  supply  all  the  muscles  except  the 
crico-thyroid. 

Epithelium.  The  mucous  membrane  of  the 
larynx  is  lined  with  a  layer  of  small  cells 
called  epithelium  (which  is  the  name  which 
it  bears  on  all  internal  parts  of  the  body  ;  on 
the  skin  it  is  called  epidermis).  Each  of 
these  cells  has  a  little  hair-like  filament  which 
continually  keeps  lashing  upwards,  so  as  to 
drive  any  mucus  towards  the  mouth.  This 
kind  of  epithelium  is  found  on  the  air-passages 
generally  as  well  as  in  some  other  parts. 
Above  the  vocal  cords  it  gradually  loses  these 
hair-like  filaments  from  which  its  name, 
ciliated  (provided  with  eyelashes),  is  derived. 
These  filaments  are  absent  over  the  true 
vocal  cords,  as  if  to  indicate  that  their  function 
is  special  (Quain,  Vol.  I.  Fig.  245,  p.  326). 
Fig.  7. 

CILIATED  EPITHELIUM  OF   RESPIRATORY  MUCOUS 
MEMBRANE. 

A,  vertical  section  of  epithelial  lining  of  human 
.rachea  magnified  350  times. 


a.  b.  Subjacent  membrane ;  c.  lowest  or  spheroidal 
cells  ;  d.  middle  or  oval  cells ;  e.  superficial,  elongated, 
and  ciliated  cells;  B.  separate  columnar  and  ciliated  cells. 


Development.  The  larynx  is  essentially  an 
apparatus  for  closing  the  wind-pipe,  and  in 
some  of  the  lower  animals  has  this  function 
alone.  The  muscles,  except  the  crico-thyroid 
and  posterior  crico-arytenoid,  which  lie  out- 
side of  the  calibre  of  the  tube,  are  mere 
differentiations  of  a  circle  of  muscular  fibres 
called  a  "  sphincter,"  such  as  surround,  in 
some  form  or  other,  all  the  entrances  and 
exits  of  the  body.  The  cricoid  and  thyroid 
cartilages  are  probably  developed  in  two 
separate  halves. 

Fig.  8. 

DIAGRAM  OF  AORTIC  OR  BRONCHIAL  VASCULAR  ARCHES 
OF  MAMMAL,  ACCORDING  TO  RATHKE. 


"A.  P.  primitive  arterial  stem  or  aortic  bulb,  now 
vided  into  A.  the  ascending  part  of  the  aortic  arch, 
and  P.  the  pulmonary ;  a.  the  right,  a',  the  left  aortic 
root;  A',  the  descending  aorta.  On  the  right  side  i,  2, 
3,  4,  5,  indicate  the  five  bronchial  primitive  arterial 
arches;  on  the  left  side  I.  II.  III.  IV.,  the  four  bron- 
chial clefts,  which  for  the  sake  of  clearness  have  been 
omitted  from  the  right  side.  It  will  be  observed  that 
while  the  4th  and  5th  pairs  of  arches  rise  from  the  part 
of  the  aortic  bulb  or  stem,  which  is  at  first  undivided, 
the  ist  and  2nd  and  3rd  pairs  are  branches  above  c,  of  a 
secondary  stem  on  each  side.  The  permanent  systemic 
vessels  are  represented  in  deep  shade,  the  pulmonary 
arteries  lighter;  the  parts  of  the  primitive  arches  which 
have  only  a  temporary  existence  are  drawn  in  outline 
only.  c.  Placed  between  the  permanent  common  carotid 
arteries;  ce.  the  external  carotid  arteries;  ci.  ci'.  the 
right  and  left  interna!  carotid  arteries  ;  s.  the  right  sub- 
clavian rising  from  the  right  aortic  root  beyond  the 
fifth  arch  ;  v.  the  rig.ht  vertebral,  rising  from  the 
same  spot  opposite  the  fourth  arch;  v'.  s  .  the  left 
vertebral  and  subclavian  arteries,  rising  together  from 
1  the  left  or  permanent  aortic  root  opposite  the  fourth 
I  arch  ;  P.  the  pulmonary  arteries  rising  together  from 
,  the  left  fifth  arch  ;  d.  the  outer  or  back  part  of  the  left 
;  fifth  arch  forming  the  ductus  arteriosus;  pn,  pit',  the 
I  right  and  left  pneumogastric  nerves  descending  in 
front  of  the  aortic  arches,  with  their  recurrent  branches 
represented  diagrammatically  as  passing  behind,  with  a 
view  to  illustrate  the  relations  of  these  nerves  respec- 
tively to  the  right  subclavian  artery,  and  the  arch  of 
the  aorta  and  ductus  arteriosus." 

As  to  the  recurrent  laryngeal  nerves,  we 
must  premise,  that  firstly  the  early  embryo 
has  no  neck,  the  head  abutting  on  the  trunk, 
thus  the  heart  is  placed  nearer  the  head  ; 
secondly,  the  arrangement  of  the  blood- 
vessels corresponds  strikingly  with  that  which 
is  permanent  in  fish.     In  them  the  heart 


(  255 


LARYNX. 


sends  off  one  large  vessel  which  runs  along 
the  base  of  the  gills  and  sends  off  branches 
on  each  side  which  run  along  the  gills,  and  at 
the  opposite  extremity  of  them  turn  down 
and  join  in  a  common  trunk  which  runs  along 
the  body  and  supplies  it  with  blood,  purified 
by  having  been  aerated  in  passing  through 
the  gills.  This  is  substantially  the  same  in 
the  human  embryo,  which  possesses  not  true 
gills  indeed,  but  slits  in  the  neck  just  like  the 
slits  between  the  gills  of  a  fish  ;  along  the 
bridges  between  these  slits  (five  in  all),  cor- 
responding to  the  gills,  run  the  branches  of 
the  great  blood-vessel.  The  further  changes 
need  not  here  be  mentioned,  but  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  add  that  the  last  or  hindmost  of 
these  arched  blood-vessels  of  the  branchial  or 
gill-like  bridges  on  the  left  side  subsequently 
becomes  the  arch  of  the  aorta,  while  the  same 
arch  on  the  right  side  is  obliterated,  the  last 
but  one  becoming  the  subclavian  artery.  The 
larynx  at  the  early  stage  is  nearly  or  quite  on 
a  level  with  the  lowest  of  these  arches,  the 
pneumogastric  nerves  run  in  front  of  them, 
and  the  recurrent  laryngeal  nerve,  in  its  course 
to  the  larynx,  runs  directly,  or  nearly  directly 
backwards,  i.e.,  towards  the  spine.  As  the 
embryo  grows,  the  head  becomes  further 
separated  from  the  body,  the  larynx  is  drawn 
up  with  it,  the  neck  appears,  the  slits  are 
filled  up  ;  but  in  the  upward  movement  of  the 
larynx  the  recurrent  laryngeal  nerves  are 
drawn  up  too,  and  as  they  are  hooked  round 
the  lowest  arch  on  each  side  they  are  drawn 
out  to  a  prodigious  extent  round  the  arcli  of 
the  lowest  vessel  on  each  side.  But  the 
lowest  arch  on  the  right  side  is  obliterated 
and  disappears,  so  the  recurrent  laryngeal 
nerve  on  the  right  side  is  caught,  so  to  say, 
by  the  last  arch  but  one,  the  right  subclavian 
artery.  The  gradual  growth  of  the  neck 
takes  place,  not  only  in  the  development  of 
the  embryos  of  the  higher  animals,  but  we 
can  trace  it  in  the  progress  from  the  lowest 
to  the  highest  animals.  A  fish  has  no  neck, 
a  frog  hardly  any,  a  reptile  rather  more,  birds 
and  mammals  have  well-developed  necks. 

Growth.  Dunng  childhood  the  larynx 
hardly  grows  at  all,  and  is  of  the  same  size 
in  both  sexes;  both  have  equally  high-pitched 
voices,  and  in  neither  is  that  prominence  of 
the  "Adam's  apple"  (which  depends  on  the 
acutenessof  the  angle  between  the  two  halves 
of  the  thyroid  cartilage,  and  on  the  absolute 
size  of  the  whole  cartilage)  observable.  At 
the  age  of  puberty,  the  passage  to  adult  life, 
a  sudden  growth  takes  place  in  both  sexes, 
but  much  greater  in  males  than  females  ;  the 
whole  larynx  grows  much,  and  the  two  halves 
of  the  thyroid  cartilage  are  set  at  an  acute 
angle,  forming  the  prominence  of  the  "  Adam's 
apple,"  the  notch  between  them  becoming 


deeper.  The  lar3nx  nearly  doubles  its  size  in 
males,  becoming  about  one-third  larger  in 
females  It  will  readily  be  seen,  that  the 
growth  of  the  thyroid  cartilage,  and  especially 
its  increase  in  prominence,  implies  a  cor- 
responding lengthening  of  the  vocal  cords, 
hence  the  increased  deepness  of  voice  at 
puberty  which  is  always  noticeable  in  males, 
sometimes  in  females — for  a  contralto  voice 
in  a  child  is  a  thing  never  heard ;  this  is 
acquired  at  puberty.  In  old  age  a  bone-like 
deposit  is  apt  to  form  in  all  the  cartilages  of 
the  larynx  except  the  epiglottis,  first  or  most 
often  in  the  thyroid,  next  in  the  cricoid,  then 
in  the  arytenoid.  To  this  is  due  the  cracked 
quality  of  the  voice  of  old  age,  the  quality  of 
voice  depending  of  course  largely  on  the 
quality  of  the  sounding  bodies. 

Physiology.  The  crico-thyroid  muscles  rotate 
the  front  of  the  thyroid  cartilage  on  the  cricoid, 
forwards  and  downwards.  Since  the  pivots  on 
which  the  thyroid  works  are  below  the  attach- 
ment of  the  vocal  cords,  to  the  arytenoid,  and 
therefore  practically  to  the  cricoid  cartilage, 
any  forward  and  downward  movement  of  the 
thyroid  will  tend  to  lengthen  the  vocal  cords, 
j  This  will  be  evident  from  the  diagram 
(Huxley's  El.  Phys.  Fig.  50).  If  the  finger 
he  placed  on  the  space  in  front,  between  the 
thyroid  and  cricoid  cartilages,  and  a  note 
and  then  a  considerably  higher  one  be  sung, 
the  space  will  be  found  to  be  considerably 
diminislied  ;  in  other  words,  the  crico-thyroid 
muscles  will  have  pulled  downwards  and 
forwards  the  thyroid  on  the  cricoid,  and  in  so 
doing  stretched  the  vocal  cords,  the  increased 
tension  producing  the  higher  note.  As  before 
said,  the  external  laryngeal  nerve  supplies 
the  crico-thyroid  muscles. 

The  thyro-arytenoid  is  the  opponent  of 
the  crico-thyroid  ;  it  rotates  the  front  of  the 
thyroid  cartilage  upwards  and  forwards,  and 
in  so  doing  relaxes  the  vocal  cords.  Besides 
this  action  as  a  whole,  the  outer  and  upper 
part  presses  on  the  ventricle  of  the  larynx, 
and  tends  to  empty  it  of  any  contents  ;  the 
inner  portion,  lying  in  the  vocal  cord  (the 
thyro-arytenoideus  internus)  renders  straight 
and  tense  the  very  edge  of  the  vocal  cord 
after  the  thyroid  and  arytenoid  cartilages 
have  been  fixed  by  other  muscles,  and  the 
length  of  the  vocal  cord  thereby  determined. 
By  the  contraction  of  its  lower  fibres,  lying 
below  the  level  of  the  vocal  cord,  the  column 
of  air  might  be  narrowed,  and  the  tone  raised; 
for  this  is  the  result  of  such  a  narrowing  of 
the  column  of  air  before  reaching  the  resonant 
membrane.  It  is  by  this  muscle  that  the 
peculiar  quality  of  the  notes  of  the  "  head- 
voice,"  as  opposed  to  the  "  falsetto  voice," 
is  probably  produced,  the  edge  of  the  vocal 
cord  being  very  tight  and  capable  of  very 


(  256  ) 


LARYNX. 


rapid  vibrations  ;  the  comparative  thinness  of 
quality  is  owing  to  the  smallness  of  the  bulk 
of  the  vibrating  body.  The  "crack"  in  the 
voice  which  sometimes  occurs  during  the 
attempt  to  sing  a  high  note,  and  is  so  annoy- 
ing to  performer  and  audience,  is  perhaps 
due  to  the  sudden  paralysis  of  this  muscle, 
which  strikes  work  when  overstrained.  But 
it  may  also  be  due  to  the  vocal  cords  touching 
each  other,  nodes  being  instantly  produced  ; 
this  is  more  probable.  This  muscle  is  sup- 
plied by  the  recurrent  laryngeal  nerve. 

The  arytenoid  muscle  draws  the  arytenoid 
cartilages  together,  and  also  tends  to  prevent 
their  rotation.  It  is  supplied  by  the  superior 
and  recurrent  laryngeal  nerves. 

The  aryteno-epiglottidean  muscles,  since 
between  them  they  embrace  the  whole  orifice 
of  the  air-tube,  act  as  a  sphincter,  and  in  so 
doing  draw  the  arytenoid  cartilages  together 
and  forward,  the  aryteno-epiglottidean  folds 
together  towards  the  middle  line,  and  the 
epiglottis  downwards  and  backwards. 

The  thyro-epiglottidean  muscles  depress  the 
epiglottis,  the  greater  and  upper  one  the 
upper  part,  the  smaller  and  lower  one  the 
"  cushion  ";  by  their  action  the  epiglottis  is 
pulled  forcibly  on  to  the  top  of  the  vocal 
cords,  completely  stopping  the  passage,  as 
takes  place  in  straining  or  in  swallowing. 
They  are  supplied  by  the  recurrent  laryngeal 
nerve. 

Before  describing  the  action  of  the  lateral 
and  posterior  crico-arytenoid  muscles,  we 
must  premise,  first,  that  the  pivot  on  which 
the  arytenoid  cartilages  move  is  a  very  loose 
joint,  so  that  the  arytenoid  cartilages  are  able 
to  be  moved  bodily  in  any  direction  without 
rotation. 

The  posterior  crico-arytenoid  muscles, 
acting  alone,  pull  backwards  and  downwards 
the  outer  angles  of  the  arytenoid  cartilages. 
By  so  doing  they  rotate  these  cartilages  {a  a 
in  following  Figs.)  on  their  pivots  {p  p)  and 
separate  the  front  angles,  or  "  processus 
vocales,"  separating  therefore  the  vocal  cords. 
The  dotted  line  represents  their  action. 


FRONT 


BACK 


Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  "  glottis "  or 
aperture  of  the  larynx  takes  a  diamond-shape. 


But  if  the  posterior  arytenoid  acts  with 
them  it  brings  the  hinder  angles  of  the 
cartilages  together  and  prevents  them  from 
being  separated  as  they  would  be  in  rotation, 
so  that  the  whole  cartilages  are  moved 
bodily  backward  and  the  vocal  cords  are 
stretched. 

The  lateral  crico-arytenoid  muscles  have 
an  opposite  effect.  Acting  alone,  they  pull 
forward  the  outer  angles  of  the  arytenoid 
cartilages.  By  so  doing,  they  rotate  these- 
cartilages  (aa)  on  their  pivots  (/>/>)  and  ap- 
proximate the  "  processus  vocales,"  bringing 
the  vocal  cords  together.  The  dotted  linf* 
represents  their  action  : 


f-ROlMT 


BACK 


It  will  be  seen  that  the  posterior  part  of  the 
glottis,  between  the  cartilages,  remains  open, 
forming  a  triangular  space  with  the  apex 
forwards.  This  was  formerly  called  the 
"  glottis  respiratoria  "  on  the  false  idea  that 
the  position  of  the  parts  in  this  state  was  that 
of  breathing.  The  space  between  the  vocal 
cords  in  front  was  called  the  "glottis  vocalis"; 
this  name  is  correct,  for  it  is  only  this  part 
which  assists  in  producing  sound;  but  the 
"  glottis  respiratoria  "  is  only  an  applicable 
name  so  far  as  it  implies  that  this  part  is  used 
in  breathing,  but  not  in  producing  sound. 
The  whole  glottis,  however,  is  "  glottis 
respiratoria"  properly,  as  will  be  hereafter 
explained. 

By  the  action  of  the  arytenoid  muscle  this 
triangular  space  is  obliterated.  There  are 
two  other  muscles  which,  though  they  do  not 
properly  belong  to  the  larynx,  yet  assist  in 
vocalization.  These  are  the  sterno-thyroid 
and  the  thyro-hyoid. 

The  sterno-thyroid  muscles  arise  from  the 
upper  part  of  the  sternum  or  breast-bone,  and 
are  inserted  into  the  side  of  the  thyroid 
cartilage.  Their  action  is  to  pull  down  the 
thyroid  cartilage,  assisting  the  crico-thyroid 
muscles  and  helping  to  stretch  the  vocai 
cords.  They  are  supplied  by  a  nerve  called 
"  descendens  noni,"  being  a  descending 
branch  of  the  ninth  or  hypoglossal  nerve 
which  supplies  the  muscles  of  the  tongue 
with  motor  power. 

The  thyro-hyoid  arise  from  the  hyoid  bone, 


(  i57  ) 


LARYNX. 


which  forms  the  base  of  the  tongue,  and  are 
inserted  into  the  side  of  the  thyroid  cartilage. 
Their  action  is  to  pull  upwards  the  thyroid 
cartilage,  rotating  it  and  helping  the  thyro- 
arytenoidei  to  relax  the  vocal  cords.  They 
are  supplied  by  a  branch  of  the  ninth  or 
hypo-glossal  nerve. 

The  action  of  the  sterno-thyroid  muscle 
may  be  felt  by  placing  a  finger  in  the  middle 
line  of  the  neck  just  above  the  breast  bone :  in 
singing  a  high  note,  the  muscles  will  be  felt 
to  contract. 

TABLE  OF  MUSCLES. 

Stretchers  of  vocal  cords.  Crico  thyroid, 
sterno-thyroid  (posterior  crico-arytenoid  -\- 
posterior  arytenoid),  thyro-arytenoideus  in- 
ternus  (stretches  edge  of  vocal  cords  when 
arytenoid  cartilages  are  fixed). 

Relaxers  of  vocal  cords.  Thyro-arytenoid 
(when  arytenoid  cartilages  are  not  fixed) ; 
thyro-hyoid.  Openers  of  glottis.  Posterior 
crico-arytenoid  (alone).  Closers  of  glottis. 
Lateral  crico-arytenoid,  posterior  arytenoid. 

Physiology  of  the  voice.  The  following 
remarks  are  taken  from  Czermak's  book, 
"  Der  Kehlkopf-spiegel,"  which  contains  the 
best  observations  that  have  been  made  with 
the  laryngoscope. 

During  ordinary  quiet  breathing  the 
epiglottis  touches  the  back  of  the  pharynx,  so 
as  only  to  leave  one  aperture  behind  and  one 
at  each  side.  Through  the  aperture  behind 
and  in  the  middle,  a  deeper  view  is  obtained  : 
one  here  sees  the  elevations  of  the  cartilages 
of  Santorini  or  cornicula  laryngis,  which 
surmount  the  tips  of  the  arytenoid  cartilages. 
In  pronouncing  the  vowel  a  as  in  "fate," 
the  epiglottis  raises  itself  and  discloses  the 
laryngeal  cavity,  even  the  front  wall  of  the 
windpipe  being  visible.  This  is  the  best 
position  in  which  to  observe  the  preparations 
for  making  any  vocal  sound. 

As  soon  as  one  prepares  to  make  a  sound 
with  one's  voice  the  arytenoid-cartilages 
rise  and  approach  each  other  with  surprising 
rapidity,  the  "  processus  vocales  "  are  brought 
together  and  with  them  the  vocal*  cords 
by  the  lateral  crico-arytenoid  and  arytenoid 
muscles.  By  practice  this  can  be  performed 
slowly,  or  even  stopped  half  way,  in  which 
case  one  gets  a  position  of  the  parts,  as  in 
Fig-  3- 

It  is  impossible  to  actually  observe  the 
production  of  the  lowest  chest  notes,  for  as 

*  It  is  plain  that  the  glottis  is  smaller  in  singing  than 
in  breathing,  and  smaller  in  singing  a  high  than  a  low 
note.  This  is  easily  proved  by  comparing  the  time 
taken  to  empty  the  lungs  in  each  case.  The  larger 
the  aperture,  the  shorter  the  time.  No  sound  is  pro- 
duced when  the  vocal  cords  are  more  than  one-tenth 
of  an  inch  apart. 


soon  as  we  really  sing  such  a  note  the  aryte- 
noid cartilages  approach  and  touch  each 
other,  and  bend  under  the  edge  of  the  over- 
hanging epiglottis  (Fig.  4),  which  gives  us 
much  the  same  appearance  as  in  quiet 
breathing. 

During  the  production  of  the  higher  chest- 
notes,  especially  when  sung  sforzando,  and 
still  more  in  using  the  head-voice,  it  is  easy 
to  see  into  the  larynx.  It  is  from  these  that 
we  infer  the  position  of  the  parts  in  the 
deepest  chest  notes. 

In  uttering  a  piercing  cry  a  free  view  is 
afforded  into  the  larynx  (Fig.  5).  In  the 
middle  are  the  vocal  cords  closely  opposed  ; 
then  on  each  side  of  these  a  slit,  the  opening 
of  the  ventricle  or  saccule  of  the  larynx,t  be- 
tween the  true  and  false  vocal  cords;  still 
farther  outside  the  false  vocal  cords.  The 
whole  arytenoid  cartilages,  "  processus  vo- 
cales "  and  all,  are  closely  opposed ;  and 
these  erected  as  they  are,  together  with  the 
epiglottis  and  the  intervening  aryteno- 
epiglottidean  folds,  in  which  are  seen  the 
prominences  of  the  cartilages  of  Wrisberg, 
form  a  sort  of  additional  tube  on  the  top  of 
the  larynx,  all  the  parts  being  (as  one's 
sensations  alone  would  tell  one)  in  extreme 
tension.  On  the  back  of  the  epiglottis  one 
sees  the  cushion  which  touches  the  insertion 
of  the  vocal  cords. 

On  taking  breath  (Fig.  6)  the  "  processus 
vocales  "  are  turned  outward  (posterior  crico- 
arytenoid alone)  and  we  get  the  diamond- 
shaped  glottis  (diagram  i).  Sometimes, 
however,  we  get  the  triangular  "  glottis 
respiratoria "  with  a  second  inverted  tn- 
angular  space  in  the  "glottis  vocalis  "  (per- 
haps from  the  action  of  the  lateral  crico- 
arytenoid muscles  ;  the  posterior  arytenoid 
and  thyro-arytenoideus  internus  being  much 
relaxed).  Fig.  8.  In  these  conditions  all  the 
parts  are  very  relaxed. 

It  is  seen  that  the  upper  opening  of  the 
larynx  is  formed  by  a  fold  of  mucous  mem- 
brane supported  by  seven  cartilages,  epi- 
glottis, two  cartilages  of  Wrisberg,  two  of 
Santorini,  two  arytenoid.    (Fig.  2.) 

In  deeper  quiet  breathing  the  diamond- 
shaped  glottis  is  exaggerated,  as  in  Fig.  7. 

During  quiet  breathing  the  parts  of  the 
larynx  do  not  move,  and  in  some  cases  the 
glottis  is  wide  enough  to  admit  a  finger  with 
ease. 

During  deep  laboured  breathing  the  aryte- 
noid cartilages  are  brought  somewhat  together 
at  each  expiration,  and  are  thrown  into  dis- 
orderly vibrations   like   the  nostrils  under 


t  Its  function  seems  to  be  to  ensure  a  free  space  foi 
the  vibration  of  the  vocal  cords,  and  to  keep  them 
lubricated. 


(  ) 


LARYNX. 


similar  circumstances ;  at  each  inspiration 
they  are  separated  to  their  extreme  limits. 

It  is  possible,  under  favourable  circum- 
stances, to  see  as  far  down  the  wind-pipe  as 
its  division  into  the  two  bronchial  tubes,  that 
is  as  far  into  the  chest  as  the  third  dorsal  or 
rib-carrying  vertebra.    (Fig.  7.) 

I"n  the  shrillest  cries  the  cushion  of  the 
epiglottis  appears  to  be  pressed  down  on  the 
front  part  of  the  vocal  cords,  and  to  shorten 
their  vibrating  portion  just  as  a  string  is 
stopped  by  the  fingers  on  the  finger-board  of 
a  stringed-instrument. 

In  air-tight  closure  of  the  larynx,  as  in 
straining  (which  is  best  observed  in  passing 
from  the  position  of  Fig.  5,  that  of  uttering  a 
piercing  cry) :  ist,  The  arytenoid  cartilages— 
"  processus  vocales  "  and  all  —  are  closely 
pressed  together,  and  with  them  the  vocal 
cords.  2nd,  The  false  vocal  cords  apply 
themselves  to  each  other  and  to  the  true  vocal 
cords  closely,  so  as  to  conceal  the  openings 
of  the  ventricles  of  the  larynx.  3rd,  The 
epiglottis  presses  its  cushion  tightly  on  the 
top  of  everything. 

(It  is  curious  that  whereas  these  parts  of 
the  larynx  resent  being  touched  so  strongly 
that  the  smallest  touch  of  them  produces  at 
least  a  violent  fit  of  coughing,  they  suffer 
being  touched  by  one  another  and  by  the 
epiglottis  quietly.  Czermak  asks  whether 
this  is  due  to  the  kind  of  touch  which  they 
suffer,  or  to  the  peculiarity  of  the  nervous 
apparatus  through  which  the  reflex  ac- 
tion, which  a  foreign  body  excites,  is  pro- 
duced.) 

These  changes  are  partly  simultaneous, 
partly  so  quickly  following  one  another  that 
we  require  the  greatest  watchfulness  to  ob- 
serve them.  For  instance,  the  false  vocal 
cords  cannot  be  seen  to  touch  one  another, 
for  the  epiglottis  bends  down  and  hides  them 
while  they  are  still  approaching  each  other  ; 
but  it  is  inferred  that  they  do  so,  for  on 
suddenly  opening  the  closed  glottis  they  are 
seen  to  project  as  far  towards  the  middle  line 
as  the  true  vocal  cords  which  are  known  to 
be  closely  apposed  to  each  other. 

If  we  stop  the  closure  of  the  larynx  half  way, 
we  get  the  appearance  presented  in  Fig.  9. 
In  complete  closure  we  get  the  appearance 
presented  in  Fig.  10.  Later,  however,  the 
free  edge  of  the  epiglottis  sinks,  and  we  get 
the  same  appearance  as  in  Fig.  4,  the  ap- 
pearance during  the  production  of  the  lowest 
chest-notes. 

By  this  complex  apparatus  we  can  under- 
stand how  the  glottis  can  withstand  the 
tremendous  pressure  put  on  it  by  the  expira- 
tory muscles  in  straining,  &c.  If  these  are 
put  into  action  the  whole  of  the  parts  closing 
the  glottis  are  lifted  up  and  become  convex 


or  dome-shaped  upwards,  resuming  their 
position  when  the  pressure  is  relaxed. 

In  clearing  the  throat  the  glottis  is  firmly 
closed,  and  then  the  expiratory  muscles  excit- 
ing their  force,  the  parts  closing  the  glottis 
are  suddenly  relaxed,  the  epiglottis  being,  so 
to  say,  blown  violently  up,  and  all  the  parts 
are  thrown  into  violent  disorderly  vibrations 
so  as  to  remove  any  foreign  body  or  mucus. 

In  swallowing,  the  glottis  is  also  closely 
shut.  In  increasing  the  strength  of  a  note 
the  cords  are  slightly  relaxed  to  compensate 
for  the  increased  pressure  of  wind  which 
would  otherwise  raise  the  note.* 

Explanation  of  Czermak's  Fig.  (Taf.  III.) 
z.  Root  of  tongue.  s.  Cartilages  of  Santorini 

h.ph.    Hinder  wall  of  the    p.v.  Processus  vocales. 

pharynx.  u.st.  True  vocal  cords, 

oe.  Opening  of  gullet.  o.st.  False  vocal  cords, 

e.  Epiglottis.  v.m.  Ventricles  of  the  la- 

a.  Arytenoid  cartilages.  rynx. 
e.w.  Cushion  of  epiglottis,     v.t.  Front   wall  of  wind- 
a.e.  Aryteno-Epiglottidean  pipe. 

fold.  h.t.  Hind   wall  of  wind- 

w.  Cartilage  of  Wrisberg.  pipe, 
g. a.  Elevation  between  car-    b.d.    Right  bronchial  tube. 

tilages  of  Santorini  and    b.s.   Left  bronchial  tube. 

Wrisberg. 

Fig.  i.» 


Quiet  breathing.  Wide  glottis.  Arytenoids 
apart  and  depressed.  Epiglotjis  falling  back 
so  as  to  obscure  the  view  into  the  larynx. 

Fig.  2.* 


The  same,  but  epiglottis  raised  by  the  pro- 
nunciation ol  a  as  in  "  fate,"  or  ee  as  in 
"  green,"  but  the  actual  sounding  of  the  latter 
makes  the  tongue  rise  so  high,  as  to  obscure 
the  view. 

Fig.  3-* 


The  preparations  for  sounding  the  voice 
after  quiet  breathing,  the  process  stopped  half- 

*  The  parts  to  the  right  of  the  middle  line  of  these 
figures,  obtained  by  a  mirror,  necessarily  correspond  to 
those  on  the  left  side  of  the  larynx,  and  vice  versa. 
That  which  is  situated  above  in  the  drawing  in  reality 
exists  in  front,  that  which  is  below  is  situated  behind. 


I  259  ) 


LARYNX. 


way.  The  arytenoids  project  and  approach 
one  another  with  free  and  rapid  movements. 
The  glottis  is  narrowed. 

Fig.  4.* 


*  s 


Position  during  a  very  high  note.  Glottis 
very  narrow,  all  the  parts  very  tense, 
arytenoid  cartilages,  aryteno  -  epiglottidean 
folds,  and  epiglottis,  forming  a  sort  of 
additional  tube  above  the  floor  of  the  larynx. 
In  the  highest  possible  notes,  the  epiglottis- 
cushion  is  pressed  on  the  front  insertion  of 
the  vocal  cords,  shortening  their  vibrating 
length. 

Fig.  6.* 


Position  of  parts  on  taking  a  deep  breath 
after  singing  a  high  note.  All  the  parts  are 
relaxed  and  appear  thicker,  the  arytenoid 
cartilages  move  apart,  the  "processus  vocales  " 
are  turned  out,  the  glottis  is  larger  and 
diamond  shaped. 


Position  in  quiet  breathing.  The  same  as 
Fig.  6,  but  exaggerated.    The  glottis  still 


krger,  large  enough  to  easily  admit  a  finger. 
The  parts  do  not  move  during  quiet  breathing 
with  inspiration  or  expiration. 


Position  during  whispering.  The  ary- 
tenoids are  seen  near  together,  but  not  so 
near  as  the  "  processus  vocales ;"  these  last 
are  however  too  far  apart  to  cause  a  vocal 
sound.  'J'he  "  processus  vocales,"  being 
closer  together  than  the  rest  of  the  arytenoids, 
produces  a  form  of  glottis,  the  opposite  ol 
that  shown  in  fig.  6,  namely,  one  approaching 
to  that  of  two  isosceles  triangles,  with  their 
apices  apposed  ;  the  whisper  becomes  louder 
as  the  "processus  vocales"  approach  one 
another,  until  at  last  all  that  remains  is  a 
triangular  space  (the  hinder  of  the  two  tri- 
angles), between  the  arytenoids.  In  the 
louder  hoarser  whisper,  the  cushion  of  the 
epiglottis  presses  on  the  front  part  of  the 
vocal  cords  and  additionally  prevents  their 
being  thrown  into  vibrations,  though  while 
any  chink  remains  this  cannot  happen. 


Fig.  g." 


Position  in  air-tight  closure  of  the  glottis  ; 
the  process  stopped  half  way.  The  aryte- 
noids and  the  vocal  cords  are  firmly  apposed, 
the  false  vocal  cords  are  being  approximated, 
the  epiglottis  with  its  cushion  is  being  pressed 
down  on  the  glottis. 

Fig.  10.* 


The  state  of  complete  closure.  The  epi- 
glottis pressed  firmly  on  the  glottis.  The 
false  vocal  cords  probably,  the  true  vocal 
cords  certainly,  closely  apposed.  When  the 
epiglottis  is  still  further  pressed  back,  we  have 
a  view  similar  to  that  during  the  sounding  oi 


(  260) 


LARYNX. 


a  deep  chest-note  (fig.  4),  except  that  a  small 
space  exists  in  the  latter  case,  between  the 
epiglottis  and  arytenoids,  for  the  passage  of 
the  air. 

Fig.  II.' 


h.ph 


Position  at  the  commencement  of  the  act  of 
swallowing. 

The  laws  governing  the  vibrations.  It  has 
been  naturally  attempted  to  identify  the  vocal 
cords  with  some  type  of  sounding  bodies,  in 
order  to  examine  the  laws  governing  their 
vibrations.  They  have  a  considerable  super- 
ficial resemblance  to  strings,  the  higher 
sounds  are  as  in  them  produced  (other  things 
equal)  by  increased  tension.  But  ist.  no 
string  as  short  as  the  vocal  cords  could  give 
out  so  low  a  note,  2nd.  the  number  of 
vibrations  does  not  (as  in  strings)  vary  directly 
as  the  square  root  of  the  tension.  Therefore 
they  are  not  strings. 

The  human  vocal  organs  are  not  a  flue-pipe, 
there  is  nothing  to  lead  us  to  think  that  they 
are,  and  besides  the  sound  written 


requires  an  open  pipe,  nearly  6  feet  long,  and 
the  case  is  clearly  not  one  of  a  stopped  pipe. 

Is  it  a  Reed  instrument.'  The  question  is 
best  answered  by  adducing  some  of  the  laws 
which  govern  them.  ist.  The  pitch  of  a 
reed  may  be  lowered,  but  cannot  be  raised,  by 
joining  it  to  a  tube,  2nd.  it  can  never  be 
lowered  more  than  an  octave,  3rd.  after  being 
thus  lowered,  the  note  is  again  raised  by  a 
further  lengthening  of  the  tube,  and  again 
lowered  by  a  still  further  lengthening,  4th.  the 
length  of  tube  necessary  to  lower  the  pitch 
of  the  instrument  to  a  given  point,  depends 
on  the  relation  between  the  frequency  of 
vibrations  of  the  tongue  of  the  reed,  and 
those  of  the  column  of  air  taken  separately. 
If  a  wind  instrument  depends  for  its  note 
entirely  on  the  length  of  its  pipe,  it  must  be 
a  flue-pipe,  if  the  range  to  which  it  can  be 
altered  depends  only  partly  on  the  length  of 
the  tube,  and  if  the  range  capable  of  being 
produced  by  lengthening  the  tube  is  never 
more  than  an  octave,  (the  embouchure  being 
constant,)  it  is  a  reed  instrument. 

This  latter  is  the  case  with  the  larynx. 
The  reed  in  the  voice  corresponds  with  the 
"free  reeds,"  since  it  vibrates  freely  back- 
wards and  forwards,  and  does  not  "  beat  " 
against  an  aperture,  but  unlike  those  which 


are  in  use  (Concertina,  Harmonium,  &c.,)  it 
is  formed  with  a  tube.* 

The  reed  of  the  voice  differs  from  ordinary 
reeds  in  not  being  a  stiff  lamina  fixed  at  one 
end,  freely  vibrating  at  another  ;  it  is  a 
stretched  membrane.  Membranous  tongues 
made  elastic  by  tension  may  have  three  forms, 
1st.  a  stretched  band  in  an  interval  between 
two  firm  plates,  leaving  a  chink  on  each  side, 
2nd.  it  may  be  stretched  over  part  of  the  end 
of  a  tube,  the  other  part  being  occupied  by  a 
solid  plate,  a  narrow  chink  being  left  between 
the  free  edges,  3rd.  two  elastic  membranes 
may  be  stretched  over  the  mouth  of  a  tube 
leaving  a  chink  between  them.  The  last  is 
obviously  the  case  in  point.  But  if  the  mem- 
branes are  prolonged  in  a  direction  parallel 
with  the  current  of  air,  not  their  edges  only, 
but  their  whole  surfaces  are  thrown  into 
vibrations.  This  resembles  the  larynx  still 
more  closely.  An  instrument  on  these  prin- 
ciples has  been  constructed,  and  corresponds 
very  closely  in  its  behaviour  with  that  of  the 
lar)'nx.  In  such  an  apparatus,  pitch  depends 
on  the  length,  tension,  and  thickness  of  the 
membranes,  and  though  their  edges  must  be 
close  together  to  produce  sounds,  the  size  of 
the  chink  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  pitch. 
A  lower  note  is  formed  from  a  pair  of  such 
membranes  than  from  one,  their  pitch  is 
heightened  by  increasing  the  strength  of  the 
current  of  air,  thus  they  differ  from  rigid  reeds 
in  which  the  note  is  lowered  by  a  similar 
proceeding. 

Their  behaviour  when  furnished  with  pipes 
of  various  lengths,  corresponds  in  the  main 
with  that  of  metallic  reeds,  but  it  is  not  so 
precisely  determinable,  as  might  be  imagined. 
A  certain  length  of  pipe  suits  a  certain  tone 
best.  A  tube  prefixed  to  the  reed,  has  the 
power  of  altering  the  tone,  but  not  so 
definitely  as  when  affixed. 

Thus  the  human  vocal  apparatus  is  a  pair 
of  membranous  free  reeds,  with  a  prefixed 
tube  and  complex  affixed  resonance  tube. 


*  Helmholtz  in  his  book  "  Die  Lehre  von  den 
Tonempfindungen,"  1862,  divides  membranous  reeds 
into  two  classes,  (i)  Those  in  which  the  aperture  is 
closed  by  the  shock  of  the  air  (German  "  einschlagend") 
— "beating"  reeds;  and  (2)  Those  which  are  opened 
by  the  shock  of  the  air  (German  "  aufschlageiid  " — ht. 
"striking  open  ")  —  "  free  "  reeds.  The  beating  reeds 
have  the  free  edges  of  the  hmbs  of  the  reed  pointing 
af;autst  the  current  of  air,  the  free  reeds  in  the  direction 
of  the  current.  The  beating  reeds  give  a  lower  tone 
than  they  would  do  if  vibrating  freely,  the  free  reeds  a 
higher  tone.  The  reeds  of  organ  pipes  and  wooden 
wind  instruments  are  beating  reeds  ;  the  human  lips 
in  playing  brass  instruments  are  opened  by  striking,  and 
are  therefore  free  reeds  (aufschlagend).  They  con- 
sequently give  higher  tones  (apart  from  the  question  of 
the  selection  of  a  particular  harmonic  by  the  resonance 
tube  of  the  instrument)  than  when  vibrating  alone. 
The  Larynx  is  also  a  free  reed,  as  will  be  seen  by 
Fig-  5.  V. 


(261  ) 


LARYNX. 


All  the  air-passages  above  the  larj'nx,  the  I 
pharynx,  mouth,  nose,  and  even  the  cells  in 
the  frontal  bone,  form  part  of  this  resonance 
tube.  These  tubes,  forming  the  resonance 
tube,  have  an  important  part  to  play  in  vocal- 
isation, though  their  complexity  makes  it 
difficult  to  determine  that  part  accurately, 
still  that  they  do  play  a  part  is  evident  from 
the  following  facts.  In  ascending  from  a 
low  to  a  high  note  the  whole  larynx  is  lifted 
towards  the  skull,  the  thyroid  cartilage  being 
drawn  up  within  the  hyoid  bone  so  as  even 
to  press  on  the  epiglottis  ;  the  space  between 
the  thyroid  and  cricoid  cartilages  is  diminished, 
the  soft  palate  is  depressed  and  curved  for- 
ward, the  tonsils  approach  one  another. 

The  aperture  of  the  resonance  tube  is  an 
important  point,  the  smaller  the  aperture 
the  lower  the  tone.  In  producing  low  notes 
the  mouth  is  less  open  than  in  high  notes. 
There  is  probably  a  certain  length  of  both 
affixed  and  prefixed  tubes  and  a  certain  size 
of  the  opening  of  the  affixed  tube  which  is 
most  suitable  for  each  given  note,  and  these 
matters  are  partly  managed  automatical!}', 
and  are  partly  the  result  of  practice  and 
education.  In  producing  the  lowest  notes 
we  retract  and  depress  the  tongue  with  the 
epiglottis  so  as  to  partly  cover  the  lower 
aperture  of  the  resonance  tube. 

The  head-voice  is  probably  produced  by  the 
vibrati  n  of  the  free  edges  of  the  vocal  cords 
only,  li  Imholtz  thinks  this  is  produced  by 
arawing  aside  the  mucous  coat  below  the 
cords,  the  edge  of  the  cords  being  thus 
rendered  sharper,  the  weight  of  the  vibrating 
part  less,  the  elasticity  being  constant. 

The  falsetto  voice  is  a  problem  not  yet 
cleared  up.  Many  physiologists  seem  to  have 
quite  lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  it  is  different 
from  the  "  head-voice."  There  are  various 
theories  on  the  subject. 

Some  believe  that  the  vocal  cords  only 
vibrate  in  part  of  their  length.  We  have 
seen  this  to  be  possible  by  means  of  the 
epiglottis-cushion.  And  it  has  thus  much 
in  its  favour  that  some  adventitious  aid  (if 
we  may  use  the  term)  seems  to  be  called  in, 
for  it  is  much  easier  to  sing  a  very  high  note 
in  the  falsetto  than  in  the  chest  register,  the 
former  depending  on  sheer  muscular  exertion 
as  we  know. 

But  on  the  other  hand  anyone  can  sing 
falsetto  with  his  tongue  out  of  his  mouth, 
ind  consequently  with  the  epiglottis-cushion 
far  away  from  apposition  with  the  vocal 
•cords. 

Others  have  said  that  the  cords  vibrate  in 
segments  and  give  harmonics  instead  of  funda- 
mental nf  tes.  This  is  possible,  for  some  of 
the  fibres  of  the  thyro-arytenoideus  internus 
muscle  end  at  various  points  along  the  vocal  | 


cord  and  might  favour  such  a  splitting  into 
segments. 

Others  say  that  the  falsetto  differs  from  the 
other  registers  in  that  only  the  edges  of  the 
vocal  cords  are  thrown  into  vibration,  instead 
of  the  whole  of  them.  This  is  possible,  the 
only  objection  being  that  the  extreme  tension 
of  the  very  edge  of  the  vocal  cords  seems  tc 
be  an  explanation  involving  far  more  labour 
than  our  sensations  tell  us  is  expended  in 
the  production  of  the  falsetto  voice.  Thiy 
seems  much  more  likely  to  correspond  with 
the  production  of  the  "  head-voice." 

In  passing  from  the  highest  chest  note  to 
the  lowest  falsetto  note,  the  space  between 
the  thyroid  and  cricoid  cartilages  in  front 
which  was  closed  suddenly  opens,  implying 
relaxation  of  the  vocal  cords.  This  is  con- 
sistent with  the  hypothesis  that  they  only 
vibrate  in  part  of  their  length,  for  this  would 
require  less  tension  for  a  shorter  membrane. 
In  passing  from  the  chest  to  the  falsetto 
register,  the  larynx  which  was  elevated  de- 
scends and  rises  again  as  the  falsetto  voice 
rises. 

Others  have  thought  that  the  falsetto  voice 
was  the  result  of  a  flue-pipe  arrangement,  the 
glottis  being  the  embouchure,  the  air  passage 
the  tubes.  We  have  already  dismissed  the 
flue  theory  as  untenable. 

The  person  on  whom  most  reliance  is  to 
be  placed,  M.  Garcia,  himself  a  singing- 
master,  and  the  practical  inventor  of  the 
laryngoscope  gives  a  long  account  of  the 
falsetto  voice.  He  says  that  in  the  falsetto 
as  in  the  chest  register  the  lower  tones  are 
formed  by  the  "  processus  vocales,"  as  well 
as  by  the  vocal  cords,  that  these  processes 
(which  he  calls  the  "apophyses")  gradually 
approach  one  another  in  the  middle  line,  that 
the  vibrating  length  of  the  glottis  is  con- 
sequently diminished  pari  passu,  that  when 
the  vibrating  glottis  is  composed  of  the  vocal 
cords  and  only  the  tips  of  the  processus 
vocales,  the  weak  uncomfortable  tones  well 
known  to  singers  are  formed,  that  when  the 
processus  vocales  are  so  closely  apposed 
throughout  that  only  the  vocal  cords  vibrate, 
the  head  voice  is  formed.  "  If  we  compare 
the  two  registers  in  fhese  movements,  we 
shall  find  some  analogies  in  them  ;  the  sides 
of  the  glottis,  formed  at  first  by  the  apophy- 
ses and  their  ligaments,  become  shorter  by 
degrees,  and  end  by  consisting  only  of  the 
ligaments.  The  chest  register  is  divided  into 
two  parts,  corresponding  to  these  two  states 
of  the  glottis.  The  register  of  falsetto-head 
presents  a  complete  similarity,  and  in  a  still 
more  striking  manner.  On  other  points,  on 
tlie  contrary,  these  same  registers  are  ver) 
unlike.  The  length  of  the  glottis  necessary 
to  form  a  falsetto  note,  always  exceeds  that 


(  262  ) 


LARYNX. 


which  produces  the  unison  of  the  chest.  The 
movements  which  agitate  the  sides  of  the 
glottis  are  also  augmented,  and  keep  the 
vibrating  orifice  continually  half  opened, 
which  naturally  produces  a  great  waste  of 
air,  A  last  trait  of  difference  is  in  the 
increased  extent  of  that  elliptic  surface  (the 
glottis).  All  these  circumstances  show  in 
the  mechanism  of  the  falsetto  a  state  of  re- 
laxation which  we  do  not  find  in  the  same 
degree  in  the  chest  register. 

"  When  the  external  fibres  of  the  lateral 
crico-arytenoid  muscle  remain  inactive,  we 
produce  the  falsetto.  The  lips  of  the  glottis, 
stretched  by  the  horizontal  bundle  of  the 
thyro-arytenoid,  come  in  contact  by  their 
edge  alone,  formed  at  once  by  the  ligament 
and  the  apophyses,  and  offer  little  resistance 
to  the  air.  Hence  arises  the  great  loss  of 
this  agent,  and  the  general  weakness  of  the 
sound  produced  here.  During  the  chest 
register  the  vocal  ligaments  are  stretched, 
and  are  in  contact  to  an  extent  corresponding 
with  the  depth  of  the  anterior  apophyses  of 
the  arytenoid,  whilst  in  the  falsetto  the  edges 
alone  of  the  ligaments  are  stretched  and 
apposed." 

Some  have  tried  to  show  that  the  falsetto 
depends  on  the  state  of  the  parts  below, 
others  above,  the  larynx.  There  is  nothing 
to  say  for  these  theories.  Another  theory 
again  assigns  to  the  false  vocal  cords  a  large 
share  in  producing  the  falsetto  voice,  and 
Garcia  found  that  in  producing  high  notes  of 
the  chest  or  falsetto  register  they  were  some- 
what approximated. 

In  reviewing  these  various  theories,  we 
shall  be  assisted  in  arriving  at  some  sort  of 
an  opinion  by  eliminating  such  of  them  as 
seem  to  us  obviously  untenable ;  such  as  the 
theory  that  the  vocal  apparatus  is  not  used 
in  the  production  of  the  falsetto  voice  as  a 
reed  instrument  but  as  a  flue-pipe,  and  that 
which  states  that  the  parts  above  or  below 
the  larynx  (and  not  the  larynx  itself)  are  the 
necessary  instruments  for  its  production.  The 
next  theory  to  be  discussed  is  that  which 
states  that  only  the  edges  as  distinct  from 
the  whole  of  the  vocal  cords  vibrate  ;  this 
we  shall  put  aside  as  accounting  more  satis- 
factorily for  the  "  head  voice,"  which  is  quite 
a  different  thing,  especially  when  we  remem- 
ber the  muscular  effort  necessary  for  pro- 
ducing a  high  head  note  as  compared  with 
the  relative  ease  with  which  the  same  note 
can  be  produced  in  the  falsetto  voice,  and 
also  when  we  keep  in  view  the  fact  above 
mentioned,  that  in  passing  from  chest  to 
falsetto  register  the  crico-thyroid  space  en- 
larges, implying  relaxation  of  the  vocal  cords. 
Let  us  now  review  the  theor}'  which  sets 
forth  that  in  producing  the  falsetto  voice  we 


set  the  vocal  cords  vibrating  not  in  one  seg- 
ment but  in  many  segments  or  nodes.  In 
the  first  place  this  is  not  inconceivable,  but 
we  must  freely  admit  that  we  do  not  know 
the  mechanism  by  which  it  would  be  pro- 
duced. Garcia  states  that  the  length  of  the 
vocal  cords  necessary  to  form  a  given  falsetto 
note  always  exceeds  that  which  produces  the 
unison  of  that  note  in  the  chest  register,  and 
adds  that  the  falsetto  note  is  accompanied  by 
a  relaxed  state  of  the  glottis  ;  now  if  the 
length  is  increased  while  the  cords  are  re- 
laxed, we  have  two  circumstances  which  would 
render  the  pitch  deeper  if  the  cords  vibrated 
in  their  entirety,  but  both  these  factors  would 
be  favourable  to  vibration  in  segments.  But 
there  is  another  reason  for  supposing  this, 
which  seems  to  us  worthy  of  consideration, 
though  it  does  not  depend  on  direct  observa- 
tion. When  the  voice  "  cracks  "  in  singing 
a  high  note,  it  flies  up  not  into  the  head  but 
the  falsetto  register.  Now  we  know  that 
this  "  crack  "  is  produced  by  the  vocal  cords 
coming  into  contact  and  splitting  into 
"  nodes,"  just  as  a  violin  string  will  sound 
harmonics  if  lightly  touched  with  the  finger 
(this  crack  is  due  to  the  fact  that  a  high  note 
requires  that  the  vocal  cords  should  be  all- 
but  parallel  to  each  other  and  all  but  touch- 
ing, but  either  owing  to  a  want  of  delicate 
muscular  co-ordination  or  to  their  being 
swelled  by  a  cold  or  other  similar  cause,  they 
touch  in  some  part  of  their  length  and  nodes 
are  at  once  formed).  Thus  we  have  two 
modes  of  production  of  the  falsetto  voice, 
one  of  which  we  know.  Is  it  not  likely  that 
we  produce  the  same  effect  (the  false  to  voice) 
by  a  similar  method  in  both  cases  (a  splitting 
into  vibrating  segments  or  nodes)  ?  We 
think,  therefore,  that  it  is  most  probable  that 
the  falsetto  voice  is  produced  by  the  vibration 
of  the  vocal  cords  not  in  their  entirety  but  in 
nodes,  though  the  mechanism  by  which  this 
is  brought  about  is  unknown  to  us. 

Timbre  of  voice  depends  partly  on  the  con- 
formation, partly  on  the  quality  of  the  struc- 
tures composing  the  larynx.  Garcia  also  says 
that  the  epiglottis  plays  a  very  important 
part,  for  every  time  that  it  lowers  itself  and 
nearly  closes  the  orifice  of  the  lar}  nx,  the 
voice  gains  in  brilliancy;  and  when,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  drawn  up,  the  voice  im- 
mediately becomes  veiled. 

Range  of  voice  in  man.  Garcia  gives  the 
following  table  of  the  full  extent  of  the  human 
voice : 

Chest.  Head. 
Falsetto. 


(  263  ) 


LARYNX. 


He  says,  "  Let  us  here  observe,  that  thcee 
registers  of  voice  are  generally  admitted — 
chest,  falsetto,  and  head.  The  first  begins 
lower  in  a  man's  voice  than  in  a  woman's  ; 
the  second  extends  equally  in  both  voices-;  the 
third  reaches  higher  in  the  female  voice." 
Part  of  this  statement  is  remarkable,  and 
would  seem  to  imply  some  essential  difference 
in  the  physiology  of  the  voice  in  both  sexes, 
a  difference  beyond  mere  dimensions.  I 
must  leave  it  to  musicians  to  criticise  his 
statement, which  does  not  commend  itself  to 
me. 

The  whole  of  his  paper  is  worth  the  careful 
study  of  every  musician.  It  is  found  in 
"  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society,"  Vol. 
VII.,  No.  13,  pp.  399-410. 

In  speech  the  pitch  seldom  varies  more 
than  a  fifth. 

The  nasal  tone  is  produced  by  bringing  the 
arches  of  the  palate  together,  and  bodily 
raising  the  larynx  and  also  the  tongue  ;  thus 
the  air  is  prevented  from  passing  freely 
through  the  nostrils,  that  part  of  the  "  re- 
sonance tube  "  being  cut  off.  Some  have 
stated  that  the  air  is  prevented  by  this  means 
from  passing  freely  through  the  mouth,  and 
passes  along  the  nose,  the  cavity  of  the  nos- 
trils alone  vibrating  freely;  but  this  is  seen  to 
be  incorrect  when  we  remember  that  the  nasal 
tone  cannot  be  produced  when  the  mouth  is 
closed  and  all  the  air  is  driven  through  the 
nostrils,  while  it  is  produced  when  the  nostrils 
are  held  closed,  or  when  they  are  obstructed 
by  mucus  during  a  cold.  Thus  the  expression 
"  talking  or  singing  through  the  nose,"  is 
physiologically  quite  incorrect. 

The  power  of  musical  intonation  depends 
on  the  power  of  accurate  adaptation  of  the 
muscular  parts  concerned  in  the  production  of 
the  voice  to  a  state  known  to  be  capable  of 
producing  the  desired  sound.  This  state  is 
at  first  recognised  by  the  effect  on  the  ear, 
and  afterwards  directly  through  the  "muscular 
sensibility"  of  the  muscles  concerned.  The 
previous  experience  has  thus  been  acquired 
through  the  ear  and  also  from  the  muscles, 
and  an  "idea"  of  the  sound  required  precedes 
the  production  of  the  sound.  Thus  eventually 
an  idea  of  the  sound  and  of  the  necessary 
muscular  state  are  presented  simultaneously 
to  the  mind. 

Let  us  enlarge  somewhat  on  this.  A  sound 
is  emitted  and  appreciated  by  the  ear  as 
having  a  certain  relative  number  of  vibra- 
tions, and  this  experience  is  stored  up  as  a 
memory.  Secondly,  attempts  are  made  to  re- 
produce this  sound  ;  when  the  desired  sound 
is  produced,  the  ear  recognises  it  as  being  the 
same  as  that  before  produced,  by  means  of  the 
memory  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  sensorium 
takes  cognisance  of  the  .state  of  the  muscles 


of  the  larynx  by  means  of  "  muscular  sensi- 
bility," that  sense  by  which  we  learn  the  state 
of  our  muscles,  by  which  we  know  accurately 
the  position  of  our  limbs,  &c.,  unassisted  by 
'  our  sight,  and  which  is  essential  to  a  proper 
'  performance  of  any  muscular  action,  especially 
of  those  beyond  the  regulating  power  of  sight. 
I  Thus  we  have  two  memories  stored  up  in  in- 
I  timate  connection,  viz  ,  the   memory  of  a 
definite  sound  and  the  memory  of  a  definite 
state  of  muscles.     This  process  is  repeated 
for  each  note  and  fraction  of  a  note,  for  each 
possible  sound.     By  practice  and  frequent 
repetition  of  the  process  we  get  the  pheno- 
mena reproduced  in  an  inverted  order,  for 
whereas,  in  the  first  instance,  hearing  came 
first,  muscular  action  with  muscular  sensi- 
bility second,  we  now  have  muscular  action 
with  muscular  sensibility  as  the  first  executors 
or  reproducers  of  a  definite  memory-,  con- 
tinually checked,  secondly,  by  the  hearing. 
After  a  time  this  process  becomes  automatic, 
and  is  still  more  obviously  so  when  a  person 
is  singing  from  notes,  when  we  naturally 
I  have  an  additional  factor  or  association,  viz., 
!  that  of  a  symbol  with  a  definite  musical 
'  sound. 

Instrumental  music  can  be  expressed  in 
precisely  similar  terms  ;  it  is  true  that  at  first 
muscular  sensibility  has  less  to  do,  for  the 
guiding  power  of  the  eyes  is  possible,  but 
this  is  only  occasionally  used  as  an  additional 
sense  when  the  performer  becomes  proficient. 
Again  some  instruments,  viz.,  those  in  which 
the  notes  are  already  formed  (all  instruments 
but  the  stringed  instruments  and  the  trom- 
bone), require  less  guidance  from  the  ear  than 
those  in  which  the  production  of  each  note, 
both  in  pitch  and  timbre,  depends  entirely  on 
the  performer.  But  these  are  only  quantita- 
tive differences  after  all. 

Thus  we  come  back  to  what  we  said  at  first 
that  all  correct  intonation,  whether  vocal  or 
instrumental,  is  checked  and  regulated  by  two 
sensibilities,  the  acoustic  and  the  muscular,  in 
varying  proportions.  It  is  plain  from  what  we 
have  previously  said,  that  musical  intonation 
may  be  imperfect  '"rom  various  causes ;  of  these 
the  most  serious  is  defect  in  the  appreciation  of 
sounds,  since  this  is  first  in  importance  as  in 
time, — a  "bad  ear"  is  irremediable;  but  a 
person  may  also  play  or  sing  out  of  tune  from 
several  other  causes.  First  this  may  occur  in 
the  performance  of  a  difficult  passage.  In 
this  instance  the  muscular  adaptability  is 
deficient.  Again  a  person  may  play  or  sing  a 
single  note  out  of  tune  from  deficient  muscular 
power,  either  the  note  is  too  high  or  too  low  or 
:n  other  ways  too  difficult  of  production,  or  the 
;  erformer  may  be  tired  with  previous  singing 
\  <  V  playing.  But  when  a  person  habitually 
plays  or  sings  out  of  tune,  or  fails  to  keep  in 


(  264  ) 


LARYNX. 


tune  in  performing  an  easy  passage,  we  at 
once  say  correctly  "  he  has  no  musical  ear," 
that  is,  his  sensorium  is  incapable  of  appreci- 
ating the  delicate  relations  of  musical  sounds. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  venture 
a  few  remarks  as  to  the  reason  why  it  is  much 
more  irritating  to  those  with  good  musical 
ears  to  hear  a  person  sing  sharp  than  to  hear 
him  sing  llat.  One  is,  of  course,  as  incorrect 
as  the  other,  but  there  is  something  particu- 
larly exasperating  in  hearing  sharp  singing. 
First  of  all  it  would  be  interesting  to  know 
whether  persons  possessing  good  musical 
ears,  without  any  knowledge  of  music,  would 
find  sharp  singing  more  painful  than  flat 
singing;  we  should  imagine  that  this  would 
not  be  the  case.  On  analysing  our  feelings 
when  a  person  is  singing  sliarp  we  fancy  we 
detect  in  them  a  certain  feeling  of  indignation 
at  the  singer  doing  something  unnecessary. 
This  is  quite  correct,  he  is  using  unnecessary 
muscular  force,  and  we  have  a  natural  though 
not  purely  rational  idea  that  if  he  took  less 
pains,  exerted  himself  less,  he  would  sing  in 
better  tune— we  feel  he  is  committing  a  "  pre- 
sumptuous "  musical  sin.  On  the  contrary, 
when  a  person  sings  flat,  his  muscular  exer- 
tions are  inadequate,  and  we  feel  a  sort  of 
pity  mingled  with  our  annoyance,  we  feel 
that  he  is  doing  his  best,  but  is  not  strong 
enough  to  sing  correctly;  in  both  cases,  how- 
ever, it  is  generally  not  actual  force  which 
is  deficient,  but  the  "  guiding  sensation,"  the 
musical  ear;  but  there  is  this  much  correct- 
ness in  our  feelings  that  a  person  with  ever 
so  good  an  ear  may  sing  flat  from  sheer 
weariness,  just  as  he  may  be  too  tired  to 
perform  any  other  muscular  exercise  properly, 
while  there  is  not  the  same  excuse  for  singing 
sharp. 

Comparative  Anatomy.  —  No  invertebrate 
animal  possesses  a  larynx.  In  Fish  we  have 
only  one  or  two  instances  of  a  larynx,  and  in 
them  it  is  connected  with  the  entrance  of  the 
duct  of  the  air  bladder;  these  fish  are  other- 
wise remarkable,  being  the  Polypterus  and 
Lepidosiren.  In  the  latter  the  glottis  is  sup- 
ported by  a  sort  of  laryngeal  cartilage.  An-  | 
other  fish,  named  Trigla,  is  capable  of  emitting 
sounds. 

In  Amphibia  we  find  a  better  developed 
larynx.  In  those  which  keep  their  gills 
through  life  it  is  extremely  simple,  as  is  the 
whole  of  the  trachea  and  bronchi.  The  glottis 
is  a  simple  slit  each  side,  strengthened  by  a 
cartilage,  which  is  sometimes  subdivided. 
Below  the  glottis  is  a  membranous  chamber, 
the  laryngeal  cavity  strengthened  by  carti- 
lages, and  from  this  chamber  the  lungs  di- 
verge either  immediately  or  after  a  short 
trachea. 

In  the  Frogs  the  larynx  is  well-developed, 


and  is  present  in  all  but  two  frogs.  The 
vocal  cords  are  stretched  transversely  ;  above 
and  below  them  is  a  pouch,  and  sometimes  a 
cartilage  between  them.  The  muscles  are 
briefly  classified  as  constrictors  or  dilators  of 
the  glottis,  and  one  stretches  the  vocal  cords. 
In  the  Toad  the  vocal  cords  are  thin  elastic 
membranes,  and  consist  of  two  pairs.  In 
many  frogs  we  find  pouches  attached  to  the 
larynx  or  the  mouth,  and  these  serve  either 
as  resounding  sacs  or  as  reservoirs  of  the 
wind  supply.  SinceallAmphibiaand  Reptiles 
do  not  respire  as  we  do,  but  swallow  the 
air,  this,  which  is  a  laborious  process,  is 
economised  by  an  elastic  sac,  in  which  the 
air,  having  passed  through  the  larynx,  is  re- 
tained, and  which,  in  contracting  again,  by 
its  elasticity  drives  the  air  easily  back  into 
the  lungs  ;  by  this  means  a  continuous  croak- 
ing is  produced. 

Reptiles. — The  Serpents  have  no  vocal  cords, 
and  nothing  beyond  a  hissing  can  be  pro- 
duced by  the  passage  of  the  air  through  their 
simple  glottis. 

The  Lizards  have  a  better  developed  larynx. 
Most  have  vocal  cords,  but  in  many  of  these 
they  cannot  be  apposed  or  stretched. 

In  Turtles  and  Tortoises  we  first  find  the 
cartilages  divided  into  cricoid,  thyroid,  and 
arytenoid.  Some  are  capable  of  vocal  sounds, 
some  only  of  a  hiss. 

The  Crocodiles  have,  again,  only  two  carti- 
lages, a  crico-thyroid  and  two  arytenoids ; 
the  vocal  cords  are  capable  of  producing  a 
sort  of  bellowing  tone. 

Birds. — Most  Birds  have  two  larynges,  an 
upper  and  a  lower.  The  upper  larynx  is  situ- 
ated as  in  us,  at  the  top  of  the  wind-pipe. 
There  are  several  bony  and  cartilaginous  sup- 
ports, from  two  to  ten  in  number.  One  of 
these  represents  the  thyroid  cartilage.  The 
cricoid  consists  of  three  bony  pieces,  the  two 
arytenoids  are  also  bony.  With  respect  to 
this,  we  may  observe  that  many  more  parts 
are  ossified  in  birds  than  in  other  animals. 
The  glottis  is  simple,  and  composed  of  two 
rigid  lips,  which  do  not  admit  of  being 
stretched,  but  only  approximated.  The  prin- 
cipal action  of  the  muscles  is  to  close  and 
open  this  glottis  simply,  which  they  can  do 
with  great  accuracy.  The  function  of  this 
upper  larynx  is  either  simply  to  guard  the 
opening  of  the  windpipe,  or  at  most  to  modify, 
and  not  in  the  first  place  to  create  the  voice. 

The  lower  larynx  is  placed  at  the  bottom  of 
the  wind-pipe,  where  this  divides  into  the  two 
bronchial  tubes,  and  is  the  true  organ  of 
voice.  The  purpose  of  its  position  here  is 
probably  to  throw  the  weight  which  neces- 
sarily accompanies  a  complex  apparatus  of 
muscles  and  cartilages  near  the  centre  of 
gravity,  instead  of  at  the  end  of  a  long  lever 


(  265  ) 


LARYNX. 


like  the  neck.  In  the  same  way  the  masti- 
cating apparatus  of  birds  is  not  a  set  of  teeth 
placed  at  the  end  of  this  lever,  but  a  grinding 
machine,  the  gizzard,  placed  at  the  centre  of 
gravity. 

In  singing  birds  the  apparatus  consists  of 
a  double  glottis,  produced  by  a  bony  bar 
called  "pessulus"  or  "  os  transversale,"  which 
runs  across  the  lower  end  of  the  wind-pipe 
from  before  backwards,  and  supports  a  thin 
membrane  which  projects  into  the  calibre  of 
the  windpipe,  and  ends  in  a  free  concave 
edge;  it  is  called  the  "  Membrana  Semilu- 
naris." 

The  muscular  apparatus  is  complex,  and 
in  some  singing  birds  consists  of  five  pairs  of 
muscles.  In  some  birds,  as  the  Ostrich  and 
the  Vulture,  the  lower  larynx  is  absent. 

In  some  birds, as  the  Stork,  Crane,  Caper- 
cailzie and  Wild  Swan,  the  windpipe  is  several 
times  folded  on  itself,  being  very  long. 

The  Parrot  tribe  has  a  single  glottis,  with 
a  vibrating  membrane  on  each  side,  thus  re- 
sembling ours.  The  adjacent  sides  of  these 
are  concave,  and  there  are  muscles  which 
stretch,  approximate  or  separate  these  vocal 
cords.  It  is  perhaps  due  to  this  peculiarity, 
as  well  as  to  the  fleshy  tongue  of  the  Parrots, 
that  they  are  able  to  imitate  human  speech. 

Mammals. — The  larj'nx  of  Mammals  in 
most  particulars  resembles  that  of  man.  In 
the  Kangaroos  the  vocal  cords  are  feebly  de- 
veloped, and  incapable  of  being  stretched. 
Most  Marsupials  have  little  or  no  voice. 

Some  Rodents  have  fairly  developed  vocal 
cords,  as  the  Hare  and  Rabbit.  Some,  as  the 
Porcupine,  have  no  vocal  cords,  and  it  is  only 
at  the  breeding  season  that  they  have  any 
voice,  when  the  male  makes  a  low  grunt. 

The  Sloths  have  no  false  vocal  cords,  the 
Armadillos  have  no  false  vocal  cords  or  voice. 

In  the  Whales  and  Porpoises,  as  in  many 
of  the  Marsupials,  the  upper  opening  of  the 
windpipe  is  modified  into  a  conical  projection 
which  rises  up  and  is  embraced  by  the 
muscles  of  the  soft  palate,  so  that  a  con- 
tinuous air-tube  is  formed  from  the  nose  to 
the  lungs,  on  each  side  of  v.-hich  fluid  or 
solid  food  can  continually  pass  to  the  gullet 
without  getting  into  the  wind-pipe.  The 
purpose  of  this  is  obvious.  In  the  Whales 
the  large  volume  of  water  which  they  con- 
stantly receive  into  their  wide  open  mouth, 
from  which  they  extract  their  food,  and  which 
they  eject  through  their  blow-hole,  is  pre- 
vented from  getting  into  their  air-passages  ; 
in  the  young  Marsupial  while  in  the  pouch 
the  milk  which  it  is  constantly  sucking  is 
similarly  prevented  from  going  "  the  v.-rong 
way."  Marsupials  are  born,  as  is  well  known, 
verv  immature,  and  while  in  the  pouch  are 
continually  suckled;  they  are  by  this  arrange- 

( 


i  ment  saved  from  the  necessity  of  constantly 
clos  -  g  their  glottis  in  the  act  of  swallowing, 
as  i  .  the  case  with  other  animals.  In  those 
aquatic  Mammals  called  the  Sirenia  (as  the 
Dugong  and  Manatee,  the  herbivorous 
Whales)  the  glottis  is  very  small,  and  T 
shaped,  the  transverse  slit  being  above  the 
longitudinal  slit. 

In  the  Ass  the  "bray"  is  produced  by 
alternate  inspirations  and  expirations,  toth 
producii  g  sounds,  and  is  assisted  by  two 
large  nir  sacs  between  the  vocal  cords  and 
the  th\roid  cartilage. 

The  Giraffe  only  has  a  voice  at  the  breeding 
season.  The  male  Deer's  larj-nx  enlarges 
greatly  at  each  breeding  season  and  this 
growth  is  associated  with  a  large  growth  of 
a  gland  below  it  called  the  thyroid  gland,  the 
two  producing  that  graceful  prommence  in 
the  throat  which  one  observes  at  that  time. 

The  purring  of  the  Cat  is  produced  by  the 
vibrations  of  the  false  vocal  cords,  which  are 
well  developed;  the  true  vocal  cords  are  small 
and  have  no  membranous  part. 

Many  animals  have  large  air  sacs  in  con- 
nection with  the  larj'nx,  either  opening  into 
the  sacculus  larj'ngis  or  placed  in  front  be- 
tween the  thyroid  cartilage  and  epiglottis, 
and  opening  between  the  epiglottis  and  true 
vocal  cords  ;  or  opening  between  the  thyroid 
and  cricoid  cartilages.  In  one  monkey — the 
Mycetes  or  howling  monkey — there  are  a  pair 
of  pouches  lodged  in  cavities  in  the  cricoid 
cartilage,  another  pair  similarly  lodged  in  the 
thyroid  and  extending  on  each  side  between 
the  thyroid  bone  and  epiglottis,  and  into  a 
huge  sac  in  the  thyroid  bone,  and  another 
pair  between  the  glottis  and  arytenoid  carti- 
lages, three  pairs  in  all.  Most  of  the  Old 
World  monkeys  have  a  sac  in  the  hyoid 
I  bone,  but  smaller  than  that  of  the  howling 
I  monkey. 

I      The  Gibbon  has  a  well-developed  lar}'nx, 
I  and  alone  of  all  the  apes  can  sing  a  complete 
octave  ;  moreover  the  quality  of  its  notes  is 
decidedly  musical. 
I      In  the    Ouran  outan  the  air  sacs  in  the 
!  male  extend  down  over  the  fore-part  of  the 
I  neck  and  upper  part  of  the  chest,  being  sub- 
divided into  several  sacs. 

Castration  in  all  mammals  which  possess  a 
'  definite  voice  arrests  the  sudden  development 
'  which  takes  place  at  puberty.  Compare  the 
I  voice  of  the  ox  and  of  the  bull. 

I  W.  C.  Linnaeus  Martin,  in  his  work,  A  general 
I      introduction  to  the  Natural  History  o/Mam- 
;      miferous  Animals,  1841.,  />.  431,  says — 
'      "  Hylobates  agilis,  Sumatra.— The  voict  of 
this  gibbon  is  extraordinary,  not  only  for  its 
power  and  volume,  but  for  the  succession  of 
graduated  tones  in  which  its  cry  is  uttered. 

266  ) 


LARYNGOSCOPE. 


In  a  room,  it  is' overpowering  and  deafening: 
it  consists  of  a  repetition  of  the  syllables  oo-ah, 
oo-ah,  at  first  distinctly  repeated,  and  ascend- 
ing in  the  scale,  but  at  last  ending  in  a  shake, 
consisting  of  a  quick  vibratory  series  of  notes, 
during  which  the  whole  of  the  animal's  frame 
quivers  with  the  effort  to  produce  them  ;  after 
this,  she  appears  to  be  greatly  excited,  and 
violently  shakes  the  netting  or  branch  to 
which  she  may  be  clinging  ;  which  action 
being  finished  she  again  traverses  her  cage, 
uttering  the  preliminary  syllables  oo-ah,  oo-ah, 
till  the  shake  again  concludes  the  series.  It 
is  principally  in  the  morning  that  the  animal 
thus  exerts  this  modulated  cry,  which  is, 
probably,  its  natural  call  to  its  mate,  and 
which,  from  its  strength,  is  well  calculated  for 
resounding  through  the  vast  forests.  The  fol- 
lowing observations  on  the  voice  of  the  ani- 
mal were  obligingly  presented  to  the  author 
by  Mr.  Waterhouse  : — 

"  '  I  should  endeavour  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
whooping  of  the  gibbon  (as  far  as  the  music 
is  concerned,  but  not  as  regards  the  quality  of 
sound),  by  comparing  it  to  the  tuning  of  a 
harp ;  first  beginning  with  an  E  string,  and 
repeating  it  at  short  intervals  ;  then  being 
altogether  silent  for  a  little  time,  and  then  be- 
ginning again  ;  next,  two  strings,  as  it  were, 
are  struck,  E  and  Ej  (or  Ftj) :  the  second 
string  is  then  screwed  up,  by  half-notes,  until 
it  reaches  the  octave  ;  the  E  and  F  natural, 
E  and  F  sharp,  E  and  G  natural,  &c.,  being 
struck  nearly  together.  It  must  be  observed 
that  before  the  upper  note  arrives  at  the  oc- 
tave, the  animal  amuses  herself  by  occasion- 
ally descending  a  few  semitones,  then  ascend- 
ing again,  and  so  on.  But  when  the  octave 
is  once  gained,  and  has  been  sounded  a  few 
times,  we  may  imagine  the  upper  string  to  be 
very  rapidly  let  down  by  semitones  ;  the  lower 
note  remaining  the  same  as  at  first,  and  the 
two  strings  being  always  struck  together. 
[Note  :  It  appears,  all  through  this  rapid 
chromatic  passage,  as  if  the  animal  emitted 
two  notes  at  a  time,  as  in  the  music  ;  but  this 
is  the  effect  of  the  rapid  transition  from  the 
lower  note  to  the  upper.]  The  rapidity  of  the 
descending  passage  is  equal  to  that  of  an  ex- 
tremely brilliant  shake.  The  animal  then 
remains  quiet  for  a  short  time  ;  after  which 
follow  two  barks,  each  composed  of  the  low 
and  high  E,  sounded  nearly  together. 

"  '  It  appeared  to  me  that,  in  ascending  and 
descending  the  scale,  the  intervals  were  always 
exactly  half-tones  ;  and  I  am  sure  that  the 
highest  note  was  the  exact  octave  to  the 
lowest.  In  this  passage  the  lips  were  en- 
gaged, and  rapidly  vibrated  during  its  execu- 
tion. 

"  '  The  quality  of  the  notes'  is  very  musical ; 
and  I  do  not  doubt  that  a  good  violinist  would 


be  able  to  give  a  correct  idea  of  the  gibbon's 
composition,  excepting  as  regards  it  loudness. 
The  gibbon's  voice  is  certainly  much  more 
powerful  than  that  of  any  singer  I  ever 
heard. 

"  'One  more  fact  I  noticed,  viz.:  That  the 
gibbon  is  usually  a  long  time  before  she 
comes  to  the  rapidly-descending  passage ;  but 
when  she  has  given  it  once  she  soon  runs 
through  the  preliminary  part  of  her  composi- 
tion, and  again  comes  to  the  descending 
passage.' 


Allegro.  Accelerando.  crescendo. 


To  this  we  have  only  to  add  that  the  quality 
is  like  that  of  a  very  powerful  male  alto,  and 
that  the  sounds  are  produced,  alternately  by 
inspiration  and  expiration — the  high  notes  by 
the  former.  This  alternation,  of  course,  makes 
it  possible  for  the  animal  to  sing  continuously 
what  would  otherwise  be  an  impossible 
passage,  exceeding  any  possible  capacity  of 
lungs. 

Laryngoscope.  History  of  the  Invention — 
Taken  principally  from  Dr.  Morel!  Mackenzie's 
works. — The  use  of  mirrors  for  examining 
the  teeth  is  of  exceedingly  ancient  date.  Such 
mirrors  were  used  by  dentists  in  the  Augus- 
tan age,  and  the  tubular  instrument  for  ex- 
amining the  various  orifices  of  the  body, 
called  a  speculum,  is  also  a  very  old  invention  ; 
one  was  found  at  Pompeii.  The  use  of  a 
mirror  is  obviously  to  reflect  light  into  a  dark 
cavity  ;  the  use  of  a  speculum  is  to  render 
patent  a  tube  which  is,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, collapsed,  and  to  allow  the  entrance 
of  light  and,  at  the  same  time,  unimpeded 
vision.  Both  these  principles  have  been  ap- 
plied variously  in  the  gradual  development 
of  the  laryngoscope. 

In  1743,  M.  Levret,  a  French  accoucheur, 
invented  a  mirror  as  a  means  of  illuminating 
the  nostrils,  throat,  ears,  &c.,  for  the  removal 
of  growths  from  those  parts,  but  he  considered 
it  only  an  accessory  of  his  method  of  liga- 
turing these  growths,  and  he  did  not  value  it 
as  a  means  of  diagnosing  diseases  of  th© 
larynx. 

In  1804,  Dr.  Bozzini,  of  Frankfort-on- 
Main,  invented  an  apparatus  for  examining 
the  various  orifices  of  the  body.  It  consisted 
of  a  lantern  and  a  number  of  specula  ;  and 
the  speculum  intended  for   examining  the 


(  267  ) 


LARYNGOSCOPE. 


;hroat  was  curved  at  a  right  angle  and  pro- 
vided with  a  mirror  in  the  angle.  The  specu- 
lum was  divided  by  a  vertical  partition  into 
two  passages,  one  to  convey  the  light  to  the 
larynx,  another  to  convey  the  image  from  it. 
This  division  of  the  tube  was,  of  course,  quite 
unnecessary ;  but  Bozzini  appreciated  the 
things  necessary  for  a  laryngoscopic  ex- 
amination, though  he  over-stated  them.  This 
invention  was  decried  by  the  medical  pro- 
fession, while  the  public  had  an  almost  super- 
stitious regard  for  it,  imagining  that  it  v/ould 
render  possible  a  direct  examination  not  only 
of  the  orifices  but  also  of  the  cavities  of  the 
body.    This  instrument  was  soon  forgotten. 

In  1825,  M.  Cagniard  de  Latour  tried  to 
examine  the  Larynx,  with  a  small  mirror  in 
the  Pharynx  and  another  mirror  to  reflect  the 
light  on  to  the  first,  but  failed. 

In  1827,  Dr.  Senn  made  a  similar  unsuc- 
cessful attempt,  but  without  trying  any  means 
of  illumination. 

In  1829,  Dr.  Benjamin  Guy  Babington  in- 
vented an  instrument  closely  resembling  the 
present  Laryngoscope.  A  small  mirror  on  a 
stem  at  an  angle  of  about  120°  with  the  stem, 
was  introduced  into  the  Pharynx  ;  to  the  stem 
was  fastened  a  spatula  (a  sort  of  flat  spoon) 
which  depressed  the  tongue  ;  this  spatula  he 
afterwards  abandoned.  A  hand-mirror  was 
used  to  throw  light  on  to  the  Pharyngeal 
mirror.  This  instrument  he  called  a  "  Glotti- 
scope."  i 

In  1832,  Selligue,  a  mechanic  in  Paris  who 
was  himself  suffering  from  disease  of  the 
Larynx,  invented  for  his  own  case  an  appa- 
ratus like  that  of  Bozzini,  except  that  instead 
of  employing  one  tube  divided  by  a  partition, 
he  used  two  tubes.  With  this  Dr.  Bennati  of 
Paris  professed  to  be  able  to  see  the  vocal 
cords. 

In  1838,  M.  Baumes  exhibited  a  mirror  for 
examining  the  Larj'nx  and  posterior  nares. 

In  1840,  Liston  used  a  mirror  on  a  stem  for 
examining  the  throat,  but  apparently  never 
thought  of  seeing  as  far  as  the  vocal  cords. 
He  preferred  the  sense  of  touch  to  that  of 
sight. 

In  1844,  Dr.  Warden  of  Edinburgh,  who 
had  used  a  prism  for  seeing  the  Tympanum, 
thought  of  using  one  for  seeing  the  Larynx. 
He  used  a  powerful  Argand  lamp  for  illumina- 
tion, with  a  second  prism  attached. 

In  1844,  also,  Mr.  Avery  of  London,  tried  to 
use  a  speculum  and  reflector  for  the  same 
purpose ;  and  besides,  invented  a  circular 
mirror  worn  on  the  forehead  and  perforated  | 
in  the  centre  ;  the  mirror  reflected  the  light 
into  the  mouth,  and  the  observer  looked  at 
the  same  time  through  its  central  hole.  The 
defects  of  this  were  that  the  small  Pharyngeal 
mirror  was  in  a  speculum,  instead  of  at  the 


end  of  a  stem,  and  that  a  lamp  (like  Bozzini's  ■ 
was  attached  to  the  mirror  on  the  forehead, 
instead  of  being  placed  in  any  convenient 
position  behind  or  at  the  side  of  the  patient. 

In  1854,  M.  Manuel  Garcia,  a  singing- 
master  still  well  known,  thought  of  employing 
mirrors  for  studying  the  interior  of  the  Larynx 
during  singing.  He  made  his  observations 
on  himself  and  succeeded  admirably.  He 
used  a  small  mirror  on  a  long  stem  suitably 
bent,  and  introduced  this  into  the  Pharynx. 
He  directed  the  person  experimented  on  to 
turn  to  the  sun,  so  that  the  rays  might  be 
reflected  into  the  Larynx,  but  adds  that  if  the 
observer  experiments  on  himself  he  should 
reflect  the  rays  of  the  sun  into  his  Pharynx 
with  a  second  mirror,  and,  therefore,  stand 
with  his  back  to  the  sun.  This  second  mirror 
served  also  for  the  person  experimenting  on 
himself  to  see  the  image  of  his  own  Larynx. 
Little  notice  was  taken  of  Garcia's  observa- 
tions. 

In  1857,  Dr.  Tiirck,  of  Vienna,  who  had 
read  Garcia's  paper,  tried  to  use  his  mirror 
for  clinical  purposes.  He  used  only  one 
mirror,  and  employed  no  artificial  light  or 
second  mirror  for  illumination.  He  did  not 
succeed,  and  gave  up  his  attempts  after  a  few 
months. 

Later, in  1857,  Professor  Czermak,  of  Pesth, 
borrowed  from  Dr.  Turck  the  mirrors  which 
he  had  discarded,  and  overcame  all  difficulties. 
He  introduced  artificial  light,  and  the  large 
circular  perforated  mirror  worn  on  the  fore- 
head. He  was  the  first  to  render  the  laryngo- 
scope a  practically  useful  instrument.  He 
was  favoured  by  nature  for  examining  his  own 
Larynx,  since  his  Pharynx  and  Larynx  were 
very  large,  his  tonsils  and  uvula  very  small. 
His  demonstrations  of  his  own  larynx  con- 
vinced the  world  of  the  usefulness  of  the 
laryngoscope.  Since  this  time  no  real  im- 
provement has  been  made,  though  the  subject 
has  been  worked  continually. 


Fig.  I. 

THE  LARYNGOSCOPS. 


a  Shape  of  mirror,  b  mirror  and  holder  in  profile  much 
diminished  in  size. 

The  present  apparatus  consists  of  a  mirror 
on  a  stem,  bent  at  a  suitable  ang  e  (about 
i20°),  which  is  placed  against  the  back  of  the 
pharynx;  of  a  circular  mirror,  either  flat  or 


(  268  ) 


LARYNGOSCOPE. 


slightly  concave,  perforated  at  the  centre, 
which  is  worn  on  the  observer's  forehead  in 
some  way  so  that  his  eye  comes  opposite  the 
central  hole,  or  it  may  be  fixed  to  the  illu- 
minating lamp. 

Fig.  2. 

LAMP  WITH  CONVEX  LENS  FOR  LIGHTING. 


The  third  necessary  part  of  the  apparatus  is 
a  lamp,  which  may  or  may  not  be  furnished 
with  a  double  convex  lens  for  concentrating 
the  rays  of  light.  The  sunlight  on  a  bright 
day  may  be  used  instead  of  a  lamp.  It  is 
possible  by  casting  a  strong  light  on  the  neck 
from  outside  to  illuminate  the  interior  of  the 
larynx,  so  that  in  this  case  the  larynx  is 
lighted  through  its  walls. 

The  principles  employed  in  making  a 
laryngoscopic  examination  are  the  following ; 
Dr.  Morell  Mackenzie  thus  well  explains 
them  : — 

Fig.  3- 

(to  illustrate  equality  of  angles  of  incidence 
and  reflection.) 


k.  Mirror  in  profile,  ak.  is  reflected  as  kd.,  bk.  as  kc, 
and  vice  versa. 

"  When  rays  of  light  fall  on  a  plane  sur- 
face, the  angle  of  reflection  is  equal  to  the 
angle  of  incidence.  A  small  mirror  is  placed 
at  the  back  of  the  throat,  at  such  an  inclina- 
tion that  luminous  rays  falling  on  it  are  pro- 
jected into  the  cavity  of  the  larynx ;  at  the 
same  time  the  image  of  the  interior  of  the 
larynx  (lighted  up  by  the  luminous  rays)  is 
formed  on  the  mirror,  and  seen  by  the  ob- 
server. The  mirror  is  held  obliquely,  so  that 
it  forms  an  angle  of  rather  more  than  45" 
with  the  horizon.  The  plane  of  the  lar}'ngeal 
aperture  (bounded  by  the  epiglottis,  the  ary- 
epiglottidean  folds,  and  the  arytenoid  carti- 
lages) is  also  oblique,  the  epiglottis  being 
higher  than  the  apex  of  the  arytenoid  carti- 
lages. 

(  2 


Fig.4- 


"  The  above  diagram  shows  the  position 
of  the  different  parts,  and  explains  their  re- 
flection. Let  tn  represent  the  plane  of  the 
laryngeal  mirror,  I  the  plane  of  the  upper 
opening  of  the  larynx,  and  o  the  observer.  In 
the  plane  of  the  larynx,  a  represents  the  ary- 
tenoid cartilages,  ae  the  ary-epiglottidean 
folds,  and  e  the  epiglottis  ;  the  rays  from  these 
parts  impinge  on  the  mirror,  at  d,  ae,  and  e, 
and  are  thence  reflected  to  the  observer  at  o. 
Thus  the  epiglottis,  which  is  really  the 
highest  in  the  throat,  appears  at  the  upper 
part  of  the  mirror,  the  ary-epiglottidean  folds 
appear  rather  lower  and  at  each  side  of  the 
mirror,  while  at  the  lowest  part  of  the  mirror 
are  the  arytenoid  cartilages.  These  remarks 
apply  to  the  vertical  reflection.  The  only  in- 


F'g.  5. 


version  which  takes  place  in  the  formation  of 
the  image  is  in  the  antero-posterior  direction  ; 
the  part  which  in  reality  is  nearest  to  the 
observer,  the  anterior  commissure  of  the 
vocal  cords  (ac.  in  B.  fig.  5)  becomes  furthest 
in  the  image  (ac.  in  A.  fig.  5),  and  the  pos- 
terior or  inter-arytenoid  commissure  (pc.  in 
B.  fig.  5),  which  in  reality  is  farthest  from 
the  observer,  becomes  nearest  in  the  image 
(pc.  in  A.  fig.  5).  The  symmetrical  character 
of  the  image  which  makes  it  impossible  to 
judge  of  right  and  left,  and  the  antero-pos- 
terior inversion  which  actually  takes  place, 
often  leads  people  to  form  erroneous  opinions 
concerning  the  two  sides  of  the  larynx.  The 
lateral  relation  of  parts  in  the  image  must 
now  be  considered.  The  mirror  being  placed 
above  and  behind  the  laryngeal  aperture,  the 
rays  of  light  proceeding  from  the  larynx  pass 
directly  upwards  and  backwards,  and  the 
patient's  right  vocal  cord  is  seen  on  the  left 
side  of  the  mirror,  and  the  left  vocal  cord 
on  the  right  side  of  the  mirror  (just  as  the 

o 


LATERAL  VIBRATIONS  LEGABILE. 


patient's  right  hand  is  opposite  the  observer's 
left,  and  his  left  hand  opposite  the  observer's 
right)." 


Fig.  6. 

A  LARYMGOSCOPIC  SITTING. 


In  making  a  laryngoscopic  examination, 
"  the  patient  should  sit  upright  facing  the 
observer,  with  his  head  inclined  very 
slightly  backwards.  The  observer's  eyes 
should  be  about  one  foot  distant  from  the 
patient's  mouth  ;  and  a  lamp  burning  with  a 
strong  clear  light  should  be  placed  on  a  table 
at  the  side  of  the  patient,  the  flame  of  the 
lamp  being  on  a  level  with  the  patient's  eyes. 
The  observer  now  puts  on  the  reflector,  fixed 
generally  on  the  i'orehead,  and  tries  to  throw 
a  disk  of  light  on  to  the  fauces,  so  that  the 
centre  of  the  disk  corresponds  with  the  base 
of  the  uvula.  He  then  passes  the  laryngeal 
mirror  to  the  back  of  the  throat,  so  that  the 
posterior  surface  rests  on  the  uvula,  which 
should  be  pushed  rather  upwards  and  back- 
wards towards  the  posterior  nares.  In  this 
position  the  light  is  thrown  from  the  mirror 
into  the  larynx,  while  the  image  of  the 
larynx  is  observed  on  the  mirror." 

Auto  •  Laryngoscopy .  The  practice  of 
Laryngoscopy  in  self-observation  requires  a 
second  mirror  to  reflect  the  image  from  the 
laryngoscope  to  the  observer.  An  ordinary 
toilet  glass  does  very  well. 

Lateral  Vibrations.    [Acoustics,  §  15.] 

LaudfS/.)  Lute. 

Laudi  spiritual!  (It.)  [Oratorio.] 

Lauds.    [Horae  canonicae.] 

Lauf  [Ger.)  (i)  The  peg-box  in  guitars  or 
violins.  (2)  A  run  or  division  in  singing  or 
playing.    A  roulade. 

Lauftanz  (Ger.)  Lit.,  a  running  dance, 
a  coraiito. 

Laut  (Ger.)    Loud,  forte. 

Laute  (Ger.)  [Lute.] 

Lautenist  {Ger.)  A  performer  upon  the 
lute. 

Lavolta  (It.)  An  old  Italian  dance,  much 
practised  in  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth  ; 
many  of  the  old  dramatists  allude   to  the 


dance,  as  Massinger  in  his  play, '»  The  Great 
Duke  of  Florence :  ' 

"  dance 
A  light  lavolta  with  her." 
It  seems  to  have  been  the  precursor  of  the 
modern  waltz,  as  it  is  thus  described  in  a  poem 
by  Sir  John  Davies,  called  "  Orchestra,"  1622: 
"  Yet  there  is  one  the  most  delightful  kind 
A  lofty  jumping  or  a  leaping  round, 
Where  arm  in  arm  two  dancers  are  entwined, 
And  whirl  themselves  with  strict  embracements  bound. 
And  still  their  feet  an  anapaest  do  sound. 
An  anapaest  in  all  their  music's  song. 
Whose  first  two  feet  are  short,  the  third  is  long." 

Lay.  Asong{Ger.Lied.)  [Fr.lai.)  Aballad. 

Lay  vicars.  Lay  clerks.  Clerk  vicars. 
Vicars  choral.  Secular  clerks.  Chanters. 
Soiigmen.  Secular  vicars.  Secundarii.  The 
officers  of  a  cathedral  whose  duty  it  is  to 
sing  that  portion  of  the  music  of  the  services 
which  can  be  performed  by  laymen  or  men  in 
minor  orders.  In  some  of  the  old  cathedrals 
they  formed  a  corporation,  often  jointly  with 
the  priest  vicars.  In  many  cathedrals  the 
vicars  choral  were  formerly  in  priest's  orders. 
With  certain  exceptions,  in  the  new  cathedrals 
lay  vicars  are  not  in  holy  orders  and  are 
merely  stipendiary  singers. 

Lead.  A  point  or  short  passage  which 
has  to  be  given  out  by  one  particular  part. 
When  the  word  is  used  as  a  direction,  it  calls 
attention  to  the  importance  of  that  point. 

Leader.  The  name  of  the  principal  first 
violinist  in  an  orchestra  ;  of  the  chief  clarinet- 
tist in  a  military  band ;  and  of  the  chief 
cornet-player  in  a  brass  band.  Before  the 
introduction  of  a  separate  conductor,  the 
leader  of  an  orchestra  was  its  director,  and 
gave  the  tempo  with  his  fiddle-bow,  a  custom 
which  has  led  to  the  use  of  a  fiddle-bow  as 
a  baton  in  France.  [Conductor.] 

Leading  note.  Note  sensible  (Fr.)  Cha- 
racteristischer  Ton  {Ger.)  Leit-ton  {Ger.)  Nota 
characteristica  (Lat.)  Subsetnitoniuvi  modi 
{Lat.)  Snbtonic.  The  seventh  degree  of  the 
ascending  major  scale.  It  is  called  leading 
because  of  its  tendency  to  rise  or  lead  up  to 
the  tonic.  It  is  called  sensitive  and  charac- 
teristic, because  it  forms  the  essential  diff"er- 
ence  between  the  modern  scale  and  ancient 
modes.  The  lastian  or  Ionic  mode  was  the 
only  church  scale  having  a  leading  note.  In 
consequence  of  the  leading  note  forming  part 
of  the  upper  of  the  two  tetrachords  of  which 
the  modern  scale  is  formed,  that  tetrachord  is 
by  some  called  characteristic. 

Lebhaft  {Ger.)    Lively,  vivace  {It.) 

Lecon  (Fr.)  A  piece  of  music  intended  to 
develope  the  taste,  skill  and  power  of  the 
performer.    A  study. 

Ledger  lines.    [Leger  lines.] 

Legabile,  legando  {It.)'  Tied,  connected, 
smoothly. 


(  270  ) 


LEGATISSIMO  LICENSE. 


Legatissimo  (It.)  Exceedingly  smooth, 
close,  and  connected. 

Legato  [It.)  Bound,  close,  connected.  A 
piece  of  music  so  marked  is  intended  to  be 
sung  or  played  in  an  even,  smooth,  and 
gliding  manner.    It  is  opposed  to  staccato. 

Legatura  (//.)  A  bind,  brace,  or  tie. 
Accolade  (Fr.)    Bindungs-zeichen  {Ger.) 

Leger  or  ledger  lines.  Lit.,  light  lines, 
leger  {Fr.)  Short  lines  drawn  above  or  below 
the  ordinary  sfave  at  the  relative  distances 
at  which  the  whole  lines  would  be  placed. 


On  and  between  these  lines,  notes  belonging 
to  passages  beyond  the  extent  of  the  stave 
are  placed.  The  use  of  leger  lines  is  com- 
paratively modern  in  musical  notation,  for  it 
was  anciently  supposed  that  the  stave,  with 
a  certain  clef  prefixed,  was  sufficient  for  the 
compass  of  the  voice  or  instrument  using 
such  clef.  When  the  compass  was  extended, 
the  clef  was  shifted  so  that  the  music  might 
be  still  expressed  within  the  limits  of  a  stave. 
To  avoid  the  frequent  shifting  of  clefs, 
Frescobaldi,  in  his  "  Toccate  d'lntavolatura 
di  Cimbalo  et  Organo,"  Rome,  1637,  employs 
two  staves,  comprising  fourteen  lines,  as  may 
be  seen  in  the  following  fac-simile  of  the 
opening  of  the  composition  quoted  in  the 
article  "  Galliard." 


r-6  i- 

--I  .  

9i  

 ^    ^  1  L 

The  name  ledger  is  also  given  to  account- 
books  because  of  the  light  lines  drawn  in  the 
margin  of  the  pages. 

Legerement  (Fr.)  Leggieramente  (It.) 
Lightlv,  easily,  gracefully,  rapidly. 

Legerete  (Fr..)  Leggerezza  (It.)  Light- 
ness, rapidity. 

Leggiadramente  (7^.)  Beautifully,  de- 
lightfully, charmingly. 

Leggiadro  (It.)    Handsome,  beautiful. 

Leggiarezza,  con  (It.)  With  much  light- 
ness. 

Leggiere  (7^,)    Very  lightly,  rapidly. 


Leggieramente  (7^.)  Easily,  lightly, 
swiftly. 

Leggiero  (7^.)    Light,  easy,  swift. 
Leggierucolo  (7/.)     Rather   easily  and 
lightly. 

Legno,  col  (It.)  With  the  wood.  A 
direction  to  strike  the  strings  of  violins  with 
the  back  of  the  bow. 

Leicht  (Ger.)    Easy,  light. 

Leit-akkord  (Gcr.)  A  guiding  chord.  A 
chord  which  suggests  an  immediate  resolution 
into  another,  as  the  chord  of  the  dominant" 
seventh,  &c. 

Leiter  (Ger.)  Scala  (It.)  Lit.,  a  ladder. 
The  scale. 

Leitereigene  Akkorde  (Ger.)  Chords 
proper  to  the  scale,  that  is,  chords  made  up 
of  the  notes  of  any  particular  diatonic  scale, 
as  for  instance,  the  triads  on  consecutive 
notes  which  are  major  on  the  fourth  and 
fifth  degrees,  minor  on  the  second,  third,  and 
sixth,  and  imperfect  on  the  seventh.  Also, 
chords  of  the  seventh,  and  of  the  ninth 
similarly  constructed  on  successive  notes  of 
the  scale. 

Leiterfremd  {Ger.)  Notes  foreign  to  the 
scale. 

Leno  (It.)  Faint,  weak,  dull,  flexible,  pliant. 
Lent  {Fr.)    Slow,  letito. 
Lentamente  {It.)  Slowly. 
Lentando   (7^.)     Becoming   slower  by 
degrees  ;  slackening  the  time, 
Lentement  {Fr.)  Slowly. 
Lento  (7/.)  Slow. 

Lenteur,  avec  {Fr.)  Lentezza,  con  (It.) 
Slowly. 

Lesser,  Minor,  as  :  with  the  lesser  third, 
in  the  minor  key  ;  lesser  sixth,  a  minor  sixth. 

Lesson.  An  assigned  task,  an  exercise 
or  tune  for  the  voice  or  an  instrument.  The 
word  formerly  was  applied  to  exercises  (for 
the  harpsichord  or  other  instruments)  of  the 
character  now  known  as  Suites  or  Sonatas, 

Lesto  (It.)    Light,  lively,  cheerful,  gay. 

License.  Permission  to  break  one  of 
the  rules  or  supposed  rules  of  the  art  of 
music. 

When  the  gradual  growth  of  music  in  the 
church,  and  among  wandering  musicians, 
had  proved  that  the  loss  of  the  art  as 
practised  by  the  Greeks  was  only  temporary, 
attention  seems  to  have  been  much  more 
directed  to  the  scientific  side  of  music  than 
lo  the  artistic.  No  doubt  the  progress  of 
music  was  considerably  retarded  by  this,  but 
the  germ  of  harmony  as  found  in  crude 
diaphony  was  not  to  be  stifled,  and  descant, 
counterpoint,  canon,  and  fugue,  came  bit  by 
bit  into  existence.  But  writers  on  music 
still  continued  to  long  for  a  perfect  exactitude 
in  the  construction  of  music  which  should 
make  mechanical  skill  of  primary  importance, 


(  271  ) 


LICENSING. 


and  the  inventive  faculty  of  secondary  value. 
At  each  stage,  therefore,  in  its  development, 
strong  efforts  were  made  by  learned  pro- 
fessors to  build  it  up  on  a  series  of  irre- 
fragable laws,  and  fence  it  round  with  sundry 
warnings  to  the  ignorant  or  unbelieving. 
The  true  artistic  spirit  can  never  submit  to 
such  restraint,  and  must  ever  be  searching 
for  new  forms  of  the  beautiful.  Hence,  these 
laws  were  from  time  to  time  broken,  and  as 
professors  could  but  allow  that  the  result  was 
in  many  cases  good,  they  satisfied  their  con- 
sciences by  calling  these  breakings  of  the 
law  "  licenses,"  or  in  other  words,  they  gave 
dispensations. 

Any  student  fairly  conversant  with  the 
history  of  music  must  have  been  convinced 
of  this  fact  by  the  strongest  evidence. 

The  rules  of  descant  were  framed  as  if  any 
further  growth  of  the  art  were  not  only  im- 
possible, but  undesirable  if  conceivably  pos- 
sible. So  too  are  the  rules  of  counterpoint 
as  first  laid  down. 

In  treatises  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries,  the  novelties  introduced  by  the 
then  "  moderni  "  are  attacked  with  all  the 
asperity  and  prejudice  which  some  are  direct- 
ing at  the  present  day  against  the  so-called 
"  music  of  the  future." 

V  well-known  living  writer  on  harmony 
recommends  the  student  to  avoid  certain 
counterpoints,  "  although  they  liave  the 
sanction  of  great  classical  composers."  The 
necessity  of  granting  dispensations  is  thus 
made  evident,  for  it  is  here  admitted  that 
great  classical  composers  have  practically 
repealed  certain  rules,  yet,  say  the  rule- 
makers,  "  the  laws  are  true,  so  we  will  say 
they  are  broken  by  license."  Examples  of 
this  obstructive  tendency  in  most  writers  on 
musical  subjects  might  be  multiplied  to  any 
extent,  but  it  will  only  be  necessary  to  refer 
shortly  to  one  more  case.  "  Discords  must 
be  prepared  "  was  a  law  which  was  enforced 
until  public  opinion  asserted  that  many  could 
be  delightfully  used  without  preparation. 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  students  were  allowed 
to  use  certain  dominant  discords  without 
preparation  by  license.  This  dispensation  is 
happily  not  enforced  in  later  treatises,  and 
dominant  discords  "  may  be  used  without 
preparation."  One  author,  more  honest, 
though  less  logical,  than  his  contemporaries, 
has  said  that  fundamental  discords  (a  name 
given  for  some  unexplained  cause  to  dominant 
discords)  are  called  fundamental,  "  because 
they  can  be  used  without  preparation." 

Of  course  art  has  its  laws,  and  every  com- 
poser and  painter  writes  and  paints  under  the 
direction  of  innumerable  rules  gathered  by 
him  from  broad  generalization  and  experience. 
He  feels  their  force  and  obeys  them,  but 


whether  they  can  ever  be  written  down  and 
codified  is  a  question  of  great  doubt.  Even 
if  music  had  now  reached  its  climax  of  per- 
fection, no  power  could  succeed  in  converting 
it  into  an  exact  science,  and  rules  should  be 
sparingly  made  where  "license"  will  certainly 
be  craved  in  order  to  disregard  them.  Noi 
can  it  be  said  that  there  is  any  moral  fault  in 
breaking  rules,  for  music  is  unlike  morality, 
inasmuch  as  the  artist  should  first  do  what 
his  imagination  prompts,  *and  afterwards 
enquire  whether  it  was  right  or  wrong,  and 
moreover,  speaking  generally,  the  end  will 
justify  the  means.  On  the  whole,  the  history 
of  musical  "  license"  is  not  very  creditable  to 
those  to  whom  has  been  intrusted  from  time 
to  time  the  training  of  enthusiastic  musical 
j  youth;  and  even  in  these  very  days  it  would 
:  be  well  if  critics  and  teachers  could  be  made 
i  to  understand  that  many  innovations  are 
legitimate  growths,  and  not  faults,  pardonable 
,  only  "  by  license." 

Licensing  [musical  and  dramatic).  The 
laws  relating  to  the  licensing  of  musical  and 
dramatic  performances  are  so  closely  con- 
nected that  it  will  be  convenient  to  consider 
them  in  a  single  article.  In  early  times  there 
wore  no  such  laws,  but  in  the  time  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  players  were  declared  by  statute  to 
be  rogues  and  vagabonds,  unless  they  were 
acting  as  the  servants  of  sunie  baron  or 
person  of  hijher  degree.  The  licensing  laws, 
however,  propfly  so  called,  take  their  origin 
from  the  revival  cf  theatrical  entertainments 
after  the  Restoration.  At  that  period,  the 
irregularities  of  the  stage  became  so  great, 
and  continued,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  of 
the  Lord  Chamberlain  and  his  subordinate 
officer,  the  Master  of  the  Revels,  so  uncon- 
trollable that  it  was  at  length  thought  ex- 
pedient to  include  all  common  players  of 
interludes  in  the  Vagrant  Act  (i2  Anne,  stat. 
2,  c.  24).  The  evil,  however,  still  prevailed, 
and  was  heightened  by  an  attempt  to  enforce 
the  law  against  a  player  who  was  a  house- 
keeper. In  1735,  the  increased  number  of 
theatres  {six  in  all !)  in  which  the  actors  played 
without  any  legal  authority,  and  the  loose 
and  scandalous  nature  of  the  performances, 
induced  Sir  John  Barnard  to  bring  in  a  bill 
"to  restrain  the  numberof  houses  for  playing 
of  interludes,for  the  better  regulating  of  com- 
mon players."  But  a  clause  being  proposed 
to  enlarge,  or  at  least  to  confirm  the  power  of 
the  Lord  Chamberlain  in  licensing  plays,  and 
it  being  understood  that  the  Act  could  not 
pass  without  such  addition,  Sir  John  Barnard, 
who  disapproved  of  the  Lord  Chamberlain's 
jurisdiction,  abandoned  the  bill.  Two  years 
afterwards  Sir  Robert  Walpole  introduced 
and  carried  the  statute  10  Geo.  II.,  c.  28,  to 
explain  and  amend  the  statute  of  Anne,  im- 


(  272  ) 


LICENSING. 


posing  penalties  for  acting  without  patent 
from  the  king  or  licence  from  the  Lord 
Chamberlain,  requiring  all  new  plays,  &c.,  to 
be  submitted  to  the  Lord  Chamberlain,  and 
empowering  him  to  forbid  the  performance  of 
any  dramatic  entertainment.  The  fifth  section, 
prohibiting  the  granting  of  a  patent  or  licence 
to  act  elsewhere  than  in  Westminster  or 
where  the  king  shall  be  resident,  is  said  to 
have  been  inserted  at  the  instigation  of  Sir 
John  Barnard.  It  has  been  held  that  "tum- 
bling" is  not  an  entertainment  of  the  stage 
within  the  meaning  of  this  statute  (see  the 
case  of  R.  v.  Handy,  6,  Term  Reports,  286). 
The  statute  28  Geo.  III.,  c.  30,  enables  magis- 
trates in  sessions  to  license  theatrical  per- 
formances in  places  where  they  could  not  be 
authorized  by  the  previous  enactment.  It 
was  held,  however,  that  a  conviction  under 
tnat  statute  for  performing  without  patent 
from  the  king  or  licence  irom  the  Lord  Cham- 
berlain at  Manchester  was  good  ;  it  being  for 
the  defendant  to  show,  if  such  were  the  fact, 
that  he  had  a  licence  from  the  sessions. 
When,  in  an  action,  the  plaintiff  was  a  par- 
ticipator in  carrying  on  an  unlicensed  opera 
house,  it  was  held  that  he  could  not  recover 
money  paid  at  the  request  of  the  defendant 
for  carrying  on  such  unlicensed  house  (see 
De  Begnis  v.  Armistead,  10  Bingham,  107.) 

By  the  Theatre  Act,  1843  (6  &  7  Vict.,  c. 
67)  it  is  provided  that  all  theatres  for  the 
public  performance  of  stage  plays  must  be 
licensed  by  justices,  except  in  London,  West- 
minster, Finsbury,  Marylebone,  the  Tower 
Hamlets  and  Southwark,  and  such  places  as 
the  Sovereign  is  in  the  habit  of  occasionally 
residingin.  In  those  places  the  authority  of 
the  Lord  Chamberlain  is  preserved.  These 
licences  are  granted  in  special  session  of  the 
justices,  of  which  session  seven  days'  notice 
must  be  given  by  their  clerk.  They  must  be 
under  the  hands  and  seals  of  four  or  more 
justices.  The  university  towns  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  are  the  subject  of  special 
exceptions  in  favour  of  the  authority  of  their 
respective  chancellors  or  vice-chancellors. 
Performing  stage-plays  in  unlicensed  places 
subjects  the  offender  to  a  penalty  of  not  more 
than  ten  pounds  per  diem  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  offence.  New  plays,  and 
additions  to  old  ones,  must  be  submitted  for 
the  approval  of  the  Lord  Chamberlain,  and 
the  maximum  penalty  for  the  performance  of 
plays  before  they  have  been  allowed,  or  that 
have  been  disallowed,  is  fifty  pounds,  the 
offender's  licence  also  becoming  void.  The 
word  stage-play  includes  every  "  tragedy, 
comedy,  farce,  opera,  burletta,  interlude, 
melodrama,  pantomime  or  other  entertain- 
ment of  the  stage,  or  any  part  thereof."  It 
has  been  held,  in  the  case  of  Thorne  v.  Colson 


(3  Law  Times  Reports,  New  Series,  697),  that 
a  dramatic  performance,  which  was  in  fact  a 
duologue,  was  a  stage-play  within  the  mean- 
ing of  this  statute.  A  curious  case  was  heard 
in  the  year  1865  (Day  v.  Simpson,  34  Law 
Journal  Reports,  Magistrates  Cases)\n  which 
it  was  proved  that  at  a  music  hall,  licensed 
for  music  and  dancing,  but  not  licensed  as  a 
theatre,  a  stage  was  erected  with  lights  and 
other  accessories,  a  performance  was  pre- 
sented sustained  by  living  persons  with  a 
dialogue  between  them  and  a  regular  plot,, 
which  was  distinguished  only  from  an  ordi- 
nary stage-play  by  all  the  actors  except  two- 
(the  dialogue  between  whom  was  wholly  sub- 
ordinate to  the  plot  of  the  piece)  being  not 
bodily  on  the  stage,  but  represented  merely 
by  a  reflection  of  their  bodies  on  a  mirror  at 
the  back  of  the  stage.  This  ingenious  con- 
trivance was  held  to  be  a  violation  of  the 
statute.  It  seems,  that  whether  a  certain 
performance  be  or  be  not  a  stage-play  within 
the  meaning  of  the  act  is  a  question  of  fact 
and  not  of  law ;  and  that  a  ballet  out  of 
which  any  regular  story  could  be  constructed 
would  probably  be  held  to  be  a  stage-play 
requiring  a  licence.  This  point  was  argued 
in  the  Alhambra  case  (see  Wigan  v.  Strange, 
35  Law  Journal  Reports,  Magistrates'  Cases, 
31),  to  which,  and  to  the  authorities  cited 
therein,  we  must  refer  our  readers  for  further 
information  on  this  part  of  the  subject. 

The  present  law  with  reference  to  licences 
for  music,  dancing,  or  other  public  entertain- 
ment of  the  like  kind  is  to  be  found  in  the 
statute  25  Geo.  II.,  c.  36  (made  perpetual  by 
28  Geo.  II.,  c.  19).  That  act  provided  that 
all  su-^h  places  of  entertainment,  not  licensedj 
were  to  be  considered  as  disorderly  houses, 
and  persons  keeping  the  same  are  liable  to  a 
penalty  of  £100,  to  such  person  as  will  sue 
for  the  same  within  the  space  of  six  calendar 
months  after  the  commission  of  the  offence. 
Various  other  stringent  provisions  are  made 
in  the  Act,  but  nothing  therein  contained 
applies  to  "  such  performances  and  public 
entertainments  as  are,  or  shall  be,  lawfully 
exercised  or  carried  on  under  or  by  virtue  of 
letters  patent,  a  licence  of  the  crown,  or  th& 
licence  of  the  Lord  Chamberlain."  A  room 
in  which  musical  performances  are  regularly 
exhibited,  though  it  is  not  used  solely  for  that 
purpose,  is  within  this  statute,  and  requires  a 
licence  (see  the  case  of  Bellis  v.  Beale, 
2  Espiiiasse's  Reports,  592)  ;  but  a  room  kept 
by  a  dancing  master  for  the  instruction  of  his 
scholars  and  subscribers,  and  to  which  per- 
sons are  not  indiscriminately  admitted  is  not 
(see  Bellis  v.  Burghall,  ib.  p.  722).  It  seems 
to  be  doubtful  whether  the  case  is  within  the 
statute,  where  the  musical  entertainment  ia 
only  the  secondary  object  for  which  the  place 


(  273  ) 


S 


Life — ligatura:. 


is  open  to  the  pubiic,  as  where  a  supper  room 
is  so  open  and  no  charge  made  for  admission 
(see  Hale  v.  Green,  9  Exchequer  Reports,  247). 

From  the  above  resume  the  reader  will  be 
able  to  gam  an  outline  of  the  law  of  dramatic 
and  musical  licensing.  The  statutes  and 
decisions,  however,  above  cited,  should  be 
consulted  with  care. 

We  conclude  with  the  subject  of  street 
music,  or  the  law  regulating  itinerant  per- 
formers in  the  public  thoroughfares  of  the 
metropolis.  By  §  i  of  statute  27  &  28 
Vict.,  c.  55,  a  previous  enactment  on  the 
subject  (§  57  of  2  &  3  Vict.,  c.  47)  is  re- 
pealed, and  in  lieu  thereof  it  is  enacted  that 
any  householder  within  the  metropolitan 
police  district,  personally  or  by  his  servant, 
or  by  any  police  constable,  may  require  any 
street-musician  or  street-singer  to  depart 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  house  of  such 
householder,  on  account  of  the  illness,  or  on 
account  of  the  interruption  of  the  ordinary 
occupations  or  pursuits  of  any  inmate  of  such 
house,  or  for  other  reasonable  or  sufficient 
cause.  And  every  person  who  shall  sound  or 
play  upon  any  musical  instrument,  or  shall 
sing  in  any  thoroughfare  or  public  place  near 
any  such  house  after  being  so  required  to 
depart,  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  not 
more  than  forty  shillings,  or,  in  the  discretion 
of  the  magistrate  before  whom  he  shall  be 
convicted,  may  be  imprisoned  for  any  time 
not  more  than  three  days.  And  it  is  lawful 
for  any  metropolitan  police  constable  to  take 
into  custody  without  warrant  any  person  so 
offending.  The  offender  must,  however,  be 
given  into  custody  by  the  person  making  the 
charge,  and  the  latter  must  accompany  the 
prisoner  to  the  station-house  and  there  sign 
the  charge-sheet  kept  for  that  purpose.  When- 
ever any  person  charged  with  such  an  off"ence 
shall  be  brought  to  any  station-house  during 
the  time  when  the  police-court  is  shut,  the 
constable  in  charge  of  the  station-house  may 
require  the  person  making  the  charge  to 
enter  into  a  recognisance  to  appear  to  pro- 
secute, and  upon  the  refusal  of  such  person 
to  do  so,  the  constable  in  charge  may  dis- 
charge the  party  from  custody. 

Lie  (Fr.)    Tied,  bound. 

Lieblich  {Ger.)  Lovely,  sweet-toned,  as 
Lieblich  gedackt,  lovely  stopped  diapason. 

Lied  {Ger.)  The  name  for  a  composition 
of  a  simple  character,  which  is  complete  in 
itself,  a  song.  There  are  several  kinds,  but 
the  chief  are  classed  under  the  following 
heads,  (i.)  Sacred  songs  or  chorales,  secu- 
lar songs,  comprising  national,  people's 
songs  (Volkslieder),  drinking  songs,  and 
humorous  songs.  The  French  chanson, 
the  English  songs  with  their  several  pecu- 
liarities  are  described  under  their  respec- 


tive headings  :  it  remains  therefore,  to 
speak  of  the  German  lied,  the  sacred  lied  or 
chorale  being  the  earliest  and  most  ancient 
form.  Its  music  was  founded  upon  the 
ecclesiastical  modes  and  remained  unchanged 
until  the  days  of  the  Minnesingers,  whose 
influence  continued  for  a  period  of  400  years; 
though  as  a  guild  the  Meistersingers  existed  so 
recently  as  the  year  1839,  yet  the  period  of 
their  power  was  from  iioo  until  1500. 
The  alterations  and  inventions  of  this  body 
gave  risetotheFo/^s/zetfer,  a  seriesof  melodies 
of  great  beauty,  rude  in  form  and  of  a  sim- 
plicity that  vanished  upon  the  application  of 
contrapuntal  treatment;  thus,  as  the  science 
of  music  became  cultivated  the  Volkslieder 
began  to  fade  and  die,  and  to  give  rise  to  the 
"  volksthiimliche  Lied,"  a  sort  of  compromise 
between  the  volkslied  proper  and  the  ■'  kunst 
lied,"  in  which  the  spontaniety  of  the  one 
was  enriched  with  the  scientific  decoration 
of  the  other. 

Liedertafel  {Ger.)  Lit.,  song-table.  A 
society  meeting  for  the  practice  of  part-songs 
for  men's  voices. 

Ligaturse  (Lat.)  Ligatures.  An  old  sys- 
tem of  connecting  notes  (notulae)  for  purposes 
of  singing.  Notulae,  says  Franchinus  (lib.  i., 
cap.  ii.)  are  of  three  kinds,  simplex,  com- 
posita,  mediocris.  A  "  Notula  simplex"  is 
one  which  is  not  joined  to  another,  and  is 
shaped  thus, or  with  a  stem  (virgula)  thus, 
p.  A  "Notula  composita"  is  one  that  is 
attached  to  another,  and  is  of  two  kinds.  If 
the  ligature  ascends,  that  is,  if  the  second 
note  is  higher  than  the  first,  the  first  note 
has  no  stem,  e.g.  : 

I  —  -I—  I 

but  if  the  ligature  descends,  the  first  note  has 
a  stem  on  its  left  hand  side,  e.g.  : 

A  "  notula  mediocris "  has  the  form  of 
neither  of  the  preceding,  but  appears  like 
ordinary  "mensurable"  descending  semi- 
breves,  of  which  there  are  not  less  than  two 
in  succession,  e.g.  : 

The  final  notula  of  a  ligature  may  be 
written  in  three  ways,  ist,  lower  than  the 
penultimate,  thus : 

2.  Immediately  over  the  penultimate,  with 
a  foursided  body,  thus  : 


3.  Or  over  the  penultimate,  on  the  right 


(  274  ) 


LIGNE  LUTE. 


side,  with  a  foursided  body  and  a  stem  on  the 
right  side,  thus  : 

It  is  wron^  to  write  the  ultimate  of  a 
ligature  thus  ^  ,  but  two  notes  only  may  be 

written  thus         p.^  j  ;   but   an  ascending 

oblique  body  may  not  be  written  upwards 
at  such  a  thing  "  usus  perhorrescit." 

To  the  middle  notes  of  a  ligature  no  special 
form  is  attached,  they  are  either  foursided,  or 
oblique.  Only  one  syllable  is  to  be  sung  to 
all  the  notes  included  in  one  ligature. 

Ligne  (Fr.)    A  line. 

Ligneum  Psalterium  (Lat.)  A  series  of 
pieces  of  wood  of  graduated  lengths,  s*o 
arranged  as  to  produce  the  various  notes  of  a 
scale.  These  pieces  are  supported  on  two 
strings,  running  the  length  of  the  instrument, 
which  is  sometimes  made  in  the  shape  of  a 
boat.  The  tone  is  produced  by  striking.  The  in- 
strument is  very  ancient  and  universal,  modifi- 
cations of  its  form  beingfound  in  every  country. 
It  is  also  called  Xj'lophone  (GA.  wood-sound), 
Strohjidel,  Gi^elira,  wooden-laughter,  &c. 

Lilt.  An  Irish  dance  accompanied  with 
singing. 

"  While  the  chanter  with  his  merry  pipes 
Struck  up  a  lilt  so  gaily  O." 
f  Ballad.  1 

Limma  {Gh.)    [Greek  Music] 
Linea  {Lat.)    Linie  [Ger.)    A  line. 
Linien-system  {Ger.)    The  stave  of  five 
lines. 

Linke  Hand  {Ger.)    Left  hand 
Lip,  to.     To  adjust  the  lips  so  as  to 

produce  the  proper  tone  of  wind-instruments 

played  by  the  mouth. 
Lipping.  [To1ip.] 

Lira  {It.)  A  lyre.  This  word  was  formerly 
applied  to  many  instruments  of  the  viol  class  or 
others  having  a  resonance-box,  as,  lira  da 
braccio,  a  sort  of  large  tenor-violin  ;  lira  da 
gamba,  or  per/etta,  a  sort  of  violoncello  ;  lira 
rustica  or  tedesca,  or  mendicorum,  a  hurdy- 
gurdy  {Baiiern-leyer).  Lira  barberina  was 
a  bowed  instrument,  invented  by  John  Baptist 
Doni,  so  named  in  honour  of  his  patron. 
Cardinal  Barberini. 

Lire  {Fr.)    A  lyre  or  harp. 

Liressa  {It.)    An  inferior  lyre  or  harp, 

Liscio  {It.)    Polished,  smooth. 

L'istesso  {It.)  The  same,  as  I'istesso 
movimento,  the  same  movement ;  Vistesso 
tempo,  the  same  time. 

Litany,  Xiravtia  {Gk.)  A  prayer,  rogation, 
or  supplication  ;  in  particular,  that  early  form 
of  prayer  in  which  a  minister  recites  a  peti- 
tion, and  the  people  answer  "  Lord,  have 
mercy."  In  the  fourth  century  litanies  were 
sung  in  solemn  processions  by  the  Eastern 
Church,  but  they  were  not  employed  by  the 
Western  Church  till  about  a  century  later. 

I  275  ) 


Until  the  time  of  Mamertus  they  were  only 
used  on  special  occasions,  but  he,  at  the  clore 
of  the  fifth  century  caused  them  to  be  recited 
on  fixed  days.  Kyrie  eleison,  Christe  eleison, 
Kyrie  eleison,  is  called  the  Lesser  Litany. 

Lituus  {Lat.)     A  crooked  trumpet,  used 
chiefly  for  giving  military  signals. 
Liuto  {It.)    A  lute. 

Lo.  (i)  Abbreviation  for  Loco.  (2)  One  of 
the  syllables  used  in  Bocedization. 

Lobgesang  {Ger.)    A  hymn  of  praise. 
Loco  {It.)  In  its  proper  place.  A  direction 
to  return  to  the  proper  pitch  after  having 
played  an  octave  higher. 

Locrian  {Gk.)  A  name  sometimes  applied 
to  the  Hypodorian  mode. 

Logeum  (Lai.)  \oyt7ov{Gk.)  [Pulpitum.] 
Long.   An  ancient  musical  character  equal 
to  two  breves. 

Long  Drum.  [Drum.] 
Longitudinal   vibrations.  [Acoustics, 
§  I4-] 

Lontano(/i.)  Far  distant.  Trotubalontano, 
a  trumpet  played  in  the  distance. 

Lo  stesso  tempo  {It.)  At  the  same  pace. 
Loure  or  Louvre  {Fr.)  A  dance  adapted 
to  an  air  called  "  L'aimable  vainqneiir"  said 
to  have  been  a  favourite  of  Louis  XIV.  Some 
authors,  however,  consider  it  to  have  been  a 
kind  of  jig,  or  a  waltz.  The  name  is  perhaps, 
derived  from  the  word  lourer,  to  bind  notes 
together,  to  slide. 

Lugubre  {Fr.)  Dismal, doleful, lugubrious. 
Lu-lu    {Chinese).      The  Chinese  official 
collection  of  treatises  on  the  art  of  music. 
Lunga  pausa  (//.)    A  long  pause. 
Luogo  {It.)  [Loco.] 

Lures.  Ancient  Scandinavian  trumpets. 
Some  specimens  discovered  in  Denmark 
would,  if  straightened,  have  been  six  feet  in 
length;  in  their  curved  form  they  were  three 
and  a-half  feet  long.  Notwithstanding  their 
great  antiquity,  they  were  considerably  orna- 
mented and  in  sufficiently  good  preservation 
to  give  out  musical  sounds. 
Lusingando  {It.)  \ 
Lusingante  (//.)  Caressingly,  in  a 

Lusinghevole  {It.)  coaxing  manner. 

Lusinghevolmente  {It.)' 

Lusinghiere  (^^Ol  Caressin-  coaxine 
Lusinghiero  (/^.)  [ '-aressm^,  coaxmg. 

Lute.  LHth{Fr.)  La  ,te{Ger.)  Liuto  {It.) 
Laud  {Sp.)  An  instrument  of  the  Guitar 
family,  formerly  very  popular  in  Europe.  It 
was  used  for  accompaniments  and  the  per- 
formance of  solos,  duets,  &c.  It  had  five  to  six 
pairs  of  strings,  each  pair  tuned  in  unisons  or 
octaves.    The  accordatura  was  as  follows  : 


The  lower  G  was  omitted  on  the  five-stringed, 
and  both  G's  on  the  four-stringed  Lute. 

The  German  lutenists  called  the  six  strings. 


LUTH  LYRIC  STAGE. 


counting  from  the  lowest,  Gross-bruintner, 
Mittel-brummer  Klein-brummer,  Grossang- 
saite,  Kleinsang-saite,  and  Quintsangsaite,  or 
the  five  strings  without  the  lower  G,  Prime, 
Secund,  Terz,  Quart,  and  Quint.  In  France, 
Italy,  and  Flar.ders,  they  were  similarly  named 
according  to  the  language  of  the  land,  the 
upper  string,  upon  which  the  melody  was 
usually  made  being  called  Soprano,  il  Canto, 
Chanterelle,  as  well  as  Quint.  In  England 
the  lowest  string  was  called  the  fias5,  the  next 
the  Tenor,  the  next  the  Counter  tenor,  the  next 
the  Great  mean,  the  next  the  Small  mean,  and 
the  highest  the  Treble.  Gut  strings  were 
generally  used,  for  covered  strings  were  not 
known  when  the  Lute  was  in  common  use. 
Thomas  Mace  ("Musicks  Monument,"  1676) 
describes  the  strings  of  his  time  in  these 
words:  "Be  careful  to  get  good  strings  which 
should  be  of  three  sorts,  viz.,  minikins, 
Venice  catlins,  and  Lyons  (for  basses). 

Music  for  the  Lute  was  written  in  Tablature 
q.v. 

The  word  has  been  variously  derived,  from 
the  Latin  ludere,  to  play,  from  the  Greek 
o\i£wr«toe,from  the  lyre  which  was  a  dessicated 
tortoise,  and  from  the  Saxon  hlud  or  lud, 
sMHorous,  but  it  is  most  probably  from  the  j 
-vrabic  el'ood,  as  the  instruments  came  into 
Europe  from  the  Moors  through  the  Spaniards, 
who  still  call  it  laud. 


The  several  frets  of  the  lute  were  dis- 
tinguished by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet, 
"one  for  each  fret  as  many  as  there  may  be." 
The  frets  divided  the  strings  into  semitones. 

The  Orpharion  Lute  had  a  larger  number 
of  strings  than  the  common  lute, -and  its 
strings  were  of  wire,  instead  of  gut. 

OUFHAU.ON  LUTE. 


Luth  {Fr.)    A  lute. 
Luttuosamente  (It.)\ .  ^^  ji 
Luttuoso  (/^.)     ^    ^[Mournfully,  sadly. 
Lutenist.     A  performer  upon  the  lute. 
The  office  of  lutenist  still  exists  in  the  Chapel 
Royal,  but  it  has  been  a  sinecure  since  the 
disuse  ofth"  in  trument.     Th"  revival  of  the 
rffice  w  r  ni  irl    in  favourof  Dr.  Nares.in  1780. 
Lychanos  [Ok.)    [Greek  music] 
Lydian  mode.    [Greek  Music] 

{  2 


Lyon  catlins.   Thick  spun  strings  for  the 

:s  of  lutes  or  viols.  [Lute.] 
Lyra  viol.     An  obsolete  instrument,  in 
form  like  the  ordinary  viol,  having  six  strings 
and  seven  frets. 

Lyra  mendicorum  (Lai.)  [Hurdy-Gurdy.] 
Lyre.  One  of  the  most  ancient  stringed 
instruments.  The  word  lyre  [Xvpa)  does  not 
occur  in  Homer;  he  speaks  only  of  the 
citharis  {KiOapic)  and  phorminx  (^op/ity^).  The 
distinction  between  a  citharis  {ot  guitar),  and 
a  lyre,  is  that  the  neck  of  the  former  runs 
behind  the  upper  part  of  the  strings,  while 
the  strings  of  the  latter  are  free  on  both  sides. 
A  reference  to  the  article  "Guitar"  will  show 
the  nature  of  the  cithara.  The  following 
illustration  of  a  Greek  lyre  exhibits  the 
characteristic  of  the  instrument  just  alluded  to. 


The  lyre  was  also  called  testudo  or  chelya 
(X€A.vc),  because  the  back  was  of  tortoiseshell, 
as  shown  in  the  next  illustration. 


The  cross  bar  at  the  top  was  called  the 
yoke  ivyor,  Lat.  transtillum,  a  little  tran- 
strum  or  cross-bar.  The  uprights  were  called 
the  horns  Trj/^jic. 

The  history  of  the  progress  of  the  lyre  as  a 
musical  instrument,  is  the  history  of  Greek 
music  itself,  and  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  article  on  that  subject  for  information. 
[Guitar],  [Lute],  [Greek  Music] 

Lyric.  Poetry  or  blank-verse  intended  tc 
be  set  to  music  and  sung. 

Lyric  Stage.    A  term  applied  to  operatic 
representations. 
6  ) 


M. 


M.  Abbreviation  of  mezzo,  mano,  main, 
manual.  M.  M.  stands  for  Afae/z^r^  metronome, 

J.  V. 

Ma  {It.)  But;  as,  vivace  ma  nan  troppo  ; 
quick,  but  not  too  quick. 

Machalath,  or  Mahalath  [Heb.)  This 
word  occurs  in  the  title  of  Psalms  liii.  and 
Ixxxviii.,  the  former  is  inscribed  to  the  "chief 
musician  upon  Mahalath,  the  latter  to  the 
"  chief  musician  upon  Mahalath  Leannoth." 
Mahalath  is  by  some  authors  traced  (like 
Machol),  to  a  root  meaning  pierced  or  bored, 
hence  it  is  thought  these  Psalms  were  accom- 
panied by  flutes.  It  is  generally  thought  that 
the  term  leannoth  refers  to  antiphonal  singing. 
Other  writers  consider  the  titles  of  these  and 
several  other  Psalms  to  be  a  reference  to  well 
known  tunes  to  which  they  were  to  be  sung. 

Machine-head.  An  arrangement  of  rack 
and  pinion  for  the  purpose  of  tightening  and 
keeping  in  tension  the  strings  of  the  double- 
bass,  and  the  guitar,  as  the  ordinary  pegs 
employed  to  stretch  the  strings  are  of  unequal 
leverage. 

Machicot  {Fr.)  An  obsolete  term  for  one 
of  the  chori  ministri  minores  of  a  cathedral, 
who  in  singing,  added  passing-notes  between 
intervals  of  the  plain-song ;  or,  according  to 
others,  added  a  part  to  the  plain-song  at  an 
interval  of  a  third  or  fourth,  thus  forming  a 
sort  of  organum  or  (fiaphony.  The  music 
thus  sung  was  called  machicotage. 

Machol,  or  Mahho)  A  word  often 

found  in  the  Old  Testament,  associated  with 
"  toph"  (timbrel),  and  almost  always  rendered 
in  the  English  version  by  dances  or  dancing. 
But  some  authorities  trace  the  word  to  a  root 
meaning  pierced  or  bored,  and  therefore  con- 
sider it  to  have  been  a  flute.  It  is  not  im- 
probable that  Machol  and  toph  may  mean 
"  pipe  and  tabor,"  but  as  these  two  instru- 
ments are  often  associated  with  dancing,  our 
version,  and  others  which  follow  it,  cannot  in 
any  case  be  said  to  be  incorrect. 

Machwerk  [Ger.)  Composition,  construc- 
tion, the  result  of  labour  rather  than  sponta- 
neity. 

Madriale  (7^.)  A  word  derived  from 
madrigal,  and  as  in  the  early  operas  madri- 
gals were  performed  between  the  acts,  with- 
out necessarily  having  any  connection  with 


I  them,  the  word  came  to  be  applied  to  any 

species  of  intermezzo. 

Madrigal.  In  the  doubt  that  has  existed 
as  to  the  origin  of  the  word,  many  specula- 
tions have  been  advanced  ;  Huet,  Bishop 
of  Avranches,  supposed  it  to  be  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  word  Martegaux,  because 
he  presumed  that  the  inhabitants  of  that 
district  in  Provence,  either  invented  or 
excelled  in  this  peculiar  style  of  composition, 
but  as  he  produces  no  authority  in  support  of 
his  assertion,  he  gives  occasion  to  Sir  John 
Hawkins  shrewdly  to  say,  "  had  he  known 
that  there  was  a  town  in  Spain  called 
Madrigal,  it  is  likely  he  would  have  deduced 
its  origin  from  the  Spaniards."  The  deriva- 
tion of  the  word  from  the  Italian  mandra, 
because  some  of  the  madrigals  are  of  a 
pastoral  character,  need  not  be  entertained, 
because  for  every  poem  with  such  a  theme, 
there  is  at  least  a  score  having  other  subjects 
of  a  widely  different  nature.  The  modern 
idea  that  the  madrigal  may  have  originally 
been  a  song  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  is  likewise 
based  upon  very  doubtful  authority,  if  upon 
any  authority  at  all,  for  in  the  first  place,  it 
is  necessary  to  prove  that  the  word  madre 
came  to  be  exclusively  applied  to  the  Virgin, 
and  in  the  second,  that  there  should  be  some 
applicable  meaning  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
'  word,  for  gala  relates  to  gaiety  in  dress 
or  ornament,  and  not  to  joyfulness  in  poetry 
or  music,  and  finally,  that  the  supporters  of 
this  idea  should  produce  specimens  of  such 
songs  in  numbers  sufficient  to  justify  theii 
ground  in  making  the  statement.  The  term 
may  possibly  be  connected  with  the  Spanish 
word  rnadrugada,  dawn  of  day,  for  many  of 
the  Spanish  cancioneros  or  madrigals  have 
the  character  of  an  "  aubade."  The  word 
was  applied  to  a  poem  of  a  popular  character 
as  early  at  least  as  the  14th  century.  The 
first  madrigals  on  whatever  subject  they  were 
written,  were  always  in  popular  versification, 
j  and  generally  contained  a  well-known  pro- 
I  verb,  or  the  application  of  some  common- 
I  place  wisdom.  The  words  madrigal  and 
j  villancico,  or  villanella  bnllnto  and  sonctto, 
are  frequently  used  to  describe  a  popular 
i  song  in  popular  language  and  versification. 
'      The  madrigal  as  a  poem  arose  out  of  the 


(  277) 


MADRIGAL. 


cancionero  general,  the  invention  of  the 
Spanish  poets  of  the  early  part  of  the  13th 
century.  A  theme  or  nioto  was  selected,  and 
the  poet  exercised  his  ingenuity  in  varying 
the  motives,  as  a  musician  does  a  phrase. 

The  following  poem    or  glose,    by  Don 
Jorge  Manrique  de  Madrigal,  will  show  the 
method  of  treatment : — 
Mote. 

"  Sin  vos,  y  sin  Dios,  y  mi," 

Yo  soy  quien  libre  me  vi 

Yo  quien  pudiera  olvidaros 

Yo  so  el  que  por  amaros 

Estoy  des  que  os  conoci 

Sin  Dios  y  sin  vos  y  mi. 

Sin  Dios,  porque  en  vos  adoro 

Sin  vos,  pues  no  me  quereys 

Pues  sin  me  ya  esto  decoro 

Que  vos  soys  quien  me  teneys 

Assi  que  triste  naci 

Pues  que  pudiera  olvidaros 

Yo  soy  el  que  por  amaros 

Esto  desque  os  conoci 

Sin  Dios  y  sin  vos  y  mi. 
The  early  composers  took  the  melodies  of 
some  of  the  popular  madrigals  and  constructed 
counterpoint  upon  them,  and  further  produc- 
tions were  called  madrigals  or  motetts,  either 
from  their  having  a  proposed  theme,  or  from 
the  character  of  the  poem  which  furnished 
the  theme.  In  Spain  to  this  day  the  motetts 
sung  at  high  mass  on  Christmas  eve  are 
called  villancicos. 

The  word  madrigal  became  a  general  term 
for  secular  compositions,  of  which  there 
were  three  classes:  (i.)  The  solo  madrigal, 
or  "  Madrigale  concertate  con  il  basso  con- 
tinuo  ; "  (2.)  The  madrigal  in  parts  for  voices 
unaccompanied,  or  "  Madrigali  di  tavolino;" 
and  (3.)  The  madrigal  accompanied  by 
several  instruments,  "  apt  for  viols  and 
voyces,"  or  as  they  are  described  in  Italian, 
"  madrigali  concertate  con  varie  sorte  di 
stromenti."  It  was  the  second  class  that 
obtained  the  greatest  popularity  in  England 
after  having  been  introduced  by  means  of 
copies  printed  in  Flanders  in  1588,  by  an 
unknown  gentleman  who  translated  the  words 
of  some  of  the  most  famous  Italian  madrigals 
and  adapted  them  to  English  verse  for  his 
own  use.  Immediately  upon  their  introduc- 
tion into  England,  the  composers  of  the  time 
produced  works  of  a  similar  character  which 
far  exceeded  in  beauty  of  idea  and  construction 
all  their  prototypes,  and  so  far  exhausted  the 
style  that  the  Elizabethan  madrigals  have 
never  been  excelled  for  beauty  and  fancy  in 
harmony  and  counterpoint,  and  the  mere 
mention  of  the  word  madrigal  calls  into  asso- 
ciation such  names  as  Morley,  Wilbye,  Ward, 
Benet,  Dowland,  Ford,  and  Gibbons. 

The  earliest  compositions  to  madrigal  words 
were  similar  in  character  to  the  hymn  tunes 
or  chorales  now  in  use,  the  counterpoint 


being  of  the  simplest  form,  note  against  note, 
each  measure  being  similarly  accented  in  all 
the  parts,  they  were,  in  fact,  harmonised 
melodies.  The  madrigal  "  Down  in  a  flowery 
vale,"  by  Constantius  Festa  (1517-1545),  is  a 
good  example  in  this  form.  The  original 
Italian  words  are  in  true  madrigal  style  and 
rhythm.  The  ballets  or  fa  las,  printed  at 
Venice  in  1591,  by  Gastoldi,  who  is  the 
reputed  inventor  of  this  form  of  madrigal,  are 
of  a  like  character.  By  degrees,  as  it  was 
discovered  that  it  was  possible  to  arrange  the 
parts  so  that  they  might  become  melodies 
interchangeable  as  to  form  and  rhythm  ac- 
cording to  the  plan  now  known  as  double 
counterpoint,  a  greater  freedom  was  attained, 
and  not  only  were  madrigals  improved,  but 
the  art  of  composition  made  a  great  advance. 
The  motett  and  the  madrigal,  always  side  by 
side,  always  written  in  like  style,  benefitted 
by  the  improvement,  the  only  difference  in 
their  construction  being  that  as  in  the 
madrigal  every  improvement  or  "  license  "  in 
harmony  and  melody  was  permitted,  certain 
progressions  were  forbidden  in  the  motett  as 
being  inconsistent  with  the  solemn  charactei 
of  the  words  to  which  they  were  usually  set. 
The  motett  was  originally  in  madrigal  form, 
that  is  to  say,  was  arranged  in  short  phrases 
to  correspond  with  the  versification  of  the 
madrigal,  a  matter  of  necessity  when  it  is 
considered  that  the  melodies  of  the  well 
known  and  often  profane  madrig;'!  were 
taken  as  the  plain  song  upon  which  i.cw  and 
severe  harmonies  were  based.  Richard  Ed- 
wardes,  1547;  Phillipo  Verdelot,  1549;  Adrian 
Willaert,  1565;  Vinctnzo  Ruffo,  1568; 
Thomas  Tallis,  1575;  Palestrina,  1588;  and 
Claudio  Merula,  1598  ;  wrote  sacred  compo- 
sitions in  which  the  motett  displays  signs 
of  this  method  of  treatment.  It  may  be  need- 
less to  point  out  that  what  has  been  called 
"  the  conversational  arrangement  of  short 
phrases,"  is  essentially  the  character  of  the 
later  madrigals,  in  which  one  part  or  more 
proposes  a  phrase  which  is  replied  to  either  in 
imitation  or  some  such  form  by  the  other  part 
or  parts  in  turn,  as  in  Converso's  "  When 
all  alone  my  pretty  love,"  1580.  In  the  longer 
madrigals  a  greater  variety  of  phrasing  is  of 
course  necessary,  in  order  to  avoid  monotony 
of  effect.  "  Shew"  says  Morley  at  page  180  of 
his  "  Plaine  and  Easie  Introduction  to  Prac- 
ticall  Musicke,"  1597,  "  to  the  very  utmost 
your  variety,"  and  "  the  more  variety  you 
shew,  the  better  you  shall  please."  In  course 
of  time  the  original  signification  of  the  word 
was  lost  sight  of  and  many  compositions  were 
styled  madrigals  without  consideration  of  the 
primary  meaning  of  the  term,  hence  has  arisen 
a  certain  amount  of  confusion  with  regard  to 
this  class  of  music. 


(  278) 


MADRIGALE  MAGGOT. 


The  dates  of  the  several  productions  so 
called  do  not  always  indicate  the  state  of  the 
madrigal,  some  later  writers  using  the  earliest 
forms,  as  Dowland,  Ford,  and  Gibbons,  while 
the  earlier  writers  in  varying  the  accepted 
form  of  their  time  suggested  improvements 
which  were  afterwards  expanded.  Existing 
madrigals  may  be  divided  into  these  groups : — 

1.  Madrigals  with  melody,  harmonised 
note  against  note. 

2.  Those  in  which  florid  and  double 
counterpoint  is  employed,  but  rarely 
consisting  of  more  than  one  move- 
ment. 

3.  Those  in  which  two  or  more  move- 
ments are  used,  and  every  variety  of 
counterpoint. 

The  Villanellas  or  Madrigals  of  Donati 
[1510-1590],  the  Ballets  or  Fa  las  ofGastoldi, 
already  alluded  to,  and  all  like  works  belong 
to  the  first  division  ;  the  Triumphs  of  Oriana, 
especially  those  by  Weelkes  and  Morley,  to 
the  second  ;  and  all  compositions  like  "Sweet 
honey-sucking  bees"  to  the  third  class. 

The  characteristics  a  Madrigal  should  pos- 
sess may  be  thus  summed  up  : — 

1.  Themes  suitable  in  character  to  the 
words. 

2.  Variety  of  rhythm. 

3.  Short  melodic  phrases. 

4.  Imitation  and  counterpoint. 

There  are  many  pieces  called  madrigals  in 
which  certain  of  these  conditions  are  more 
present  than  others,  indicating  the  advance  in 
thought  and  treatment,  aiterwards  developed 
in  the  Glee,  such  as  Wilbye's  "Thus  saith  my 
Chloris,"  Benet's  "  Flow,  O  my  tears,"  and 
Gibbons's  "  Silver  Swan"  and  "  Oh  that  the 
learned  poets."  The  two  last  named  are 
specially  held  to  be  transitions  or  bridges  be- 
tween the  madrigal  and  the  glee. 

Madrigale  {It.)  [Madrigal.] 

Madrigaletto  or  Madrialletto  (It.)  A 
short  madrigal. 

Maesta,  con.  \ 

Maestade  con.      [  ^^^  ^    ^^-^^  ^.  ■ 

Maestevole  /  maiestv 

Maestevolmente    [  J 

Maestoso  / 

Maestrale  [It.)  or  magistrale,  a  term  some- 
times applied  to  the  Stretto  of  a  Fugiie. 
[Fugue.] 

Maestri  secolari  (7i!.)  Teachers  of  secu- 
lar music. 

Maestria  {It.)    Skill,  address,  authority. 
Maestro  del  coro,  or  di  cappella  {It.) 
Choir  master,  leader,  or  conductor.  [Capell- 

meister.J 

Magadis  {Gk.)  jiay-ihc  An  instrument  of 
twenty  strings,  on  which  music  could  be 
played  in  octaves. 

Magadize,  to  {Gk.)  ^ayali^to.  (i.)  To  play 


upon  the  magadis.    (2.)  To  play  in  octaves. 

Magas  (G^.)  |.ayaf.  (I.)  The  bridge  (Lat. 
pons)  of  a  cithara.    (2.)  A  fret. 

Maggiolata  {It.)  A  May  song.  A  song 
sung  in  celebration  of  the  month  of  May. 

Maggiore  {It.)  Major. 

Maggot.  One  of  the  later  names  given  to 
fancies,  airs,  and  pieces  of  an  impromptu 
character.  The  most  celebrated  of  these 
fancies  or  whimsical  airs  was  that  by  Moteley 
or  Motley,  which  is  subjoined. 

From  "A  choice  collection  of  lessons,  being 
excellently  sett  for  the  harpsichord,"  1705. 


(  279 ) 


MAGREPHA  MARKS  OF  EXPRESSION. 


Magrepha.  An  organ  mentioned  in  the 
Talmud  as  having  been  in  existence  in  the 
second  century.  It  had  ten  ventages,  each  of 
which  communicated  with  ten  pipes,  and  it 
was  played  upon  by  means  of  a  clavier. 

Main  {Fr.)  The  hand,  as  main  droite,  the 
right  hand ;  viain  gauche,  the  left  hand, 
abbreviated  thus,  ni.  d.  and  m.  g. 

Maitre  de  chapelle  {Fr.)  Choir  master. 
[Capellmeister.] 

Majeur  {Fr.)  Major. 

Major.  Greater.  A  rtiajor  third  consists 
of  four  semitones,  a  minor  third  of  three.  A 
major  tone  is  the  whole  tone  having  the  ratio 
8:9  ;  a  minor  tone,  that  having  the  ratio  9:10. 
Intervals  have  had  the  term  major  applied  to 
them  in  a  conflicting  manner.  [See  Interval.] 

Major  mode.  The  ordinary  diatonic  scale, 
having  semitones  between  the  third  and 
fourth,  and  seventh  and  eighth  degrees. 

Major  modus  {Lat.)    (Major  mode.) 

Malakat.    [Ashantee  trumpet.] 

Malinconia,  con  "] 

Malinconicamente     {It.)  With  sadness, 

Malinconico  y    sorrow,  or  melan- 

Malinconioso  I  choly. 

Malinconoso  J 

Mammets.  Puppet-shows,  usually  accom- 
panied with  music  on  a  dulcimer.  [Dulcimer.) 

Mancando  {It.)    Decreasing,  dying  away. 

Manche  {Fr.)  The  neck  of  a  violin  or 
guitar,  &c. 

Mandela  (It.)       ^   An    Italian  fretted 

Mandoline  {Eng.)  Uguitar,  so  called  from 

Mandolina  {It.)  J  its  almond  shape. 
There  are  several  varieties,  each  with  different 
tunings.  The  Neapolitan,  considered  the 
most  perfect,  has  four  strings  tuned  like  the 
violin,  i.e.,  G,  D,  A,  E.  The  Milanese,  next 
in  favour,  has  five  double  strings  tuned  G,  C, 
A,  D,  E.  A  plectrum  is  used  in  the  right 
hand,  and  the  left  is  employed  in  stopping 
the  strings.  Mozart  in  Don  Giovanni,  wrote 
an  accompaniment  to  "  Deh  Vieni  "  for  this 
instrument. 

Mandora  (It.)    A  kind  of  guitar. 

Manica  {It.)  Fingering. 

Manichord.  [Clarichord.] 

Manico  {It.)  The  neck  of  a  violin  or 
guitar,  &c.    Manche  (Fr.) 

Maniera  (It.)  Manner,  style,  method  ;  as, 
maniera  nffettata,  an  affected  style,  maniera 
languida,  a  languid,  lifeless  style. 

Manifere  (Fr.)  [Maniera.] 

Manieren  (Ger.)     [Harpsichord  graces] 

Mannergesangverein  (Ger.)  A  society 
formed  for  the  performance  of  music  for  men's 
voices. 

Mano  (It.)    Hand,  as  mano  destra,  diritta, 
right  hand  ;  mano  sinistra,  left  hand. 
Manual.  [Key-board.] 
Manuductor.   The  man  who  beat  time  by 


striking  the  left  hand  with  the  right.  Oyster- 
shells  or  bones  were  sometimes  used  as 
accessories. 

Marcando  (It.)  Markmg  the  time  or  ex- 
pression. 

Marcatissimo  {It.)    Very  marked. 

Marcato  (It.)    Marked,  or  emphasized. 

March.  A  musical  composition  so  arranged 
as  to  be  suitable  for  accompanying  troops  m 
walking.  There  are  quick  and  slow  marches 
in .  duple  and  triple  time,  besides  marches 
peculiar  to  certain  nationalities. 

Marche  (Fr.)  A  sequence,  as,  Marche 
desuiccords,  a  sequence  of  chords. 

Marche  redoubl6e  {Fr.)  A  double  quick 
march. 

.Marche  triomphale  (Fr.)  A  t/iumphal 
march. 

Marziale  (7^)    Martial,  warlike. 

Marimba.  [Balafo.] 

Marionette  {It.)    A  puppet. 

Marks  of  Expression.  Certain  words  or 
signs  used  in  music  to  regulate  the  degrees  of 
accent,  power,  time,  or  tone,  required  by  the 
composer  to  produce  the  proper  effect  of  his 
composition.  The  employment  of  elaborate 
marks  of  expression  is  a  practice  of  compara- 
tively modern  times,  none  of  the  earliest 
writers  making  use  of  any  beyond  the  time 
signs,  these  being  all  that  were  then  needed, 
as  they  suggested  a  certain  pace  generally 
understood.  Most  of  the  early  pr;nted  music 
had  no  other  directions  than  soft  and  loud,  and 
these  only  sparingly.  Thus,in  Croft's  "Musica 
Sacra  or  Select  Anthems  in  score"  1724,  the 
"First  Essay  of  Publishing  Church  Musick 
in  England,"  printed  from  engraved  metal 
plates,  all  the  directions  are  in  English,  as 
loud,  soft,  fast,  slow,  ^rave,  brisk  and  lively, 
the  only  foreign  words  employed  being  50/0 
and  ritornello.  The  introduction  of  Italian 
music  into  this  country  in  the  eighteenth 
century  necessitated  a  knov.lcd^e  of  the 
Italian  terms  of  expression,  which  led  to 
the  gradual  employment  of  a  few  of  the 
terms  so  acquired,  and  Italian  words  or 
their  abbreviations  ultimately  superseded  the 
English  words  to  such  an  extent  that  very  few 
native  terms  for  expression  are  to  be  found  in 
music  of  modern  times.  The  Italian  words 
originally  introduced  were  in  their  simplest 
forms,  but  as  composers  grew  more  fastidious 
and  exacting,  the  phrases  became  complicated 
by  the  employment  of  diminutives,  expansions, 
and  compounds  of  terms,  so  that  it  became 
extremely  difficult  to  determine  the  exact 
value  of  the  many  marks.  The  doubts  that 
presented  themselves  to  the  minds  of  the 
performers  as  to  pace  necessitated  the  employ- 
ment of  a  method  by  which  the  time  of  a  piece 
should  be  taken,  and  a  string  divided  into 
inches  was  at  first  used  as  a  standard  to 


(  280  ) 


MARQUE  MASS. 


regulate  the  time  value  of  the  notes  in  a  bar. 
This  gave    rise    to   the   invention   of  the 
metronome.  [Expression.] 
Marque  {Fr.)  [Marcato.] 
Marsch  {Ger.)    A  march."" 
Marseillaise  {Fr.)     A  song  written  by 
Rouget  de  Lisle,  an  officer  of  artillery  in  the 
garrison  of  Strasbourg  in  1792.    It  received 
its  title  from  having  been  sung  by  a  party  of 
the  Marseillaise  club  as  they  entered  Paris 
on  the  invitation  of  Madame  Roland  ;  the 
song,  though  less  sanguinary  in  sentiment 
than  most  of  the  songs  of  the  revolution,  was 
employed  as  accompaniment  to  many  of  the 
horrible  deeds  of  that,  and  of  later  periods, 
and  by  association  became  dangerous  enough 
to  be  included  among  the  songs  prohibited  to 
be  sung  in  France.    The  tune  to  which  it  is 
set  by  the  author  of  the  words,  contains  pro- 
gressions so  unusual  in  popular  songs,  that  it 
is  difficult  to  account  for  its  general  adoption. 
Martele  (Fr.)    |  ,  .,   ,  , 
Martellatoi/^.)}^''-'^^'^"^^'"^^- 
Martellare  {It.)     Lit.,  to  hammer.  A 
term  applied  to  staccato  bowing  on  the  violin, 
and  to  the  strong  percussion  of  notes  of  a 
pianoforte. 

Masque.  A  species  of  dramatic  entertain- 
ment in  which  originally  the  performers  wore 
masks  of  peculiar  forms  suggestive  of  the 
allegorical  characters  assumed.  In  many 
instances  the  masque  had  no  definite  design 
or  plot,  but  depended  for  its  success  upon  the 
occasion  for  which  it  was  written,  the  wit  of 
the  poet  who  furnished  the  words,  the  skill  of 
the  musician  who  supplied  the  music,  and 
the  ingenuity  of  the  machinist  and  scene 
painter  by  whom  the  stage  effects  were  pro- 
duced. The  early  masques  were  simply 
acted  pageants,  but  by  degrees  the  genius  of 
such  writers  as  Fletcher  and  Ben  Jonson 
furnished  the  poetical  groundwork  of  many 
masques  acted  at  Court  by  the  children  of 
His  Majesty's  Chapel  Royal  and  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral.  The  most  beautiful  work  of  this 
class  is  the  "Comus"  of  Milton,  acted  at 
Ludlow  in  1634.,  and  although  produced  at  a 
time  when  the  taste  for  this  class  of  entertain- 
ment had  fallen  off,  it  has  always  been  held 
to  be  the  most  perfect  specimen  of  a  masque. 
[Ballet,  Opera,  Oratorio.] 

Mass.  Missa  (La^.)  Messa(/^.)  Messe 
{Fr.)    Messe  iGer.) 

The  portions  of  the  Mass  usually  set  to 
music,  namely,  the  Kyrie,  the  Gloria,  the 
Credo,  the  Sanctus  and  the  Agnus  Dei.  An 
Offertory  and  Denedictus  are  sometimes 
added  to  these  numbers.  Masses  are  desig- 
nated musically  after  the  key  in  which 
they  commence,  as  Beethoven  in  D  ;  and 
liturgically,  according  to  the  character  and 
solemnity  of  the  accompan}ing  ceremonial. 


as  a  "  Low  Mass"  (Messa  Bassa)  in  which 
the  priest  simply  intones  or  reads  the 
service  ;  a  "  Chanted  Mass,"  in  which  certain 
tones  with  inflections  are  sung;  a  "High 
Mass,"  in  which  the  service  is  partly  chanted 
by  the  priest,  partly  by  the  deacons  who 
assist  the  priest,  and  partly  sung  by  the  choir 
to  an  elaborate  musical  setting  with  or  without 
instrumental  accompaniment. 

It  is  only  necessary  here  to  speak  of  the 
various  liturgical  divisions  of  the  service,  so 
far  as  they  are  connected  with  the  special 
form  or  character  of  their  music. 

In  early  times  the  ancient  ecclesiastical 
plain  song  was  alone  employed  as  the  music 
lor  the  several  sections  of  this  service,  and 
when  musicians  were  possessed  of  inventive 
skill,  they  still  retained  the  old  character  of 
the  music  by  interweaving  counterpoint,  and 
new  harmonies  upon  the  old  plain-song, 
either  entirely  unaltered,  or  with  slight  modi- 
fications such  as  those  described  in  "  Fa 
burden."  Musicians  afterwards  took  the 
tunes  of  popular  hymns  as  well  as  the 
airs  of  vulgar  songs,  the  latter  ordinarily 
allied  to  words  of  questionable  character, 
instead  of  the  melodies  of  the  plain-song, 
and  the  masses  so  con  posed  were  called 
after  the  name  of  the  borrowed  tunts.  Thus 
Claude  Merula  calls  his  four  "  Missarum 
quinque  vocum,"  Venice,  1573.  (i.)  "  Missa 
Benedicta  es  celorum  Regina ;"  (2.) '' Missa 
Sjisanne  tin  giour (3.)  "Missa  Oncques 
Amour;"''  and  (4.)  W\is?i  Aspice  Domine." 
Baini  in  his  "  Memorie  storico-critiche  della 
vita,  e  opere  di  Giovanni  Pierluigi  da  Pales- 
trina,"  Rome,  1828,  gives  what  he  calls  a 
short  list  of  some  eighty  secular  tunes  upon 
which  masses  had  been  composed  and  sung. 
If  the  language  in  which  they  are  named 
indicate  their  origin,  the  majority  were  French 
songs,  and  if  the  titles  are  in  any  way  sug- 
gestive of  their  character,  they  could  not  have 
been  fit  for  church  use.  This  custom  of  em- 
ploying popular  melodies  in  the  construction 
of  sacred  music  was  not  a  distinctive  cha- 
racteristic of  the  ]6th  century,  but  it  existed 
later,  and  was  especially  favoured  by  that 
class  of  religious  formalists  who  prided  them- 
selves upon  purity  in  thought  and  worship. 
Shakespeare  alludes  to  the  Puritan  "who 
sings  Psalms  to  hornpipes  ;"  the  dissenting 
bodies  of  the  last  century  showed  by  their 
collections  of  melodies  sung  during  worship 
that  they  would  not  allow  "  the  devil  to  have 
all  the  best  tunes."  The  special  hold  obtaiiied 
over  the  minds  of  the  lower  classes  during 
the  recent  "  revival"  meetings  was  in  a  great 
measure  due  to  the  influence  of  the  "hymns" 
which  were  almost  invariably  sung  to  well 
known  song  tunes,  either  entirely  unaltered, 
or  only  slightly  modified. 


f  281  ) 


MASS. 


There  is  now  a  recognised  treatment  for 
?very  section  of  the  mass  to  which  music 
may  be  set,  as  well  as  a  received  canon  for 
the  style  of  composition  in  which  most  of 
the  several  subdivisions  are  composed.  This 
arrangement  is  not  set  forth  by  written  laws, 
but  is  the  result  of  traditional  use  of  a  slow 
and  gradual  growth,  as  the  appended  short 
descriptions  of  certain  representative  masses 
from  the  latter  part  of  the  i6th  century  to 
the  middle  of  the  i8th  will  show.  A  short 
analysis  of  the  manner  in  which  the  several 
movements  have  been  treated  is  subjoined  to 
help  towards  the  formation  of  as  correct  a 
notion  on  the  subject  as  can  be  obtained 
without  a  rel'erence  to  and  study  of  the  works 
themselves.  The  majority  of  these  are  onl}' 
preserved  in  the  cabinets  of  the  curious,  fo: 
they  are  for  the  most  part  of  an  obsolet  e 
character,  more  interesting  as  musical  monu- 
ments than  valuable  as  being  available  at 
the  present  time  for  the  service  for  w)  ich 
they  were  written. 

There  are  many  members  of  the  chu  ;h  in 
which  this  form  of  musical  composi  ion  is 
most  employed  who  do  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  a  return  to  the  older,  and  (a?  t^iey  say) 
purer  forms  of  musical  setting  is  desirable,  for 
some  musicians  have  taken  advantage  of  the 
liberty  allowed  by  non-interferenye  wiih  their 
designs,  to  introduce  a  style  ol'' composition 
utterly  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  the 
service  it  is  intended  to  accompany.  But 
modern  writers  have  not  only  elaborated  the 
various  movements,  they  have  also  added 
music  to  certain  parts  of  the  service  of  the 
Mass  which  were  left  untouched  in  older  times. 
The  "  Introit,  Gradual,  Offertory  and  Com- 
munio"  were  supposed  to  be  given  when  sung 
to  the  ancient  plain-song  settings,  and  there- 
fore these  portions  have  been  left  alone  by  the 
earlier  composers.  Later  writers  have  sup- 
plied music  for  these  sections,  and  in  the 
desire  to  be  original  have  been  tempted  to 
write  "  sensuous  settings  "  as  well  in  these 
parts  as  in  the  others.  The  music  preserved 
by  Marbecke  (1550)  is  simply  an  eking  out 
of  the  old  plain-song  with  phrases  of  his 
own  invention  in  imitation  of  it.  As  there 
are  no  harmonies  given,  it  is  presumed 
that  either  they  were  not  sung,  or,  if  they 
were,  some  sort  of  "  falso  bordone  "  of  a 
recognised  character  was  intended  to  be  used. 
Whether  harmonised  or  plain,  his  "  use  "  is 
very  simple,  and  if  it  is,  as  some  say,  a  mere 
transcription  of  that  employed  in  his  time, 
it  is  certain  that  no  reasonable  ground  of 
complaint  could  be  made  against  it,  for  it  is 
not  "  overloaded  with  ornament  nor  spread 
abroad  with  superfluous  syllabilisation."  As 
only  portions  of  Marbecke's  settings  can  be 
traced  to  a  remoter  date  than  his  own,  he  has 


a  clai  1  u  be  considered  among  the  com- 
poser of  nusic  to  the  mass.  Next  in  order 
stand  ^^  illiam  Byrd,  who,  in  a  mass  com- 
pose 1  c.  '  j53,  displays  some  degree  of  charac- 
teri^  ic  originality,  together  with  a  leaning 
tov  tds  old  styles  if  not  forms. 

"  he  "  Kyrie  "  is  simple  and  short,  changing 
at  he  words  *'  Christi  eleison,"  and  return- 
in  to  the  first  subject  and  words,  "  Kyrie 
e'  ison."  The  "  Gloria"  is  precented  and  is 
c'i<rided  at  the  words  "  Domine  Deus."  The 
'  Credo"  is  also  precented  and  is  divided  at  the 
words  "  qui  propter  nos  homines,"  and  also  at 

Et  in  spiritum  sanctum."  In  the  "  Sanctus  " 
there  is  a  change  of  theme  at  the  words 
"  Pleni  sunt."  The  "  Benedictus  "  is  a  simple 
Motett-like  setting,  so  also  is  the  "  Agnus 
Dei." 

This  arrangement  was  one  generally  fol- 
lowed by  other  writers  of  the  period.  The 
idea  influencing  all  seemed  to  have  been 
to  make  the  setting  solemn  and  not  dramatic. 
Plain  counterpoint,  with  little  points  of 
occasional  imitation,  and  with  rarely  more 
than  two  notes  to  one  syllable,  was  most 
favoured.  The  writers  thus  avoided  the 
pitcunias,  upon  which  ccr tempt  had  been 
thrown  as  the  relic  of  a  barlarous  period,  and 
as  being  incompatible  with  the  more  en- 
lightened views  then  entertained.  In  the 
interlude  of  the  "Four  Elements"  c.  1510 
there  is  a  dialogue  between  Humanity  and 
Ignorance,  in  which  the  florid  character  of 
early  conterpoint  is  thus  satirized  : 

Hu. —  Peace,  man,  prick-song  may  not  be  despised, 
For  therewith  God  is  well  pleased. 
Honoured,  praised,  and  served 
In  the  Church  oft-times  among. 

Ig. — Is  God  well  pleased,  trows't  thou,  thereby? 
Nay,  nav  I  for  there  is  no  reason  why; 
For  is  it  not  as  good  to  say  plainly 
"  Give  me  a  spade," 

As  "  give  me  a  spa-ve-va,  ve-va-ve-vade  ?" 

In  later  times  the  "  pneuma  "  was  revived 
in  the  form  of  the  "  divisions,"  but  these 
latter  were  made  more  acceptable  by  being 
introduced  as  an  integral  part  of  the  com- 
position in  which  they  appeared,  and  not  as 
a  mere  adjunct.  In  this  improved  state  they 
are  observed  as  early  as  the  time  of  Carissimi, 
who  in  a  mass  in  D  minor  for  five  voices  has 
introduced  short  divisions,  contrary  to  former 
custom.  There  is  another  point  of  impor- 
tance in  this  mass.  The  first  trace  of  a 
fugue  to  the  words  "  Cum  sancto  spiritu  "  in 
the  "Gloria"  is  met  with,  and  also  an  attempt 
at  dramatic  expression  at  the  words  "  Et  in- 
carnatus  est." 

In  the  "  Missa  ad  imitationem  Moduli  Dixit 
jfoseph,"  by  Orlando  di  Lasso,  Paris,  1607, 
we  find  in  the  setting  of  the  "  Kyrie  "  a  few 
short  simple  chords  note  against  note;  a  like 


(  282  ) 


MASS  MEDIAEVAL  MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS. 


arrangement  in  the  "Gloria"  to  the  "  Domine 
Deus,"  at  which  point  imitation  is  introduced, 
and  another  change  at  "Qui  tollis  "  as  well  of 
time  as  character.  The  "  Credo  "  changes  style 
at  "  Et  incarnatus  est."  The  "  Sanctus"  like 
the  "  Kyrie  "  is  simply  set,  and  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  "  Benedictus  "  as  a  trio  or  tria 
upon  a  subject  used  in  the  "Kyrie"  and 
"  Sanctus,"  probably  the  "  Dixit  Joseph," 
completes  the  Mass. 

In  Colonnas'  "  Messi  Salmi,  e  Responsori 
perli  Defonti,"  Bologna,  1685.  The  "  Kyrie  " 
is  in  imitation  throughout.  The  "  Sanctus," 
thirty-four  bars  long,  is  in  eight  part  fugal 
writing.  The  "  Benedictus  "  is  short  (fifteen 
bars),  and  in  single  counterpoint,  the  "  Agnus 
Dei,"  like  the  "  Kyrie,"  is  in  imitation,  and  is 
precented. 

In  a  "  Messe  a  quattro  voci,  concertato  e 
stromenti,"  by  Isabella  Leonarda,  Bologna, 
1696,  the  "  Kyrie  "  is  set  as  a  solo  for  alto 
at  the  words  "  Christe  eleison."  The  plain 
setting  of  the  "  Gloria  "  changes  at  "  Et  in 
terra,"  and  again  at  the  words  "  Gratias 
agimus,"  an  alteration  of  time  rather  than 
style  at  "  Qui  tollis,"  a  return  to  the  original 
form  of  the  Kyrie  at  "  Quoniam,"  and  so  on 
to  the  end.  The  "  Credo  "  is  divided  at  "  Et 
incarnatus,"  "  Et  resurrexit,"  and  at  "  Et 
iterum  venturus  est,"  the  last  movement 
having  little  points  of  imitation  that  must 
be  called  "  Attacati,"  rather  than  fugal 
points. 

Judging  by  the  specimens  existing,  it  must 
be  confessed  that  composers  did  not  think  it 
worth  while  to  devote  their  best  energies  to 
the  service  of  the  Church  during  the  period  of 
the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  A 
comparison  of  the  Mass  of  Leonarda,  with  one 
by  Konigsperger  produced  nearly  sixty  years 
later,  shows  little  if  any  progress.  It  is  true 
that  in  the  meantime  Bach  had  written  por- 
tions of  his  Mass  in  B  minor,  but  as  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  it  is  for  the  most  part  a 
pasticcio,  and  probably  not  much  known  at  the 
time,  its  influence  is  altogether  out  of  the 
question. 

In  the  "Jubilatio  Lyturgica "  of  Konig- 
sperger, Augsburg,  1750,  among  much  that 
might  be  called  time-saving  writing,  there  are 
one  or  two  points  worthy  of  observation  for 
their  early  use.  Thus  the  "  Kyrie  "  is  adapted 
to  the  "  Dona  nobis,"  which  appears  later. 
The  "Osanna"  is  set  to  an  elaborate  divi- 
sion. The  "Gloria  "is  divided  at  the  words 
"Domine  Deus,"  "Quoniam,"  and  at  "Cum 
Sancto  Spiritu,"  this  last  movement  appearing 
as  a  regular  and  well  worked  out,  though  short 
fugue.  There  is  nothing  in  any  of  the  other 
movements  that  calls  for  especial  mention. 

The  Masses  of  Haydn,  Mozart,  Beethoven, 
Weber,  Hummel,  and  Schubert,  are  sufficiently 


well  known  to  render  a  detailed  account  here 
unnecessary. 

Mass  {Ger.)    Measure,  time. 

Massig  {Ger.)  Moderate,-  temperate. 
Mfissig  langsam,  moderately  slow. 

Massima  (7^.)    A  semi-breve. 

Masternote.  An  old  term  for  the  sensible 
or  leading  note. 

Masure,  Masurek,  Masurka  [Ger.) 
[Mazurka. J 

Matelotte  {Fr.)  A  sailors'  dance.  [Horn- 
pipe.] 

Matinee  {Fr.)    A  morning  concert. 
Mattins.    [Horas  Canonicae.] 
Maultrommel  {Ger.)  [Jew's-harp.] 
Maxima  {Lat.)  A  note  equal  to  four  breves. 
Mazourk)   ,^    x  1-1 
Mazurekl  ^^'"-^  [Mazurka.] 
Mazurka.  A  Polish  dance  oflively  grotesque 
character,  the  music  of  which  is  in  |  or  | 
time  with  a  peculiar  rhythm.    It  is  generally 
performed  by  four  or  eight  pairs  of  dancers,  is 
popular  in  Germany  as  well  as  in  Poland,  and 
has  been  successfully  introduced  into  England. 
The  mazurka,  like  the  waltz,  has  been  treated 
in  a  classical  manner,  notably  by  Chopin. 

M.  D.  Abbreviation  of  (i.)  Mano  destra 
or  main  droite,  the  right  hand ;  (2.)  Doctor 
of  music. 

Mean.  The  name  formerly  given  to  the 
tenor  part  as  being  the  mean  in  pitch  between 
the  bass  and  treble.  The  middle  strings  of 
instruments  were  also  called  mean. 

Mean  clef.    The  C  clef. 

Measure,  (i.)  A  general  name  for  a  slow 
and  stately  dance,  supposed  to  be  like  the 
minuet — 

"  But  after  then  as  men  more  civile  grew 
He  did  more  grave  and  solemn  measures  frame." 

DavUs'  Orchestra. 

Reed  says  that  "  the  measures  were  per- 
formed at  court  and  at  public  entertainments 
of  the  societies  of  law  and  equity,  at  their 
balls  on  particular  occasions.  It  was  formerly 
not  deemed  inconsistent  with  propriety,  even 
for  the  gravest  persons  to  join  in  them  ;  and 
accordingly  at  the  revels,  which  were  cele- 
brated at  the  Inns  of  Court,  it  has  not  been 
unusual  for  the  first  characters  in  the  law  to 
become  performers  in  treading  the  measures." 

(2.)  Time,  pace.  (3.)  Rhythm.  (4.)  The 
contents  of  a  bar. 

Mechanism,  (i.)  That  part  of  an  instru- 
ment which  forms  the  connection  between 
the  player  and  the  sound-producing  portion. 
(2)  The  physical  power  of  performance,  as 
distinguished  from  the  intellect  or  taste  which 
directs  it. 

Medesimo  movimento  {It.)  The  same 
movement. 

Medesimo  tempo.    The  same  time. 
Mediaeval  musical  instruments.  The 


MEDIANT  MEISTERSINGER. 


musical  instruments  known  in  the  middle 
ages  appear  to  have  been  flutes,  flageolets, 
bugles,  and  trumpets  among  simple  tubes  ; 
waits,  cornets,  bassoons,  bagpipes,  &c.,  among 
reed  instruments  ;  the  harp,  the  guitar,  the 
crowd,  the  violin  or  fiddle  among  stringed 
instruments ;  drums  and  tambourines,  cymbals 
and  bells  among  instruments  of  percussion, 
but  all  of  these  differ  more  or  less  from  the 
instruments  with  the  same  names  in  use  at 
the  present  day.  There  is  a  curious  catalogue 
of  musical  instruments  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, which  may  be  read  with  interest  in 
reference  to  this  subject,  in  a  poem  by 
Guillaume  de  Machault,  entitled  Le  Temps 
Pastour.  The  description  is  headed  Comment 
I'amant  fut  au  disner  de  sa  dame  : — 

Mais  qui  veist,  apres  mangier 
Verier  menestraux,  sans  dangier 
Pignez  et  miz  en  pure  corps. 
La  feurent  meints  divers  acors 
Car  je  vis  la,  tout  en  un  cerne 
Vioie,  rubebe,  guiterne 
L'enmovache,  le  mica  mon 
Citole,  et  le  psalterion 
Harpes,  labours,  trompes,  nacaires 
Orgues,  cornes,  plus  de  dix  paires 
Cornemuse,  flajos  et  chevrettes, 
Douceines,  symboles,  clochettes 
Tymberes,  la  flauste  brehaingue 
Et  le  grand  cornet  d'Allemaingue 
Flajos  de  sans,  fistule,  pipe 
Muse  d'Aussay,  trompe  petite, 
Buisines,  eles,  monocorde 
Ou  il  n"a  quime  seule  corde 
Et  muse  de  blet,  tout  ensemble 
Et  certainement,  il  me  semble 
Qu'  oncques  mais  tele  melodic 
Ne  fut  oncques  veues  ne  oye 
Car  Chascun  d"eux,  selon  d'acort 
De  son  instrument,  sans  descort 
Viole,  guiterne,  citole 
Harpe,  trompe,  come,  flajole, 
Pipe,  souffle,  muse,  naquaire, 
Tabour,  et  quanque  ou  put  faire 
De  dois,  de  pennes,  et  d'archet 
Ois  et  vis  en  ce  parchet. 

If  each  name  here  mentioned  represented  a 
different  and  distinct  instrument,  it  might  be 
supposed  that  there  was  a  far  greater  variety 
in  use  in  the  fourteenth  century  than  in  the 
present  time,  with  all  our  increase  of  know- 
ledge and  improved  skill  in  construction, 
but  the  truth  is  that  many  of  the  names  are 
simply  synonyms.    For  example  the  line: — 

"  Cornemuse,  flajos  et  chevrettes  " 
would  seem  to  imply  three  sorts  of  music 
making  machines,  but  the  names  refer  to  one 
and  the  same  thing,  neither  more  nor  less 
than  the  bagpipes,  and  the  "muse  d'Aussay," 
•'muse  de  blet,"  and  "muse"  simply,  are 
varieties  of  the  same  instrument.  The  "  viole 
and  ruhebe,"  refer  to  the  fiddle,  the  "  flajole 
pipe,  souffle,  and  fistule,"  to  the  flageolets  ; 
"la  flauste  brehaingue"  to  the  English  flute; 
le  grand  cornet  d'Allemaingue,  buisines, 


douceines,"  were  a  species  of  bassoon  ;  "  tym- 
beres, tabour,  and  naquaires,"  were  drums; 
the  "citole  and  psalterion,"  were  dulcimers; 
"the  guiterne"  a  guitar  or  cittern;  "ele-." 
signified  harps,  from  their  wing-like  shapes ; 
"  L'enmovache,"  was  also  a  harp  of  a  larger 
kind  ;  the  "  mica  mon  "  is  probably  "  maca 
man,"  a  hand-drum  or  tambourine,  and  the 
rest  are  sufficiently  obvious.  Guillaume  de 
Machault,  the  author  of  this  poem,  was  pro- 
bably not  a  practical  musician,  but  simply 
made  use  of  a  list  of  instruments  with  whose 
use  he  was  probably  unacquainted,  hence 
his  repetition  of  synonyms  It  is  no  un- 
common thing  to  find  a  special  ignorance  of 
the  use  and  qualities  of  musical  instruments 
among  modern  poets,  but  when  such  a  lack 
of  knowledge  is  displayed  by  a  poet  writing 
in  the  palmy  days  of  minstrelsy,  it  is  not  un- 
fair to  imagine  that  Guillaume  de  Machault 
was  more  of  a  troiivere  than  a  cantadour, 
[Troubadour.] 

Mediant.  Mediante  [Fr.)  The  third 
degree  of  any  scale. 

Mediation.  That  part  of  a  chant  which 
lies  between  the  reciting-note  and  the  next 
close.  [Chant]. 

Medius  [Lat.)    The  tenor  part.  [Mean.] 

Mehrstimmig  {Gey.)  In  many  parts. 
Polyphonic. 

Meisterfuge.  (Gcr.)  A  fiiga  ricercata. 
that  is,  a  fugue  without  episodes,  one  in 
which  the  subject  or  answer  is  constantly 
heard. 

Meistersinger.  Meistersanger  (Ger.) 
Maitre  Chatiteur  {Fr.)  A  title  given  to  the 
most  renowned  musician  of  a  township  or 
district  in  Germany,  during  the  middle  ages. 

When  the  Minnesingers  or  Troubadours, 
formed  from  among  the  ranks  of  the  aris- 
tocracy, began  to  die  away,  the  Meistersingers 
arose,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century  formed  themselves  in  the  towns  of 
Germany  into  guilds  or  trading  companies, 
and  agreed  to  uphold  certain  fanciful  and 
arbitrary  laws  of  rhythm. 

Adepts  in  the  poetic  art.  Master-singers, 
appear  to  have  existed  at  the  period  when  the 
Minnesingers  were  at  their  prime,  and  it  is 
supposed  that  the  title  was  only  more  univer- 
sally and  distinctively  bestowed  when  the 
spirit  of  pedantry  had  become  general  and 
when  the  "  Songschools"  or  "  guilds  "  became 
in  Germany  what  the  "  consistories "  and 
"academies"  were  in  other  countries  during 
the  then  general  decay  of  art.  Wandering 
orators  in  connection  with  the  "  Chambers  of 
Rhetoric  "  who  recited  a  miserable  doggrell 
composed  by  themselves  or  others,  afterwards 
formed  themselves  in  Flanders  and  Brabant, 
into  societies  by  the  name  of  Chambers  ol 
Rhetoricians  (Kamers   der    Rhetorykers  or 


(  284) 


MELANGE  MELODY. 


Rederykers)  and  offered  prizes  for  the  most 
meritorious  poems  written  according  to  their 
barbarous  rules. 

The  ornaments  and  illustrations  of  this 
class  of  poetry  were  drawn  from  mean  sources. 
Instead  of  princes,  nobles,  and  knights,  we 
have  clerks,  schoolmasters,  and  mechanics. 
Some  of  the  poems,  it  is  true,  are  not  un- 
worthy of  notice  and  survive  in  one  form  or 
another  to  the  present  day  ;  others  have  sunk 
into  an  oblivion  not  altogether  undeserved. 

The  "  Masters "  were  always  anxious  to 
clothe  themselves  with  the  ancient  glory  of  the 
"  Minnesingers."  They  were  fond  of  trac- 
ing the  origin  of  their  school  to  a  very  remote 
antiquity  ;  and  the  most  celebrated  names 
were  placed  by  all  sorts  of  anachronisms 
among  the  supposed  united  band  of  founders. 

Wherever  the  "  hoch-deutsch  "  was  spoken, 
there  the  Master-singers  founded  a  colony  and 
indulged  the  vulgar  propensity  of  giving  im- 
portance to  bombast,  parade,  and  external 
distinction  to  their  hearts'  content.  A  candi- 
date was  admitted  into  the  school  of  the 
"  Master-singers  "  with  great  form  and  cere- 
mony. Four  "  Merker  "  sat  behind  a  silken 
curtain  to  pass  judgment  upon  his  qualifica- 
tions. One  of  these  had  to  decide  whether  the 
diction  of  the  novice  was  pure  and  his  gram- 
mar accurate,  the  others  attended  to  the  rhyme 
and  metre  of  the  composition  and  the  melody 
to  which  it  was  sung.  If  they  united  in 
declaring  that  the  candidate  had  complied 
with  the  statutes  and  regulations,  he  was  de- 
corated with  a  silver  chain  and  badge — the 
latter  representing  King  David  playing  on  the 
harp — and  he  was  honourably  admitted  into  the 
Society.  Tke  poems  of  the  "  Master-singers  " 
were  always  lyrical  and  sung  to  music.  The 
entire  poem  was  called  a  "  bar  "  and  it  was 
divided  into  five  ormore  stanzas,  or  "  Gesetze," 
and  each  "  Satz  "  also  fell  into  three  portions, 
the  first  of  which  was  a  "  Stole,"  the  second  an 
"  Abgesang,"  and  the  third  a  "  Stole  "  like  the 
first.  The  rhymes  were  classed  into  "  stumpfe 
Reime," "  klingende  Reime,"  "stumpfe  Schlag- 
reime,  '  and  "  klingende  Schlag-reime,"  and 
other  denominations  needless  to  particularise. 
The  poets,  singers,  and  merkers  counted  the 
syllables  on  their  fingers,  and  if  there  was 
the  proper  number  it  was  of  no  consequence 
whether  they  were  long  or  short.  The  length 
of  the  verse,  the  number  of  the  lines,  and  the 
order  of  the  rhymes  in  each  "  Stole  "  or  "  Ab- 
gesang" was  variable  and  consequently  the 
poems  were  susceptible  of  a  great  variety  of 
forms,  which  were  called  tunes  or  "Weisen." 
The  invention  of  a  new  "Weise"  was  con- 
sidered the  test  of  a  Master-singer's  abilities. 
There  were  some  hundreds  of  these  "Weisen," 
all  named  after  their  inventors ;  as  Hans  Tind- 
eisen's  rosemary  Weise  ;  Joseph  Schmeirer's 


flowery  -  paradise  Weise  ;  Hans  Fogel's 
fresh  Weise  ;  Henry  Frauenlob's  yellow 
Weise  ;  his  blue  Weise  ;  his  frog  Weise,  and 
his  looking-glass  Weise.  The  code  of  criti- 
cism to  which  the  Master-singers  were  sub- 
jected was  contained  in  the  rules  or  "Tabula- 
tur"  of  the  societies,  some  uf  which  rules 
were  cert&.nly  severe.  They  were  prohibited 
from  employing  "  sentences  which  nobody 
could  understand,"  or  "  words  wherein  no 
meaning  could  be  discovered,"  interdictions 
which  would  completely  disqualify  many  a 
so-called  poet  in  the  present  day  for  member- 
ship. 

Melange    (Fr.)    A  medley. 

Melisma  (Gk.)  ntXnTfia.  (i)  A  song, 
tune,  melody.  In  1611,  Ravenscroft  pub- 
lished "  Melismata;  Musical  Phansies  fitting 
the  Court,  citie,  and  country  humours."  (2) 
A  ^race,  roulade.  Fioritura. 

Melismatik.  {Ger.)  The  art  of  florid 
vocalisation. 

Melodia    (It.)  Melody. 

Melodia  (Gk.)  jicXucia.  (i)  The  sing- 
ing of  an  ode  to  a  melos.  (2)  The  tune  to 
which  lyric  poetry  was  sung. 

Melodicon.  An  instrument  made  of  steel 
bars  in  different  lengths  tuned  to  the  diatonic 
scale,  struck  with  hammers  held  in  the 
hand. 

Melodico,  melodicoso  {It.)  Melodiously, 
sweetly. 

Melodic  {Fr.)    Melody,  tune. 

Melccrama.  A  dramatic  piece  in  which 
the  interest  is  heightened  by  the  character  of 
the  vocal  or  instrumental  music  accompany- 
ing certain  situations.  The  melodrama  is  of 
French  invention,  and  was  introduced  into 
England  at  the  end  of  the  last  century  ;  the 
subjects  are  generally  of  a  romantic  character, 
illustrated  with  picturesque  costumes  and 
scenery,  and  having  serious  and  sensational 
incidents,  and  effective  and  striking  tableaux. 
Although  sometimes  confounded  with  the 
opera,  it  differs  from  that  higher  class  of  work 
insomuch  that  the  action  is  carried  on  in  speak- 
ing and  not  in  recitative  and  aria.  [Opera.] 

Melodrame  {Fr.)  Melodramma  {It.) 
[Melodrama.] 

Melody  {melos  Gk.  ntXoc).  An  agreeable 
succession  of  simple  sounds,  produced  by  a 
single  voice  or  instrument,  and  so  regulated 
as  to  give  a  pleasing  effect,  or  to  be  expres- 
sive of  some  kind  of  sentiment.  It  is  often 
founded  on  relative  harmonies  and  yet  is 
completely  distinguished  from  harmony  by 
not  needing  the  addition  of  parts  to  make  it 
perfect.  The  construction  of  melody  is  guided 
by  certain  rules  in  rhythm,  and  by  the  capa- 
bilities of  the  voice  or  instrument  for  which 
it  is  intended.  Melos  had  a  very  general 
;  meaning  among  the  Greeks,  for  it  is  said  by 


(  285) 


MELODY  ORGAN  METAL  WIND  INSTRUMENTS. 


Plato  to  consist  of  "  speech,  music,  and 
rhythm."  In  its  more  limited  sense  it  sig- 
nified any  succession  of  musical  sounds. 

Melody  Organ  or  Harmonium.  A 
harmonium  so  constructed  that  the  upper 
note  of  the  chords  played  is  louder  than  the 
rest  of  the  sounds. 

Melograph.  An  instrument  invented  for 
the  purpose  of  writing  down  melodies  when 
played  upon  a  pianoforte.  It  has  not  yet 
been  brought  into  use,  as  its  action  is 
imperfect. 

Melopoeia  {Gk.)  fxeXoiroda.  (i.)  Music  in 
general.  (2.)  The  art  or  system  of  making  a 
tune  or  nielos.  In  this  sense  it  is  said,  by 
Aristides  Quintilianus,  (Ed.  Meibom.  p.  28) 
to  be  of  three  kinds  with  reference  to  the 
pitch,  namely,  hypatoeides,  mesoeides,  and 
netoeides.  He  then  divides  MelopcEia  into 
three  parts,  Sumptio  {Xtji^iq),  Mistio  (/4«4'tf), 
Usus  (xpv'^'c)' 

Sumptio,  or  the  "  taking,"  is  the  settle- 
ment of  the  pitch  from  which  the  "  system  " 
or  scale  is  to  be  reckoned.  Mistio,  the 
mixing,  is  the  co-ordinating  or  fitting  together 
the  sounds  with  regard  to  each  other,  or  the 
modulations  of  the  voice,  or  the  key-systems. 
Usus,  the  use,  is  of  three  kinds,  Ductus 
[ayoiyri),  Petteia  (Trerre/a),  Nexus  (ttXou/). 
Ductus  is  of  three  kinds,  direct,  reverse,  cir- 
cumcurrent  (see  Agoge).  Petteia  is  the 
choosing  of  sounds  that  are  suitable,  and 
rejecting  those  that  are  unsuitable.  Nexus 
is  the  interweaving  of  intervals  or  movements 
by  skips.  Quintilianus  sums  up  by  giving 
the  following  plain  statement  of  the  different 
kinds  of  melopce'ia. 


Genus 


Melopoeia 
is  of  different 
kinds  as  to 


r  Enharmonic. 
J  Chromatic. 
(Diatonic. 
I  Hypatoid. 

System   J  Mesoid. 

(Netoid. 
( Dorian. 
Scale  (tonos)  \  Phrygian. 

( Lydian. 

(Gnomic. 
Dithyrambic. 
Tragic. 
Systaltic. 


Manner  or 
character 
(ethos) 


( Producing  sadness.) 
Middle. 

(Pro.lucing  calmness.) 
Djastu;i,c. 
V    (Producing  excitement.) 


Melopiano.  An  invention  by  which  sus- 
tained sounds  can  be  produced  on  a  piano- 
forte. It  consists  of  a  series  of  small  ham- 
mers set  into  very  rapid  vibration  by  the 
winding  up  of  a  spring.  When  a  note  is 
struck  and  held  down,  the  constant  repetition 
of  the  blows  of  the  hammer  causes  a  con- 
tinuous vibration  of  the  string  which  is  of  a 
most  chartning  character.  A  beautiful  cres- 
cendo is  obtained  by  the  ingenious  device  of 


raising  the  hammers  gradually  further  from 
the  string,  causing  them  to  descend  with 
more  force.  It  was  invented  by  Caldara  of 
Turin  in  1870. 

Melos  [Ger.)  {fii\os).  A  succession  of 
musical  sounds  as  opposed  to  noises.  A 
tune.    A  song.  [Melody.] 

Meme  mouvement  {Fr.)  The  same 
movement.    L'istesso  tempo  {It.) 

Men,  meno  {It.)  Less;  as  meno  forte, 
not  so  loud  ;  metw  piano,  not  so  soft;  meno 
presto,  less  rapid  ;  meno  vivo,  not  so  quick. 

Menaaneim  {Heb).  This  word  occurs 
once  in  Holy  Scriptures,  in  2  Sam.  vi.  5, 
where  it  is  improperly  translated  cymbals. 
Its  derivation  points  to  a  root  meaning  to 
swing  to  and  fro,  to  vibrate.  It  is  probable, 
therefore,  that  it  was  a  sistrum.  [Sistrum.] 

Menestrals  {Fr.)  [Troubadours]  [Con- 
frerie  de  St.  Julien]. 

Meno    {It.)  [Men]. 

Menschen-stimme  {Ger.)  (i.)  A  man's 
voice.    (2.)  Vox  hurfiana. 

Mensur  {Ger.)  (i.)  The  measurement  of 
intervals  on  stringed  instruments.  (2.)  The 
scale  of  organ  pipes. 

Mensurable  Music.  [Cantus  mensura- 
bihs.] 

Mensuralgesang  {Ger.)  [Cantus  men- 
surabilis.] 

Mensuralnotenschrift    {Ger.)  Nota- 
tion of  Time  measurement. 
Menuet   (Fr.)  )     rn*-      ^  i 
Menuetto(//.)   }  [Mmuet.] 
Mescolanza    {It.)  Cacophony. 
Mese    {Gk.)    [Greek  Music] 
Messa  {It.),  Messe  (Fr.)  Mass. 
Messa  di  Voce  (It.)    The  swelling  and 
diminishing  of  the  sound  of  the  voice  upon  a 
holding  note. 

Mesochorus  (fitauxopog.)  [Coryphjeus.] 
Mesopycni  (Meiiceval  Lat.,  from  Gk. 
^liaoc,  middle,  and  irvKvoc  close.)  Church 
modes  having  the  close  interval  or  semitone 
in  the  middle  of  their  primary  tetrachord, 
e.g.— 

Dorian.  Hypodorian. 


cf.  Barupycni.  Oxupycni. 

Mesto,  mestoso  (It.)    Sad,  pensive. 

Mesure  (Fr.)  Measure,  time,  as  mesure 
(i  deux  temps  or  trois  temps.  Duple  or  triple 
time. 

Metallo  (It.)  lit.  metal.  The  ringing 
quality  of  tone,  as  bet  metallo  di  voce. 

Metal  pipes.  [Organ.] 

Metal  plate  of  pianoforte.  [Pianoforte.] 

Metal  wind  instruments.  Instruments 
formed  of  various  lengths  of  brass  tubing 
gradually  enlarged  towards  one  end  called  the 


(  286  ) 


METAL  WIND  INSTRUMENTS. 


"  bell "  and  with  a  mouthpiece  at  the  other  end. 
The  tubing  is  folded  into  a  size  convenient 
for  carrying  about,  either  into  an  oblong  or 
circular  form.  A  single  length  of  tubing  is 
capable  of  sounding  the  primary  harmonics  of 
its  tonic  with  that  note,  in  the  following 
order,  according  to  the  power  of  lip  possessed 
by  the  player,  the  key  note  being  taken 
as  C:— 


A  double  length  of  tubing  enables  the  player 
to  produce  another  octave  with  some  addi- 
tional harmonics,  thus : — 


and  sometimes 


as  in  the  French  Horn  and  Trumpet.  These 
are  called  the  open  notes,  the  intermediate 
tones — 


are  made  by  inserting  the  hand  in  the  "bell" 
of  the  Horn  as  well  as  the  Trumpet,  these 
are  called  closed  notes  and  are  less  full 
and  beautiful  in  character  than  the  open  tones, 
and  being  also  difficult  of  production,  are 
rarely  written. 

Upon  the  application  of  the  slide  to  the 
trumpet,  an  application  probably  suggested 
by  the  trombone,  the  uncertainties  of  intona- 
tion were  made  somewhat  less.  The  first 
instrument  of  the  tube  kind  in  which  an  im- 
provement was  sought  to  be  effected  was  the 
Bugle,  which  was  formerly  without  keys,  like 
the  horn  and  the  trumpet.  The  bandmaster 
of  an  Irish  regiment,named  James  Halliday, 
about  the  year  1S14  or  1815,  introduced  a 
keyed  bugle  of  his  own  contrivance  which  he 
called  the  Kent  Bugle  out  of  compliment  to 
the  Duke  of  Kent,  the  father  of  Her  Majesty 
Queen  Victoria,  who  was  colonel  of  the  regi- 
ment. The  instrument  became  exceedingly 
popular, in  consequence  of  the  excellent  per- 
formance of  the  elder  Distin,  who  introduced 
it  into  the  orchestra  of  Her  Majesty's  Theatre 
in  1830;  and  the  French  composer,  Adolphe 
Adam,  wrote  several  solos  for  it. 

A  bugle  player  named  Macfarlane  claims  to 
have  been  the  first  who  applied  pistons  or 
valves  to  the  Cornopean.  He  called  his 
contrivance  "  Russian  valves,"  and  he  fur- 
nished his  model  with  two  of  them,  the  first  for 
the  whole  tone  and  the  second  for  the  half  tone. 
As  about  that  time  (the  year  1834)  the  celebrated 


player,  Koenig,  male-  his  appearance  from 
Paris  with  an  instrum  nt  of  similar  make  which 
he  declared  was  by  a  French  inventor,  there 
was  some  controversy  at  the  time,  and  as  no 
one  suspected  the  honesty  of  Macfarlane,  it 
is  possible  that  the  same  idea  may  have 
occurred  simultaneously  to  the  two  claimants. 
The  application  of  the  third  valve  to  the  cor- 
net or  cornopean  was  claimed  by  a  horn  player 
named  Kilback,  but,  on  what  grounds,  it  is 
difficult  now  to  determine.  Valves  or  pistons 
were  employed  in  Germany  before  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Russian  valve  (so-called)  into 
England,  these  were  the  double  cylinder  and 
the  rotatory  valve,  and  the  instruments  played 
by  Kalozdy's  Hungarian  band  were  on  this 
latter  principle. 

The  principle  of  the  Sax-valve  was  a  Ger- 
man invention,  and  was  introduced  to  the 
public  by  a  man  named  Stolzel.  The  tutiing 
slides  for  the  piston  notes,  and  the  improve- 
ment of  Stolzel's  valve  are  due  to  the  maker 
whose  name  is  connected  with  the  invention. 
Since  the  time  that  the  Sax-horns  were  intro- 
duced into  England  by  the  Distin  family, 
many  modifications  and  improvements  have 
been  effected,  the  object  of  each  alteration 
being  to  obtain  the  easiest  and  most  accurate 
means  of  lengthening  and  shortening  the  tube 
at  will,  so  as  to  produce  chromatic  into- 
nation. 

The  metal  valved-instruments  now  in  use 
may  be  thus  classified  : — 

Soprano  Compass. — Trumpet  in  F  and  E 
flat,  both  with  slides  and  valves ;  soprano 
cornets  in  E  flat  and  C,  with  3  valves  or  pis- 
tons ;  soprano  saxhorn  in  E  flat,  with  3  valves 
or  pistons  ;  soprano  fltigel  horns  in  E  flat  and 
C,  with  3  and  4  cylinder  valves ;  bugle  in  C 
and  B  flat,  with  keys  (rarely  used  now). 

Alto  or  Contralto  Compass. — Cornet  in 
B  flat,  with  crooks  for  A,  A  flat,  and  G  ;  alto 
saxhorn  in  B  flat,  with  3  valves  ;  alto  flugel 
horn  in  B  flat,  with  3  and  4  cylinder  valves ; 
alto  trombone  in  E  flat,  both  slide  and 
valved. 

Tenor  Compass. — French  horn,  with  and 
without  valves,  with  10  crooks  ;  tenor  sax- 
horn, with  3  valves  ;  tenor  flugel-horn,  with 
3  or  4  cylinder  valves  ;  tenor  trombone,  both 
slide  and  valved. 

Bariton  Compass. — Bariton  sax-horn,  with 
3  valves  ;  bariton  flugel- horn,  with  3  and  4 
cylinder  valves. 

Bass  Compass. — Trombone  in  F  or  G,  both 
slide  and  valved  ;  euphonium  in  C  or  B  flat 
with  3  or  4  valves. 

Contra-basso. — Bombardon  in  F  or  E  flat, 
with  3  and  4  valves  ;  bombardon,  circular 
shaped  ;  contra-bombardon  in  BB  flat,  with 
3  pistons  or  valves  ;  contra-bombardon,  cir- 
cular shaped. 


(287  ) 


METHODE  METRE. 


Most  metal  wind  instruments  are  formed 
from  a  sheet  of  brass  cut  into  the  proper 
size.  The  sheet  of  metal  is  turned  in*  the 
shape  of  a  pipe  until  the  edges  meet  correctly. 
The  edges  are  welded  together  in  a  brazing 
forge  and  the  tube  is  "  pickled"  in  a  chemical 
bath  to  remove  the  traces  of  brazing.  It  is 
then  made  perfectly  cylindrical  by  means  of  a 
"  draw  bench,"  and  afterwards  is  bent  into 
the  required  curve,  the  tube  being  filled  with 
molten  pitch,  for  slight  curves,  or  with  lead 
for  "  U "  curves.  As  both  pitch  and  lead 
will  melt  at  a  lower  temperature  than  brass, 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  removing  the  in- 
terior "  filling  "  by  heat,  leaving  the  tube  in  the 
required  form  without  breaking  or  flattening 
it.  The  "  bell "  is  made  by  careful  hammering 
on  a  •'mandril"  of  the  required  size  and 
form,  and  is  fitted  to  the  tube  by  means  of 
solder  and  the  blow  pipe.  Shanks,  crooks 
and  the  other  parts  are  then  put  together; 
the  instrument  is  tested  and  polished,  and  is 
ready  for  use. 

Methode  (Fr.)  Metodo  {It.)  (i.)  System 
of  teaching,  as,  Kalkbrenner's  method,  Cri- 
vein's  juetlwd,  &c.  (2.)  School  or  style  of 
music,  as,  the  Italian  method. 

Metre.  A  term  used  with  various  signi- 
fications ;  (i.)  A  foot,  as  a  subdivision  of  a 
bar  or  measure;  (2.)  The  relation  between 
two  feet  having  the  same  subdivisions  of 
time-units,  but  in  a  different  order  of  suc- 
cession ;  (3.)  The  proper  grouping  of  a 
number  of  consecutive  feet. 

Authors  who  use  the  term  in  this  last 
sense,  consider  it  as  equivalent  to  rhythm 
and  divide  it  thus  : 

Metre  (rhythm). 

Measures  (bars  with  accents). 

Feet  (groups  of  time-units). 

Units  of  time  (short  and  long). 

But  it  will  be  seen  further  on  that  this 
division  is  not  good ;  and  also  that  the  in- 
corporation into  music  of  the  terms  of  prosody 
is  not  desirable.  Before  entering  on  this  dis- 
cussion, it  is  necessary  to  give  a  list  of  the 
names  and  nature  of  the  most  important  feet. 

Dissyllables  have  two  units  of  time  capable 
of  a  four-fold  arrangement ;  e.g.. 


Ex.  I. 


•  Spondee. 


Ex.  3. 


Mozart.  Symp.  No.  i. 


Trisyllables  or  feet  consisting  of  three 
time-units  are  of  eight  kinds. 

„  „  „  Tribrach. 

p  _  Bebihovsn. 
t^^-  /•  Symphony  No.  a 


Bacchic. 

Schumann. 
•'  Paradise  and  the  Peri.' 


u  _  u  Amphibrach. 
Ex.  9. 


Ex.  2. 


„   y  Pyrrhic. 


(  a88  ) 


METRE. 


Ex.  lo. 


Mendelssohn. 


w  .  Anapaest 


 Molossus. 

Ex.  12. 



Weber. 
Voices.         Mass  in  Et). 

ft  ^ 

„  „  Dactyl. 
Ex.  13. 

.-fl  t  ,  ,  1 — 1 

F.  C. 

Brightest  and  best     of  the 

sons    of  the  morn-ing. 

,«-Cretic.  ^ 


Palimbacchic. 

Ex.  15. 


There  are  also  tetrasyllables,  sixteen  in 

number,  which,  of  course,  consist  of  the 
possible  positions  of  four  syllables  of  different 
lengths. 

u    yj  u    Proseleusmatic  (Double  Pyrrhic), 

u    u    -  u    Third  Pseon  (Pyrrhic  &  Trochee), 

u    u    u  -    Fourth  Pason  (Pyrrhic  &  Iambic), 

o    u    -  -    Ionic  a  minore  (Pyrrhic  &  Spondee). 

Iu    -    u  -    Diambic  (Double  Iambic), 

w    -    u  u    Second  Paeon  (Iambic  &  Pyrrhic), 

w    ••    -  u    Antispast  (Iambic  &  Trochee), 

w     •    -  -    First  Epitrite  (Iambic  &  Spondee). 


-  -  -  Dispondee  (Double  Spondee). 

-  i<  u  Ionic  a  majore  (Spondee  &  Pyrrhic). 

-  u  -  Third  Epitrite  (Spondee  &  Iambic). 

-  -  u  Fourth  Epitrite  (Spondee  &  Trochee), 
u  -  u  Dichoree  (Double  Trochee), 
u  u  -  Choriambic  (Trochee  &  Iambus), 
u  u  u  First  Pa:on  (Trochee  &  Pyrrhic), 
u  -  -  Second  Epitrite  (Trochee  &  Spondee). 

Feet  of  more  than  four  "  times  "  or  syllables, 
are,  strictly  speaking,  merely  compounded  of 
dissyllables  and  trisyllables.  Musical  ex- 
amples of  all  the  above  could  be  easily  given 
if  space  allowed. 

On  examination  of  the  musical  dissyllables 
and  trisyllables  (Exs.  i  to  15)  many  im- 
portant questions  present  themselves. 

I.  It  will  be  noticed  that  long  syllables 
almost  invariably  fall  on  the  accented  part  of 
a  bar.  Can  we  conceive  of  a  long  syllable  in 
music  as  quantity  without  stress  ?  This  ques- 
tion has  been  discussed  over  and  over  again 
with  reference  to  modern  languages.  Some 
authorities  say  that  stress  and  non-stress 
have  ejected  quantity  from  our  poetry,  and 
bring  forward  such  lines  as  the  following  in 
proof  of  their  assertion  : 


"  Th'  infernal  Serpent;  he  it  was  whose  guile." 
in  which  four  out  of  the  five  syllables,  short  as 
regards  stress,  are  by  nature  long  in  quantity. 

Let  us  apply  this  to  music,  and  ask  whether 
we  really  reckon  our  feet  by  stress  or  quantity. 
If  we  reckon  them  by  the  latter  then  the 
following  is  correctly  written  : 


Now  this  is  not  written  correctly  musically, 
because,  although  an  iambus  in  poetry  has 
only  the  relation  of  short  to  long  in  quantity, 
it  has  in  music  the  relation  weak  to  strong  in 
emphasis.    We  therefore  write  it  thus  : 


Through  all 

practically  disposing  of  the  first  short  syllable, 
and  then  presenting  the  succession  of  feet  to 
the  ear  as  trochees  ;  for  no  one  would  venture 
to  analyse  this  tune  as  consisting  of  the 
following  groups : 


an  analysis  which  is  not  only  allowable  but 
necessary  if  the  analogy  between  poetry  and 
music  is  to  be  sustained. 


(  289  ) 


METRE. 


Again,  in  the  following,  the  same  length  is 
given  to  the  short  syllables  of  the  words  as 
to  the  long : 


Ex.  19. 


Sing 


the     Lord   with   cheer  -  ful   voice,  &c. 


One  author,  enthusiastic  on  the  subject  of 
quantity,  actually  proposes  that  the  Old 
Hundredth  Psalm  should  be  thus  sung: 


silerce  or  "rest"  as  a  constituent  part  of 
rhythm,  music  diverges  widely  from  poetry, 
and  stands  on  a  vantage  ground  peculiarly 
its  own.  It  is  true  that  casura  in  verse  bears 
some  similitude  to  a  "rest"  in  music,  in  the 
effect  it  produces,  but  the  likeness  is  only 
apparent,  and  the  musician  has  t'.ie  power  of 
suggesting  length  in  quantity,  by  a  short 
note  if  it  is  a  stress-note,  e.g. : 


If  musical  feet  were  governed  by  quantity, 
and  not  by  stress,  the  above  would  not  only 
be  correct  but  pleasant,  whereas,  we  feel, 
that  just  in  proportion  as  the  words  receive 
their  due  quantity,  the  true  rhythm  of  the 
music  is  lost. 

On  the  ground,  then,  that  musical  metre  is 
governed  more  by  stress  than  quantity,  the 

analogy  between  ancient  poetry  and  modern  |  lables  ( — "  Syllaba  brevis  unius  est  temporis, 


In  the  above  example,  each  of  the  two  bars 
is  a  trochee,  the  long  syllable  of  which  is 
represented  by  the  chord  and  first  rest,  the 
short  syllable  by  the  final  crotchet  rest  in 
each  bar. 

3.  It  will  be  seen  that  in  Ex.  13,  bars  3 
and  4,  two  consecutive  notes  in  each  bar  are 
grouped  under  one  long  syllable.  This  com- 
pression of  two  syllables  into  one  foot,  is  a 
common  occurrence  both  in  ancient  and 
modern  poetry,  as  for  example  in  the  junction 
of  consecutive  vowels  at  the  end  of  one  word 
and  commencement  of  another.    In  EngHsh 

poetry  we  have  ma  ny  a,  gib  rious,  &c.,  which 
exactly  correspond  to  the  musical  junction  of 
two  notes  under  one  metrical  time-unit.  This 
leads  to  the  important  question  of  the  exact 
time  relation  of  short  and  long  in  metrical 
feet.  The  general  answer  is  that  a  long 
syllable  occupies  the  time  of  two  short  syl- 


music  cannot  be  maintained. 

2.  If  the  reader  will  refer  to  Ex.  4,  which 
gives  a  musical  trochee,  he  will  observe  that 
the  short  syllable  is  followed  by  a  rest.  This 
example  was  given,  not  because  it  was  felt  to 
be  correct,  but  because  similar  examples  are 
to  be  found  elsewhere  ;  but,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  rests  in  music  form  part  of  rhythvi,  and 
therefore,  if  two  minims  in  a  bar  (being  equal 
to  each  other  in  length)  are  considered  as 
two  long  syllables,  Ex.  4  is  not  a  trochee 
but  a  spondee  ;  and,  what  is  more  important 
still,  iambics  and  trochaics  can  only  be  re- 
presented by  triple  time.  Not  only,  then,  is 
Ex.  ig  incorrect,  but  all  duple-measure  psalm 
tunes  set  to  hymns  ordinarily  spoken  of  as 
iambics  are  bad.  On  the  ground,  therefore, 
that  when  there  are  two  notes  of  equal  length 
in  a  bar  we  not  only  may,  but  do  often  con- 
sider the  accented  note  long  and  the  non- 
accented  note  short,  we  are  again  justified  in 
saying  that  the  analogy  between  poetical 
metre  and  musical  rhythm  does  not  hold 
good.     With  regard   to   the    inclusion  of 


longa  vero  duorum  ").  But  ancient  writers 
relax  this  rule  and  say  that  all  long  syllables 
are  not  the  same  length,  nor  do  they  stand  in 
the  same  relation  to  the  short.  Some  allow 
that  a  short  syllable  may  be  a  third  of  a  long, 
or  even  less.  How  does  this  bear  upon 
music  ?  If  we  are  to  adopt  the  old  system 
and  names  of  metrical  feet,  are  we  only 
allowed  to  divide  one  long  time-unit  into  two, 
three,  four,  or  six  parts  ?  Our  time  table 
teaches  that  a  semibreve  is  equal  to  thirty- 
two  demisemiquavers,  and  this  may  be  again 
multiplied  by  binding  two  stationary  semi- 
breves  together  into  one  "double"  time-unit, 
in  which  case  demisemiquavers  will  stand  to  it 
in  the  quantitative  relation  of  sixty-four  to 
one.  The  classical  names  of  feet  are  there- 
fore quite  inadequate  to  represent  the  im- 
mense number  of  possible  relations  between 
the  syllables  of  musical  feet,  and  if  we  are  to 
have  musical  metre  on  the  model  of  classic.;! 
metre,  an  entirely  new  system  of  nomencla- 
ture will  be  absolutely  necessary. 

After  all,  such  names  could  only  apply  to 


(  290  ) 


METROMETER  METTE. 


a  single  melody,  or  a  simple  harmonised 
tune,  whereas,  we  know  that  one  of  the 
highest  forms  of  modern  music  is  harmony 
which  consists  of  a  combination  of  many 
melodies. 

4.  Lastly,  is  it  of  any  practical  use  to 
adopt  names  and  symbols  of  metre,  if  metre 
and  musical  rhythm  are  contradictory  ?  That 
they  may  be  so  is  shown  by  a  comparison  of 
Exs.  i6  and  17,  the  former  of  which  is  per- 
fectly correct  metrically,  perfectly  ridiculous 
musically.  Scholars  explain  this  by  saying 
that  whereas  metre  depends  on  quantity 
alone,  rhythm  depends  upon  a  combination 
of  quantity  and  emphasis.  Be  it  so,  but  in 
modern  music,  quantity  without  emphasis  is 
inconceivable,  therefore  any  nomenclature 
founded  on  quantity  only  is  of  no  practical 
value. 

It  may  be  thought  strange  that  so  much 
space  has  been  given  to  this  subject  of  metre, 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  depreciating  its 
value  and  discouraging  its  use.  But  the 
classical  names  of  feet  are  largely  used  as 
musical  terms  by  certain  writers,  more  per- 
haps from  a  desire  to  appear  learned  at  a 
little  cost,  than  from  a  knowledge  of  their 
real  bearing  on  the  art. 

Metrometer.  [Metronome.] 

Metronome.  An  instrument  said  to  have 
been  invented  in  1815  by  Maelzel,  for  the 
purpose  of  measuring  the  relative  duration  of 
the  notes  in  a  piece  of  music.  The  ma- 
chinery is  of  clockwork,  and  the  various 
grades  of  time  are  measured  on  a  balance-rod 
serving  the  purpose  of  a  pendulum,  the  speed 
being  regulated  by  a  shifting  or  sliding  weight. 
To  be  correct  the  metronome  should  beat 
seconds  when  set  at  60. 

Maelzel's  claim  to  the  invention  rests  on 
very  doubtful  authority,  that  is  to  say,  only 
upon  his  own  word;  for  in  the  "Journal  fiir 
Deutschland"  1796  is  a  description  of  a  time 
measurer  in  the  form  of  a  chronometer, 
J.  S.  Stoeckel,  of  Burg,  claiming  its  invention  ; 
but  this  being  of  large  and  inconvenient  size, 
Maelzel  suggested  to  Winkel  the  desirability 
of  anew  contrivance,  which  Winkel  succeeded 
in  producing,  Maelzel  exhibited  the  instru- 
ment as  his  own  invention,  and  his  name  is 
always  associated  with  it,  though  all  the  part 
he  really  had  in  the  matter  was  in  dividing  the 
balance-rod  to  agree  with  the  varieties  of 
musical  tempi.  The  claim  to  this  portion  of  the 
invention  was  allowed  before  the  Dutch  com- 
mission appointed  to  enquire  into  the  subject 
at  the  request  of  Winkel.  But  neither  of  these 
Sjas  the  right  to  be  considered  as  the  inventors 
of  the  machine,  although  Stoeckel  and  Winkel 
acted  in  good  faith,  and  in  ignorance  pro- 
bably of  what  had  been  done  before  them.  A 
pendulum  for  measuring  time,  independent  of 


clock-work  machinery,  was  common  in  Eng- 
land before  the  metronome  was  introduced. 
This  was  a  tape  like  that  used  by  surveyors, 
and  as  the  length  was  in  actual  inches,  it 
was  necessary  to  have  so  great  a  length  that 
its  general  use  was  inconvenient.  Many  of 
the  glees  of  Calcott,  Horsley,  Webbe,  and 
some  of  the  compositions  of  Crotch  and 
other  writers  of  the  latter  part  of  the  last 
century  have  the  time  indicated  by  such  a 
pendulum.  Twelve  years  before  the  date 
of  Stoeckel's  invention,  namely,  in  1784,  an 
amateur  viohnist  and  composer  of  Paris, 
Jean  Baptiste  D'Avaux,  wrote  to  the  "  Journal 
Encyclopedique,"  describing  a  newly-invented 
pendulum  for  measuring  time  in  music : — 
"  Lettre  sur  un  instrument  ou  pendule  nou- 
veau  qui  a  pour  but  de  determiner  avec 
la  plus  grande  exactitude  les  differentes 
degres  de  vitesse,  depuis  le  prestissimo 
jusqu'au  largo,  avec  les  nuances  impercep- 
tibles  d'un  degre  a  I'autre."  This  could 
hardly  have  been  the  invention  of  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  earlier,  namely,  in  17 10, 
alluded  to  in  the  sixth  edition  of  a  work  by 
Michel  D'Affilard,  published  under  the  title  of 
"  Principes  tres-faciles,pour  bien  apprendre  la 
musique,  qui  conduiront  promptement  ceux 
qui  ont  du  naturel  pour  le  chant  jusqu'au 
point  de  chanter  toute  sorte  de  musique  et  a 
livre  ouvert,"  in  which  the  time  of  the  exer- 
cises or  airs  is  regulated  by  a  "  pendule." 
Taking  the  date  into  consideration,this  instru- 
ment was  probably  the  metronome  or  sono- 
meter of  Etienne  Loulie,  invented  in  1696, 
described  as  a  "  chronometre  ou  instrument 
de  nouvelle  invention,  par  lemoyen  duquel  les 
compositeurs  de  musique  pourront  desormais 
marquer  le  veritable  mouvement  de  leurs 
compositions,  et  leurs  ouvrages,  marquez  par 
rapport  a  cet  instrument,  se  pourront,  exe- 
cuter  en  leur  absence  s'ils  en  battaient  eux- 
memes  la  mesure."  If  this  had  been  simply 
a  cord  or  tape  it  would  have  indicated  the 
time  only  while  the  motion  lasted;  but  the 
contrivance  was  of  clock-work,  as  "  I'estampe 
representant  le  chronometre "  shows.  In 
1759  Henri  Louis  Choquel  also  advocated  the 
use  of  a  chronometer,  probably  that  of  Loulie; 
and  in  1807  Jeanne  Etienne  Despreaux  pub- 
lished a  chart  or  table  of  the  different  measures 
in  music,  under  the  title  of  "  Chronometre 
musical  etabli  sur  les  bases  du  pendule  astro- 
nomique,"  the  machine  employed  being  a 
modification  of  Loulie's  invention.  All  that 
Maelzel  did  was  to  suggest  the  construc- 
tion of  an  instrument  more  portable  than 
any  already  in  use,  but  the  principle  he 
worked  upon  was  that  which  had  been 
carried  out  nearly  100  years  before  he  was 
born. 

Mette  {Ger.)  Matins. 


(  291  ) 


METZILLOTH  MINUET 


Metzilloth,  Metzillthaim,  Tzeitzelim 
[Heb.)  These  words  are  rendered  in  our 
version  as  cymbals,  except  in  Zech.  xiv.  20, 
where  they  are  translated  "  bells  of  the  horses," 
which  is  substantially  correct,  as  little  cym- 
bals were  formerly  used  in"  the  trappings  of 
horses.  The  cymbals  used  by  the  Hebrews 
were  probably  similar  in  form  to  those  of  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  some  existing  examples 
of  which  are  here  depicted.  They  were  | 
found  in  the  tomb  of  a  certain  musician- 
priest  named  Ankhape,  lying  close  to  his 
side.  They  are  very  small  compared  to 
modem  instruments  of  the  same  class, 
being  not  more  than  five  inches  in  diameter. 
[Cymbals.] 


Mezzo,  Mezza  {It.)  Half  or  medium, 
as,  mezza  bravura,  semi  bravura  style  ;  mezza 
manica,  half  shift  ;  mezza  orchestra,  with  half 
the  orchestra  ;  mezza  voce,  half  the  power  of 
the  voice  ;  mezzo  carattere,  with  a  moderate 
degree  of  expression  or  execution  ;  mezzo 
forte,  moderately  loud  ;  mezzo  piano,  mode- 
rately soft ;  mezzo  soprano,  a  voice  lower  in 
range  than  a  soprano  and  higher  than  a  con- 
tralto ;  mezzo  staccato,  slightly  detached ; 
mezzo  tenore,  a  voice  of  tenor  quality  and 
baritone  range  ;  mezzo  tuono,  half  the  power 
of  the  voice  ;  &c. 

M.  F.    [Mezzo  forte.] 

M.  G.  Abbreviation  of  main  gauche  (Fr.), 
the  left  hand. 

Mi.  (i.)  A  syllable  used  to  indicate  E,  the 
third  note  in  the  scale  of  C  [Aretinian  syl- 
lables]. (2.)  In  solmisation  Mi  always  indi- 
cated the  leading  note.  [Solfaing.] 

Mi  bemol  (Fr.)    The  note  E  flat. 

Mi  bemol  majeur  or  mineur.  The  key 
of  E  flat  major  or  minor. 

Mi  contra  fa.  The  name  given  by  the 
old  contrapuntists  to  the  tritone,  which  was 
always  to  be  avoided — "  mi  contra  fa  est 
diabolus."  It  is  not  as  some  suppose,  the 
simultaneous  sounding  of  the  tonic  with  the 
leading  note  ;  but,  as  the  notes  of  the  scale  of 
C  in  old  solfaing  were  named — fa,  sol,  la,  fa 
sol,  la,  mi,  fa — the  union  or  succession  of  the 
fa  and  mi  would  form  the  tritone,  the  leading 
note  in  the  old  scales  always  being  called  mi. 
[Solfaing.] 


Middle  C.  The  note  standmg  on  the 
first  leger  line  above  the  bass  stave,  and  the 
first  leger  line  below  the  treble  stave. 
[Stave.] 

Mi  di^se  (Fr.)    The  note  E  sharp. 
Militairement  (Fr.),  Militarmente  (//.) 
In  a  military  style. 

Military  Band.    [Band,  §  5.] 
Minaccevole  \ 
j     Minaccevolmente  hit.)    In   a  menac- 
Minacciando         \     ing,  threatening 
Minacciosamente  l  manner. 
Minaccioso  ) 
Mineur  (Fr.)  Minor. 
Minikin.    A  small  sort  of  gut  string  for- 
merly used   on   the  lute,   viol,  and  other 
stringed  instruments. 

Minim.  Halbnote  (Ger.),  bianca  {It.), 
blanche  {Fr.)  A  time  character  of  the  value 
of  two  crotchets.  In  modern  music  it  is 
second  in  value  to  the  semibreve  now  held  to 
be  the  time  standard,  but  in  ancient  music  it 
was,  as  its  name  implies,  of  the  shortest 
duration.  Morley,  in  his  "  Introduction  to 
Practical  Musicke,"  1601,  ascribes  the  first 
use,  if  not  the  invention,  of  t',e  minim  to 
Philippo  de  Vitriaco,  a  musician  of  the  14th 
century,  who  is  also  credited  with  the  inven- 
tion of  the  crotchet.  [Nomenclature.]  [No- 
tation.] 

Minnesingers.  The  German  name  for 
poets  of  the  Troubadour  character,  who  de- 
voted their  talents  to  the  production  of  love 
songs  (Minnelieder).  They  enjoyed  a  certain 
amount  of  popularity  in  the  higher  grades  of 
society  for  more  than  two  hundred  years 
(i  138-1347),  when  they  fell  out  of  popular 
estimation,  and, were  succeeded  by  the  Meis- 
tersingers,  q.  v.  [Troubadours.] 

Minnim  {Heb.)  This  word,  which  occurs 
in  Ps.  xlv.  8,  and  Ps.  cl.  4,  is  probably  a 
poetical  allusion  to  stringed  instruments 
generally.  It  is  so  rendered  in  the  Bible  and 
Prayer-book  versions  of  the  latter  psalm. 
"  Praise  him  with  stringed  instruments  and 
organs."  {Bible.)  "  Praise  him  upon  the 
strings  and  pipe"  {Prayer-book).  In  order  to 
bring  out  its  meaning  in  Ps.  xlv.  8,  it  has 
been  proposed  to  alter  the  text  thus  :  "out  of 
the  ivory  palaces,  stringed  instruments  have 
made  thee  glad." 

Minor(La^.)  Less, smaller,  (i.)  Intervals 
are  said  to  be  minor  when  they  contain  one 
semitone  less  than  major.  (2.)  A  scale  is 
said  to  be  in  the  minor  mode  when  its  third 
and  sixth  are  minor.  Formerly  minor  music 
was  described  as  "  with  the  lesser  third." 
(3.)  Flute  minor,  Klein  flute,  a  small  flute- 
stop  on  the  organ,  of  4ft.  or  2ft.  pitch. 

Minstrel.  [Troubadour.] 

Minuet  {Fr.)    The  name  of  a  graceful 


(  ) 


MINUET. 


dance  said  to  have  been  invented  in  Poitou 
about  the  middle  of  the  17th  century.  The 
tunes  for  the  first  minuets  are  said  to  have 
been  composed  by  Jean  Baptiste  Lully.  A 
minuet  was  danced  by  Louis  XIV.  before  his 
courtiers  at  Versailles.  The  Marquis  de 
Flamarens  introduced  it  into  England  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  II.,  who  made  the  dance 
fashionable  by  having  it  frequently  danced  at 
Court.  It  continued  to  be  popular  as  a  court 
dance  until  the  reign  of  George  III. 

The  minuet  form  was  used  by  many 
composers  after  Lully  as  a  movement  in 
sonatas,  overtures,  and  the  like,  but  com- 
posers made  a  few  slight  variations  in  the  time 
and  treatment  in  order  to  obtain  as  much 
originality  as  possible.  The  minuet  with 
more  or  less  success  continued  to  be  employed 
as  a  movement  in  instrumental  music  to  the 
time  of  Beethoven,  who  abandoned  it  in 
favour  of  the  Scherzo. 

Independently  of  its  use  for  dancing  pur- 
poses the  Minuet,  almost  immediately  after 
its  introduction,  was  adopted  as  part  of  a  Suite, 
sometimes  in  the  simple  form  as  required  for 
the  dance  and  sometimes  with  a  second 
minuet  of  a  slightly  different  character  and 
key  appended.  This  second  minuet  was  so 
arranged  as  to  demand  a  return  to  the  original 
key.  The  title  of  Trio  for  the  second  minuet 
is  said  to  have  been  first  suggested  from  the 
circumstance  that  only  three  parts  or  instru- 
ments were  employed  in  the  performance  of 
that  section  ;  it  is  also  stated  that  J.  S.  Bach  is 
entitled  to  the  credit  of  being  the  first  so  to  call 
the  second  minuet.  But  the  subjoined  Round 
O  (Rondo)  minuet  by  Mr.  Jerry  Clark,  c.  1700, 
shows  an  earlier  division  of  the  composition 
into  three  parts  or  strains,  and  the  form  itself 
suggests  that  the  third  part  which  takes  the 
place  of  the  trio  in  more  modern  minuets,  is 
more  likely  to  be  called  trio  because  of  its 
third  place  than  because  it  was  written  in 
three  parts  or  for  three  instruments. 


(  293  ) 


MINUETTO  MODE. 


MINUET. 

H.  PuRCELL.   Choice  Lessons. 


End  at  ye  ist  Straine. 


Minuetto  (It.)  [Minuet.] 

Miscella.    A  mixture  stop  of  an  organ. 

Miserere.  The  51st  Psalm  sung  in  the 
TenebrcB  service  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 

Mishrokitha,  or  Masrakitha  (Chaldaic). 
This  word  occurs  four  times  in  the  book  of 
Daniel,  and  is  probably  rightly  interpreted  in 
the  Septuagint  by  Syrinx. 

Missa  (Lat.)  A  mass,  as,  missa  pro 
defunctis,  a  requiem  mass  ;  missa  solemnis,  a 
solemn  mass  ;  &c. 

Misschallig  [Ger.)  Dissonant,  discordant. 

Missklang  (Ger.)    Discord,  cacophony. 

Misteriosamente,  Misterioso  (It.)  Mys- 
teriously. [Mass.] 

Misura  (It.)    A  measure,  a  bar. 

Misurato  (It.)    Measured,  in  strict  time. 

Mit  (Ger.)  With,  as  viitBegleitung,  with 
accompaniment ;  mit  Beweg^mg,  con  moto, 
&c. 

Mitos  (Gk.)  fiiTog.  A  thread,  a  term  some- 
times used  for  the  string  of  a  lyre. 

Mittelcadenz  (Ger.)  An  imperfect  ca- 
dence, or  half-close.  [Cadence.] 

Mittelstimmen  (Ger.)    Inner  parts. 

Mixed  Cadence.  An  old  name  for  a 
cadence,  consisting  of  a  subdominant  followed 
by  a  dominant  and  tonic  chord  ;  so  called  be- 
cause the  characteristic  chords  of  the 
plagal  and  authentic  cadences  succeed  each 
other. 

Mixolydian.    [Greek  music] 

Mixture.  An  organ  stop,  consisting  of 
several  ranks  of  pipes  to  each  note.  It  is 
only  used  in  combination  with  the  foundation 
and  compound  stops,  as  it  consists  of  high 
harmonics  of  the  ground  tone.  [Organ.] 

Mode,  (i)  A  scale  [Greek  music].  (2) 
A  species  of  scale,  as,  tiiajor  mode,  minoi 
7node. 


(  «94  ) 


MODERATAMENTE  MODUS. 


Moderatamente  ] 
Moderato  (It.)  Moderately. 

Moderazione,  con  j 
Moderatissimo  (It.)    Very  moderate. 
Modificazione  {It.)    Modification,  light 
and  shade  in  expression. 

Modinha.    A  Portuguese  love  song. 
Modo  (It.)    A  mode. 

Modulation,  (i.)  Movement  or  gradu- 
ation of  sound  ;  (2.)  A  change  of  key. 

One  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  modern 
music  is  the  constant  change  of  key.  In 
many  of  the  recognized  "Forms"  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  introduce  "second" 
subjects  in  a  different,  although  a  related  key 
to  the  chief  theme.  Hence,  in  old  Treatises 
on  Music  the  subject  is  barely  touched  upon, 
whereas  modern  authors  enlarge  upon  it. 
Modulation  is  of  three  kinds,  Diatonic, 
Chromatic,  and  Enharmonic.  The  first  of 
these  is  sometimes  called  natural ;  the  last 
two,  artificial. 

A  Diatonic  modulation  is  the  passing  from 
one  key  to  another  by  using  chords  from 
relative  keys. 

Ex.  I.  Beethoven,  Symphony  No.  i. 


* 

Wfev  of  A  minor.  &c.  13  bars 
in  A  minor. 

>  made 
s  a  re- 


in the  above  (Ex.  i)  a  modulation 
from  G  minor  to  C,  thus  :  G  minor 
lative  key  of  D  minor,  which  is  a  relative  key 
of  A  minor,  which  is  the  relative  minor  of  C. 

When  a  remote  key  is  reached  by  relative 
keys,  the  modulation  is  by  some  said  to  be 
extraneotis. 

A  chromatic  modulation  is  the  passing  from 
one  key  to  any  other,  by  means  of  unrelated 
keys. 


The  above  (Ex.  2)  shows  a  chromatic 
modulation  from  the  key  of  E?  to  that  of  F. 

An  Enharmonic  Modulation  is  the  passing 
from  one  key  to  another  by  the  alteration  of 
the  notation  of  some  of  the  over-lapping 
sounds,  e.g.: 

:humann.  Song  "Widmunf;." 


It  is  not  easy  to  distinguish  between  the 
use  of  the  terms  Modulation  and  Transition. 
It  is  generally  understood  that  the  former 
denotes  an  entry  into  a  new  key,  with  the  in- 
tention of  remaining  for  some  time  in  it;  the 
latter,  the  passing  through  a  key  rapidly,  as 
for  instance  is  often  done  in  sequences.  But 
by  some,  the  word  Transition  is  used  for  a 
rapid  modulation.  The  Tonic  Sol-faists  call 
modulation  in  general,  transition.  Music- 
masters,  who  delight  in  technicalities,  have, 
in  addition  to  the  above,  divided  modulation 
into  (i)  appropriate  and  digressive;  (2)  sim- 
ple and  compound  ;  (3)  partial  and  complete, 
(i)  Appropriate  modulation  is  when  the  .sense 
of  key  is  not  disturbed  by  the  movement  of 
chords  ;  digressive,  when  a  complete  change 
of  key  is  made.  (2)  A  simple  modulation  is 
a  change  of  key  into  the  next  remove,  that  is, 
into  a  key  having  one  more  sharp  or  flat  in 
the  signature  ;  a  compound  is  the  passing 
through  relative  keys  into  a  remote  key.  (3) 
Partial  modulation  is  a  temporary  change  of 
key  ;  complete,  the  establishment  of  a  new  ' 
key. 

Moduliren  (Gei'.)    To  modulate. 

Modus  (Lat.)  Mode,  (i)  A  scale,  as 
Dorian  mode,  &c.  [Greek  music]  (2)  One  ot 
the  three  divisions  of  mensurable  music  [see 
TempuP  and  Prolatio].  Modus  major  was  the 


(  205  ) 


MOLL  MORRIS  DANCE. 


division  of  a  Maxim  (notula  maxima)  into 
Longs.  Modus  minor  the  division  of  a  Long 
into  Breves.  The  "  Modus  major  "  was  per- 
fect when  the  Maxim  contained  three  Longs, 
imperfect  when  it  contained  two.  The  "  Mo- 
dus minor  "  was  perfect  when  the  Long  con- 
tained three  Breves,  imperfect  when  it  con- 
tained two.  The  following  (from  Franchinus) 
exhibits  the  different  kinds  of  Modus. 


H  V 

w 

1 

Modus  major 
perfectus. 

The  division  of  Modus  into  "  major  "  and 
'  minor  "  was  later  in  date  than  the  division 
of  mensurable  music,  into  Modus,  Tempus, 
Prolatio.  Originally  Modus  (like  Tempus 
and  Prolatio)  was  only  divided  into  Perfect 
and  Imperfect.  The  former  having  the  sign 
I  •  •  •  I ,  the  latter  r.~|  This  seems  the  more 
consistent,  as  then  Modus  is  the  division  of 
Longs  into  Breves  ;  Tempus  the  division  of 
Breves  into  Semibreves  ;  Prolatio  the  division 
of  Semibreves  into  Minims.  Each  of  these  is 
Perfect  when  the  division  under  it  is  trinary, 
Imperfect  when  binary. 

(3)  A  Gregorian  tone.  This  use  of  the 
word  is  not  strictly  correct,  and  has  always 
been  condemned. 

Moll  [Ger.)  Minor. 

Molle  (Lat.)  Soft.  A  term  applied  in 
mediaeval  music  to  Bflat,  as  opposed  to  B 
natural  which  was  called  B  durum.  Hence, 
the  term  came  to  signify  major  and  minor 
mode,  as  in  the  German,  e.g.,  A  dur,  the  key 
of  A  major  ;  A  moll,  the  key  of  A  minor. 
Hence  too,  the  French  formed  the  word  bemol, 
■A  fiat 

Mollemente  (It.)    Softly,  sweetly. 

MoU-tonart  (Ger.)    The  minor  mode. 

Molto  [It.)  Much,  very  ;  as,  molto  adagio, 
very  slow ;  molto  allegro,  very  quick ;  molto 
sosleuHto,  much  sustained. 

Monaulos  {Gk.)  fioynvXoc.  A  Greek 
sin.irle-pipe  made  of  a  reed.    A  flute  a  bee. 

Monferina  (It.)  An  Italian  peasant  dance. 

Monochord.  A  single  string  stretched 
across  a  board  or  soundboard,  under  which  a 
moveable  bridge  can  be  moved  at  pleasure. 
By  placing  under  the  string  a  diagram  of  the 
proportionate  lengths  of  string  required  for  the 
production  of  just  intervals,  the  ear  can  be 
trained  and  experiments  can  be  made.  It  was 
anciently  called,  or  rather,  the  results  obtained 
from  experiments  with  it,  the  harmonic  canon. 
[Acoustics.]  [Temperament.] 

Monocordo  (It.)  Monocorde,  a  (Fr.)  On 
one  string. 


(A  song  for  a  single  voice, 
generally  of  a  plaintive 
character.  The  term  was 
Monody.  (  o"gmally  applied  to  vo- 
J  cal  solos  in  the  church 
(  service. 

Monodrama.  A  dramatic  piece  for  one 
performer  only. 

Monotone,  to.  To  recite  words  on  a 
single  note  without  inflections. 

Montant  (Fr.)  Ascending. 

Monter  in,  ut,  re,  &c.  (Fr.)  To  sing  a 
scale  of  c,  d,  &c. 

Montre.  Mounted  diapason.  An  organ 
stop  whose  pipes  form  part  of  the  case  or  are 
placed  away  from  the  soundboard.  One  of 
the  foundation  stops  is  generally  used  for  this 
purpose. 

Morceau  (Fr.)  (i)  A  piece,  a  small  com- 
position of  an  unpretending  character.  (2)  An 
excerpt. 

Mordente  (It.)  Beisser  (Ger.)  A  beat  or 
turn  or  passing  shake. 


PUyed. 


Morendo  (It.)  Dying  away.  A  direction 
that  the  sounds  of  voices  or  instruments  are 
to  be  gradually  softened,  and  the  pace 
slackened. 

Morisca  (It.)    The  Morris  dance. 

Morisco  (It.)    In  the  Moorish  style. 

Mormorando  (      ^  In  a  gentle,  murmur- 

Mormorevole    \    [  ^■..y.Cng  manner. 

Mormorosa    (  " 

Moriscoe,  to.  To  dance  the  Morris 
dance. 

Morris  dance.  Morisca  (It.)  A  rustic 
dance  performed  in  spring  and  summer  time. 
There  are  many  records  extant  to  prove  the 
universal  popularity  of  this  dance,  both  in  the 
parish  accounts  of  several  dates  and  in  the 
writings  of  poets  of  various  periods.  Douce 
in  his  illustrations  to  Shakespeare,  supposes 
"that  the  Morris-dance  derives  its  name  from 
the  Moors,  among  whom  it  originated,  and 
that  it  is  the  same  that  gave  rise  to  the 
Fandango.  It  was  probably  brought  to 
England  in  the  time  of  Edward  III.,  when 
John  of  Gaunt  returned  from  Spain.  Few 
vestiges  can  be  traced  of  it  beyond  the  time 
of  Henry  VII.,  about  which  time,  and  later, 
the  churchwardens'  accounts  show  the  dance 
to  have  been  very  popular  at  parochial 
festivals."  Laneham,  1590,  in  his  descriptior. 
of  a  Bride  Ale,  mentions  "  a  lively  Moris- 
dauns  according  to  the  auncient  manner  ; 
six  dauncers,  Mawd-Marion  and  the  fool." 


(  296  ) 


MORTE  MOTO. 


The  pipe  and  tabor  were  the  ancient 
and  are  the  present  accompaniments  to  the 
dance,  which  is  still  occasionally  performed  at 
rural  festivals.  Tunes  of  various  kinds  were 
associated  with  it. 

Morte  (Fr.)  The  death  note  of  any  hunted 
animal  sounded  upon  a  bugle.  "  And  whan 
the  hare  is  take,  and  your  houndes  have 
ronne  well  to  hym,  ye  shul  the  morte  blowe 
oftirward,  and  ye  shul  yif  to  your  houndes  the 
halow."  Twety  in  Rel.  Ant.,  i,  153,  quoted 
in  Furnivalle's  reprint  of  the  Percy  MS. 

"  And  then  to  sigh,  as't  were 
The  mort  of  the  deer." 

Shakespeare. 

Mosso  {It.)  Moved,  as  pin  inosso,  more 
moved  or  faster;  7ne7io  mosso,  less  fast. 

Mostra  {It.)  A  direct  v'.  A  sign,  sug- 
gested by  Avison,  for  pointing  out  to  a  per- 
former the  entry  of  a  particular  point  or 
subject. 

Motett.  A  vocal  composition  in  harmony, 
set  to  words  generally  selected  from  the  Scrip- 
tures, or  to  paraphrases  of  the  sacred  writings. 
The  motett  was,  at  one  time,  a  varied  treat- 
ment of  a  given  theme  similar  to  the  poem 
called  in  Spanish  a  "  moto,"  referred  to  in 
the  article  Madrigal.  Like  the  madrigal,  the 
motett  was  at  first  set  to  words  of  a  profane 
character,  and  there  are  ecclesiastical  decrees 
extant  forbidding  its  use  in  church.  We  read 
in  Durandus  "  De  modo  generalis  concillii 
celebrandi,"  cap.  xix.  "  V'idetur  valde  hones- 
tum  esse  quod  cantus  indevoti  et  inordinati 
motetorum  et  similium  iion  fierent  in  ecclesia." 
And  that  the  character  of  the  motett  was  at 
one  period  the  reverse  of  sacred,  the  following 
quotations  from  "  Le  Roman  de  la  Rose," 
conjectured  by  Warton  to  belong  to  the  13th 
century,  will  show  : 

"  Qu'il  faist  rimes  jolivettes 
Motes,  fabliaux,  et  chansonettes 
Qu'il  veuille  a  sa  mie  envoier." 
And  further : 

"  Chantant  en  pardurablet6 
Motes,  gaudias,  et  chansonettes." 

In  the  Constitut:  Carmelit  :  Lib.  IIL: 
"  Neque  motetos,   neque   uppaturam   vel  aliquam 
cantum  magis  ad  lasciviam  quam  devotionem  provo- 
cantem,  aliquis  decantare  habeat,  sub  poena  gravioris 
culpae." 

And  Du  Cange  quotes  (verbo  Motulus)  a 
decree  of  Odo,  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  in  which 
it  is  said  : — "  In  festo  S.  Johannis  et  Inno- 
centium  nimia  jocositate  et  scurrilibus  can- 
tibus  utebantur  utpote  farsis,  conductis, 
rnotulis  ;  pracepimus  quod  honestius  et  cum 
majori  devotione  alias  se  haberent." 

The  word  motett  was  synonymous  with 
pulpitre  in  the  15th  century.  In  the  account 
of  the  solemn  entry  of  John  of  Burgundy, 
Bishop  of  Cambray  in  1442,  we  read,  "en 


vidant  de  I'eglise,  les  enfants  d'autels  can- 
terent  le  motet  ou  pulpitre,  tournez  le  visags 
vers  I'autel." 

Morley,  in  his  "  Introduction  to  Musicke," 
imperfectly  describes  a  motett  as  "  a  song 
made  for  the  church,  either  upon  some  hymn 
or  anthem,  or  such  like  ;  and  that  name  I  take 
to  have  been  given  to  that  kinde  of  musicke 
in  opposition  to  the  other,  which  they  called 
canto  fermo,  and  we  do  commonlie  call  plain- 
song,  for  as  nothing  is  more  opposit  to  stand- 
ing and  firmness  than  motion,  so  did  they  give 
the  motet  that  name  of  moving,  because  it  is 
in  a  manner  quight  contrarie  to  the  other, 
which  after  some  sort,  and  in  respect  of  the 
other,  standeth  still." 

Probably  for  the  reason  above  quoted,  Du 
Cange  suggests  that  the  motett  was  originally 
of  a  gay  and. lively  nature,  and  the  similarity 
of  style  between  the  motett  and  madrigal  of 
the  i6th  century  would  point  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  titles  were  interchangeable  until 
I  the  character  of  the  words  of  the  madrigal 
I  fixed  the  title  for  this  sort  of  writing,  and  the 
I  word  motett  remained  to  describe  movements 
i  more  especially  intended  for  the  church  ser- 
'  vice. 

Metrical  psalms  and  hymns  in  which  the 
several  verses  are  sung  to  a  varied  setting 
are  called  motetts  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.     Many  sacred  cantatas  of  uncon- 
nected  movements    are    also   described  as 
motetts.    The  early  anthems  took  the  place 
of  the  motett  in  the  Anglican  church,  and 
many  of  the   church  compositions   of  the 
Elizabethan  musicians    are  of  the  motett 
form.    [Anthem.]  [Madrigal.] 
Motetto  {It.)  [Motett.] 
Motion,    (i)  The  movement  of  a  single 
part  with  reference  to  intervals  taken  by  it. 
Conjunct  motion  takes  place  when  the  sounds 
move  by  single  degrees   of  the  scale,  e.g., 
I  C,  D,  E,  F ;  disjunct  motion  is  when  they 
I  move  by  skips,  e.g.,  C,  F,  D,  G.    (2)  The 
movement  of  two  or  more  parts  with  relation 
;  to  each  other.    Similar  or  dirfct  motion  is 
!  when  parts  move  in  the  same  direction  either 
by   single  degrees  or   by   skips;  contrary 
motion    is  when    parts   move    in  opposite 
directions;  oblique  motion  is  when  one  part 
remains  stationary  while  another  moves. 

Motivo  {It.)  Motive,  (i)  The  sort  of  move- 
ment indicated  by  the  opening  notes  of  a 
sentence.  (2)  A  subject  proposed  for  develop- 
ment. 

j  Moto  {It.)  (i)  Motion,  movement,  as  con 
moto,with  spirited  movement,  keeping  up  the 
interest  of  the  music.    Hence  con  moto  has 

i  become  a  time-sign,  signifying  rather  fast. 

j  (2)  Moto  continuo,  continuous  motion,  the 

I  constant  repetition  of  a  particular  musical 
figure  or  group  of  figures.    (3)  Moto  con- 


(  297  ) 


MOTTEGGIANDO  M.  V. 


trario,  contrary  motion  ;  moto  obbliqno,  oblique 
motion  ;  moto  retto,  direct  or  similar  motion 
[Motion].  (4)  Moto  precedente,  at  the  pre- 
ceding pace  ;  moto  prima,  at  the  first  pace. 

Motteggiando  [It.)  In  a  bantering,  jest- 
ing, jocose  manner. 

Motus  {Lat.)  Motion  ;  contrariiis,  contrary ; 
obliquus,  oblique ;  rectus,  direct  or  similar. 
Conjunctiviis,  conjunct  ;  disjunctivus,  dis- 
junct. [Motion.] 

Mounted  cornel.    [Cornet,  §  3.] 

Mouth.  The  speaking  part  of  an  organ 
pipe,  as  opposed  to  the  foot,  through  which 
the  wind  enters. 

Mouth  organ.  [Pan-pipes.] 

Mouthpiece,  Embouchure  (Fr.) ;  Imboc- 
catnra  (It.) ;  Mundstuck  (Ger.)  That  part  of 
a  wind  instrument  which  is  put  into  the 
mouth  of  the  performer.  In  the  case  of 
brass  instruments  the  end  of  the  instrument 
is  placed  on  the  exterior  of  the  lips,  and  in 
the  case  of  reed  instruments  the  reed  itself  is 
inserted  in  the  mouth.  The  name  Xesse/ is 
given  by  the  Germans  to  the  hollow  or  cup 
in  the  end  of  a  brass  instrument  through 
which  the  air  is  forced,  and  Schnabel  or  beak, 
to  the  pointed  end  of  oboes,  clarinets,  &c. 

Movement,  (i)  Motion  of  melody,  or  of 
parts  [Motion].  (2)  A  division,  or  definite 
portion  of  a  work,  as  first  movement,  slow 
movement.  Sec,  of  a  sonata  or  symphony,  or 
other  extended  composition.  (3)  A  portion 
of  a  musical  piece  separated  from  the  rest  by 
a  complete  change  of  time  or  key. 

Mund  (Ger.)  Mouth  of  a  pipe  or  musical 
instrument ;  Mundstuck,  mouthpiece. 

Munter  (Ger.)    Lively,  allegro. 

Murky.  A  piece  of  harpsichord  music, 
having  a  bass  consisting  of  broken  octaves, 
thus  : 


Musars.  Ballad  singers  of  the  troubadour 
period. 

Musette.  (i)  A  small  bagpipe  {coma 
musa)  formerly  much  used  by  the  various 


1  people  of  Europe.  (2)  The  name  of  a  melody, 
of  a  soft  and  sweet  character  written  in 
imitation  of  the  bagpipe  tunes.  (3)  Dance 
tunes  and  dances  in  the  measure  of  those 
melodies.    (4)  A  reed  stop  on  the  organ. 

Musica  (It.)  Music.  Musica  di  camera, 
chamber  music  ;  musica  chiesa,  church  music  ; 
musica  da  teatro,  operatic  music. 

Musical  Box.  A  portable  instrument  the 
sounds  of  which  are  produced  by  a  steel  comb 
having  teeth  of  graduated  length.  Projecting 
pegs  or  stops,  in  a  metal  barrel  which  is 
turned  by  clockwork  set  the  teeth  in  vibra- 
tion. They  are  chiefly  made  in  Switzerland. 
Small  specimens  were  formerly  called  musical 
snuff-boxes.  A  set  of  free  reeds  is  now  some- 
times inserted  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  a 
melody,  in  which  case,  the  same  mechanism 
which  causes  the  barrel  to  revolve,  also  works 
a  small  bellows. 

Musical  Glasses.  A  series  of  goblets 
of  graduated  sizes  fixed  in  a  case.  The  tone 
is  produced  by  the  friction  of  the  fingers  of 
the  player  on  the  edge  of  the  glass.  The 
instrument  has  been  recently  revived  under 
the  name  of  Copophone.  [Glass  musical  in- 
struments.] 

Musici.  A  name  given  to  the  followers 
of  the  Aristoxenian  system.   See  Canonici. 

Musico  {It.)  A  musician,  a  term  for- 
merly applied  to  a  Castrato  {q.  v.) 

Muta  (//.)  A  direction  to  a  player  on 
a  horn,  trumpet,  &c.,  or  on  drums,  to  change 
the  key  of  his  instrument,  as,  muta  in  A,  B, 
S'C. 

I  Mutation  {Fr.)  Mutazione  {It.)  Change. 
Mute.  A  r.mall  instrument  of  brass, 
wood,  or  ivory,  so  made  that  it  can  be  readily 

j  fixed  upon  the  bridge  of  a  violin  or  violon- 
cello, to  damp  or  deaden  the  sound.  The 
direction  for  its  use  is  written  con  sordini  or 
muta,  its  discontinuance  by  senza  sordini.  A 
leather  pad  of  a  pear  shape  is  employed  as  a 
mute  for  brass  instruments,  which,  inserted 
in  the  bell,  produces  the  effect  of  sound  at  a 
distance. 

Mutiren  {Ger.)    The  change  of  voice. 
M.  V.    Abbreviation  of  mezzo  voce. 


i  298  > 


NABLA  NATIONAL  AIR. 


N. 


Nabla  ri(3\a  (Gk.)  [Nebel.] 
Nablium  {Lat.)  [Nebel.] 
Nacaire  {Fr.)    A  large  drum. 
Naccare  or  Gnaccare  (It.)  [Castanets.] 
Nacchera  {It.)    A  military  drum.  [Na- 
keres.] 

Naccherone  (It.)    A  large  military  drum. 

Nachahmung  {Ger.)  [Imitation.] 

Nachdruck  {Ger.)    Emphasis,  accent. 

Nachspiel  {Ger.)    A  postlude. 

Nachstverwandte  Tone  {Ger.)  The 
nearest  Relative  Keys,  q.  v. 

Nacht-horn  {Ger.)  Literally  "  Night- 
horn,"  an  organ  stop  consisting  of  stopped 
wood  pipes  of  a  moderately  large  scale,  the 
tone  of  which  is  somewhat  like  that  of  a  horn. 

Naenia  {Lat.)  A  funeral  song  of  the 
Romans,  mentioned  in  the  laws  of  the  twelve 
tables.  "  Honoratorum  virorum  laudes  in 
concione  memorantor ;  easque  naeniae  ad 
Tibicinem  prosequuntor. 

Nafiri.    An  Indian  trumpet. 

Nagaret  or  Nagareet.  An  Abyssinian 
drum  ;  a  kind  of  kettledrum.  [Nakeres.] 

Naguar,  An  Indian  drum  with  one  head 
only. 

Naif  {Fr.)  Simple,  naivement,  artlessly, 
unaffectedly. 

Nail  Violin.    [Eisen  violine.] 

Naked  fifth.  The  interval  of  a  fifth  with- 
out a  third. 

Naked  fourth.  The  interval  of  a  fourth 
without  the  addition  of  any  other  interval. 

Naker.    A  drum.  [Nakeres.] 

Nakeres  {Old  Eng.)  The  explanations  of 
this  word  given  by  various  authors  are  some- 
what conflicting.  Albert  Way,  in  his  edition 
of  the  "  Promptorium  Parvulorum,"  considers 
the  word  identical  with  the  nagarah,  or  drum 
of  the  Arabs  and  Moors.  Joinville  speaks  of 
the  minstrels  of  the  Soudan  "  qui  avoient  cors 
Sarrazinois,  et  tabours,  et  nacaires."  Most 
probably  nakeres  were  small  metal  drums, 
used  in  pairs.  In  the  poem,  "Sir  Gawayn 
and  the  Grene  Knyzt,"  (Early  English  Text 
Society,)  the  word  occurs  : 

"  Trumpez  &  nakerys 
Much  pypyng  per  repayres." 

A  genitive  case  "  nakeryn  "  is  found  in  the 
early  English  alliterative  poems  published  by 


the  same  society.  ««  Belshazzar's  Feast."— 
(No.  xiii.) : 

"  &  ay  'Se  nakeryn  noyse,  notes  of  pipes, 
Tymbres  &  taborns,  tulket  among, 
Symbales  &  sonetez  swared  'Se  noyse." 

Chaucer,  too,  makes  mention  of  them  in  his 
knight's  tale: 

"  Pipes,  trompes,  nakerers,  and  clariounes, 
That  in  the  bataille  blowen  blody  sounes." 

In  Strutt's  "Sports  and  Pastimes,"  a  pay- 
ment to  Janino  le  Nakerer  of  sixty  shillings  as 
one  of  the  minstrels  of  the  King  (Edward  II.), 
is  recorded. 

Nanga.    A  negro  harp.  [Harp.] 

Narrante  {It.)  As  if  narrating. "  A  direc- 
tion to  a  singer,  implying  that  the  music  is  to 
be  subordinate,  as  it  were,  to  the  recitation 
of  the  words. 

Nasard,  Nazard  or  Nassat.  An  organ 
stop  sounding  a  twelfth  above  the  foundation 
stops.    It  will  therefore  be  2§  feet  in  length. 

Nason  Flute.  A  stop  of  4ft.  tone,  some- 
times found  in  old  organs.  It  is  of  a  soft  and 
delicate  quality  of  sound,  and  consists  of 
stopped  pipes. 

Nassat.  [Nasard.] 

National  Air,  or  National  Music. 

Popular  music,  peculiar  to,  or  characteristic 
of,  a  particular  nation.  It  often  happens, 
from  the  fact  of  a  melody  possessing  the 
characteristics  which  render  it  generally 
popular,  that  it  is  passed  rapidly  viva  voce 
from  one  person  to  another,  with  less  con- 
sideration of  the  author  than  of  the  music 
he  has  composed  :  hence  a  tendency  to  lose 
the  names  of  the  composers  of  national 
music;  but  of  course,  music  is  none  the  less 
national  because  it  has  its  author's  name 
attached,  and  recent  research  has  discovered 
the  authorship  of  many  a  tune  which  was  sup- 
posed to  have  this  small  claim  to  nationality. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  a  piece  of  music 
of  any  kind  as  national,  until  it  has  proved, 
by  its  continued  existence,  that  it  has  those 
qualities  which  will  enable  it  to  live.  Thou- 
sands of  melodies,  some  of  them  unfortunately 
of  the  most  worthless  kind,  from  time  to  time 
I  take  a  firm  hold  of  the  common  people  of  this 
I  and   other  countries ;   but  the  hold  is  no» 
1  lasting,  their  popularity  is  but  ephemeral 


C  299  ) 


NATURAL. 


hence  they  are  not  truly  national  airs  ;  and 
the  airs  which  have  become  entitled  to  be 
called  national,  numerous  though  they  are, 
are  probably  a  mere  fraction  of  the  vast 
number  which  have  had  a  short  existence, 
and  then  sink  into  complete  oblivion.  Bear- 
ing these  considerations  in  mind,  it  will  not  ' 
be  difficult  to  give  a  definition  of  a  "  national  | 
air,'"  as  follows :  an  Air  which,  by  its  reflection  I 
or  representation  of  a  sentiment,  taste,  or  habit 
of  a  nation,  either  through  the  music  alone, 
or  words  and  music  combined,  has  become  so 
commonly  known  and  used  by  that  nation,  as 
to  be  inseparable  from  the  idea  of  its  special 
or  characteristic  music. 

When  the  customs  or  tastes  of  nations  are 
very  similar,  if  their  musical  scale  has  also 
great  similarity,  we  shall,  of  course,  find  many 
tunes  common  to  all,  and  claimed  by  each. 
The  more  general  the  adhesion  to  tne  sen- 
timent, or  the  greater  the  area  over  which 
the  custom  extends,  or  the  more  general  the 
use  of  the  scale  from  which  it  is  formed, 
the  more  cosmopolitan  will  a  piece  of  music 
become.  The  climate  of  a  country,  by 
acting  upon  the  temperament  of  the  in- 
habitants, influences  indirectly  the  style  of 
its  music.  It  is  incorrect  to  suppose  that 
the  minor  mode  is  a  universal  charac- 
teristic of  national  music.  From  a  state- 
ment drawn  up  in  a  tabular  form  by 
Carl  Engel,  in  his  important  work,  "  An 
Introduction  to  the  Study  of  National  Music," 
it  appears  that  in  Sweden,  Norway,  Russia, 
Finland  and  Hungary,  the  minor  mode  pre- 
dominates in  the  national  music.  In  some 
countries,  as  for  instance,  in  Moldavia,  and 
Wallachia,  and  in  Russia,  the  music  seems 
to  vacillate  between  the  two  modes,  the  tunes 
sometimes  commencing  in  the  major  and 
ending  in  the  minor.  Sometimes  also,  tunes 
commence  in  the  minor  and  end  in  the 
major.  As  might  be  expected,  some  melodies 
become  altered  in  various  ways  in  passing 
from  generation  to  generation  by  oral  tra- 
dition ;  our  English  Ballad  literature,  so  ably 
collected  and  arranged  by  W.  Chappell, 
abounds  with  examples.  Some  nations  add 
profuse  grace  notes  to  a  well  known  melody  ; 
this  is  the  case  with  the  Spaniards,  but 
chiefly  with  the  Arabs  and  Persians.  The 
Welsh  performance  called  Pennillion  consists 
of  varied  accompaniments  to  the  voice  parts, 
and  the  tunes  played  on  the  violin  by  the 
Transylvanian  gipsies  abound  in  flourishes,  i 
As  regards  the  scale  in  use  in  different 
countries,  it  does  not  happen,  as  might  be 
expected,  that  a  simple  form  of  scale  is  used 
among  nations  of  a  low  order  of  civilisation, 
and  a  more  complicated  form  by  a  more 
civilised  race.  The  contrary  is  often  the 
case.    The  scale  used  by  the  Maories  is 


enharmonic,  that  is,  contains  intervals  smaller 
than  a  semitone  ;  while  that  of  the  Chinese 
is  pentatonic,  that  is,  consists  of  five  sounds 
succeeding  each  other  in  a  series  similar  to 
that  which  would  be  produced  by  playing 
only  on  the  black  keys  of  a  pianoforte.  The 
power  of  the  ear  to  distinguish  between 
sounds  differing  from  each  other  by  only  a 
very  small  interval,  varies  considerably  in 
different  nations,  some  savage  nations,  the 
Maories  for  instance,  having  a  perfect  power 
of  distinguishing  between  quarter-tones.  The 
study  of  national  music  leads  to  the  inevi- 
table conclusion  that  all  musical  scales  are 
purely  conventional  ;  the  modern  diatonic 
scale  having  no  better  claim  to  be  founded 
on  nature,  or  natural  harmonics,  than  the 
complicated  scales  of  the  Arabs,  Egyptians, 
or  Hindus.  Closely  connected  with  the  history 
of  national  music,  is  the  history  of  national 
musical  instruments,  the  two  subjects  throw- 
ing much  valuable  light  on  each  other.  The 
quality  and  pitch  of  that  particular  voice 
most  common  in  any  nation,  will  also  much 
influence  the  style  of  the  popular  music. 
"  Some  Asiatic  nations,"  says  Engel,  "  sing 
in  shrill  notes  by  straining  the  voice  to  its 
highest  pitch ;  others  delight  in  a  kind  oi 
vibration  or  tremolando.  Some  sing  habitu- 
ally in  an  undertone  ;  others  in  a  nasal  tone. 
Others,  again,  cultivate  with  predilection  the 
falsetto,  and  usually  introduce  it  into  their 
vocal  performances."  It  is  a  fact  generally 
known  in  this  country  that  Russia  abounds 
in  deep  Bass  voices,  and  Italy  in  fine  Tenor  | 
or  Baritone  voices.  It  is  said  that  Hottentots  I 
are  chiefly  Tenors,  and  that  the  Chinese  sing  | 
entirely  in  falsetto.  A  proverb  current  in  the 
14th  and  15th  centuries  (see  Chappell's  Pop.  i 
Mus.,  p.  IX.,  Vol.  I.)  says,  "  Galli  cantant, 
Angli  jubilant,  Hispani  plangunt,  Germani 
ululant,  Itali  caprizant."  The  allusion  to  the 
English  is  undoubtedly  meant  for  a  compli- 
ment, they  "sing  cheerfully;"  in  "caprizant" 
is  probably  an  allusion  to  the  frequent  use  oi 
the  tremolo.  It  was  commonly  stated  by 
English  authors  that  England  possessed  no 
national  music,  but  the  researches  of  Chappell 
have  brought  together  a  collection  of  melodies 
of  various  kinds,  which  cannot  be  surpassed 
by  any  European  nation.  Unfortunately,  our 
national  songs  are  but  little  known  in  our 
large  towns  and  cities  ;  they  are,  however, 
handed  down  carefully  in  many  rural  districts 
where  they  may  be  heard  in  a  more  or  less 
correct  form. 

Natural,  t].  A  sign  which  restores  a  note 
to  its  place  in  the  normal  scale  of  C.  It  has 
the  effect  of  sharpening  a  note  previously 
flattened,  or  of  flattening  a  note  previously 
sharpened.  It  is  an  accidental,  that  is,  it 
does  not  occur  in  the  signature  of  a  piece 


(  300  ) 


NATURAL  HARMONICS  NEBENGEDANKEN. 


of  music,  unless  at  a  sudden  chaige  of 
key,  e.g. : 

^  g=ig==P^-^^^-ll 

The  earliest  known  use  of  the  sign  is  found 
in  Bonaffino's  "Madrigali  Concertati,"  1623, 
a  work  in  which  also  bars  are  employed  as 
marking  the  correct  divisions  of  time. 

Natural  harmonics.  The  sounds  given 
off  by  any  vibrating  body  over  and  above 
its  original  sound.    Overtones.  [Acoustics.] 

Natural  key.    Key  of  C. 

Natural  modulation.  Diatonic  modula- 
tion, as  opposed  to  Chromatic.  [Modulation.] 

Natural  pitch.  The  pitch  of  a  pipe  before 
it  is  overblown. 

Nay.  A  flute  used  in  modern  Egypt,  but 
almost  identical  with  the  long  flute  anciently 
employed  in  that  country.  The  most  common 
nay  is  called  the  "  Dervish  flute,"  because 
with  it  those  people  accompany  their  songs  at 
their  zikrs  or  religious  dances.  Lane  describes 
it  as  "a  simple  reed,  about  eighteen  inches  in 
length,  seven-eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter 
at  the  upper  extremity,  and  three-quarters  of 
an  inch  at  the  lower.  It  is  pierced  with  six 
holes  in  front,  and  generally  with  another 
hole  at  the  back."  It  seems  to  have  been 
played  like  our  own  flute,  and  like  it  to  be 
capable  of  additional  compass  when  blown 
hard. 

Nazard.  [Nasard.] 

Neapolitan  sixth.  A  name,  apparently 
without  much  reason,  given  to  a  chord 
occurring  on  the  subdominant  of  a  minor 
key,  and  consisting  of  a  minor  third  and 
minor  sixth,  e.o-. : 


It  evidently  can  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  key  of  U?  major  in  the  position  given 
above,  although  it  appears  at  first  sight  to  be 
the  first  inversion  of  the  common  chord  of 
D7.  Nor  can  it  be  derived  from  the  root  G, 
inasmuch  as  a  flattened  fifth  of  a  root  is  not 
admitted  to  exist  by  the  best  theorists.  Some 
authors  have  explained  the  nature  of  the 
chord  by  calling  the  F  A?,  notes  derived 
from  G,  and  the  Dl?  a  note  derived  from  C. 
This  would  make  the  chord  a  double-root 
chord  (from  G  C)  having  the  minor  ninth  of 
both  roots,  heard  with  the  minor  seventh  and 
major  third  of  the  upper  root.  Another 
explanation  found,  is  that  it  is  derived  from 


the  minor  scale  of  the  subdominant,  in  itp 
modern  form,  e.g. : 


If  we  combine  i  3  6  of  the  above  scale,  we 
obtain  the  chord  under  examination.  That  it 
is  so  derived  seems  the  more  probable,  inas- 
much as  it  is  often  preceded  by  a  common 
chord  of  that  key-note,  e.g. : 


and  sometimes  followed  by  one,  e.g. 


It  is  sometimes  followed  at  once  by  a 
major  tonic  chord,  e.g.  : 


Nebel  (Heb.)  One  of  the  most  important 
of  the  stringed-instruments  of  the  ancient 
Hebrews.  It  was  not  as  ancient  as  the 
kinnor,  but  was  probably  of  more  elaborate 
construction.  It  is  almost  always  rendered, 
in  our  version  of  the  Bible,  by  the  word 
psaltery,  two  or  three  times  by  viol,  once 
(Ps.  Ixxxi.  2)  by  the  word  psalm,  "Take  a 
Psalm,  bring  hither  the  tabret."  This  use  of 
the  word  psaltery  is  most  unfortunate, 
because  it  has  by  almost  universal  consent 
been  the  name  of  the  ancient  dulcimer, 
psanterin,  psalterion,  psaltery,  sautry,  &c. 
This  has  led  to  a  double  error,  many  theo- 
logians thinking  that  a  psaltery  is  a  harp, 
many  musicians  thinking  that  a  nebel  was  a 
dulcimer.  In  all  probability  the  nebel  was  a 
harp.  It  was  portable  because  Saul  met  a 
company  of  prophets  "coming  down  from 
the  high  place  with  a  nebel."  That  it  was 
used  on  secular  occasions  is  proved  by 
Isaiah's  words  (v.  12),  "The  harp,  and  the 
nebel,  the  tabret,  and  pipe  are  in  their  feasts." 
David  was  proficient  on  this  instrument,  and 
the  list  of  his  nebel-players  is  given  in 
I  Chron.  xxv.  i,  and  elsewhere. 

Nebendominant  (Ger.)  The  dominant  of 
the  dominant,  as  D  is  in  the  key  of  C. 

Nebengedanken  (Ger.)  Accessory  ideab, 
or  subordinate  subjects. 


L  301  ) 


NEBENSTIMMEN 


 NEUMES. 


Nebenstimmen  {Ger.)  (i.)  Unessential 
parts,  as  for  instance  those  notes  which  may 
be  added  to  a  triad,  or  those  parts  which  are 
in  unison  with  others.  (2.)  Accessory  stops 
of  an  organ. 

Nechiloth  (Heb.)  The  generic  name  for 
wind-instruments. 

Neck.  That  part  of  instruments  of  the 
violin  and  guitar  class,  which  lies  between 
the  peg-box  and  the  belly.  To  its  upper  sur- 
face is  attached  the  finger-board  or  fret-board. 

Nefer.  An  Egyptian  guitar,  called  also 
Nofre.  [Guitar.] 

Neghinoth.  [Nechiloth.] 

Negligente,  negligentemente,  negli- 
genza,  con.  (It.)  In  a  negligent  or  careless 
manner. 

Nel  battere  (It.)  At  the  down  stroke  of 
the  bar  ;  on  the  beat. 

Nel  stilo  antico  (It.)  In  the  old  manner 
or  style. 

Nel  tempo  (It.)  In  time  (after  an  ad  ] 
libitum),  or,  in  the  previous  time.  [ 
Nerves  of  hearing.  [Ear.]  1 
Nete  (Gk.)  [Greek  music]  j 
Nettamente,  netto  (It.)  Neatly,  with  ' 
precision.  ! 

Neumes.  The  musical  notations  employed  ' 
from  the  eighth  or  ninth  to  the  twelfth  cen-  • 
tury.  Their  origin  is  doubtful;  Kiesewetter 
considers  them  to  be  the  ancient  nota  Romana, 
others  believe  them  to  have  been  of  Asiatic 
origin.  There  can,  however,  be  little  doubt 
that  the  earliest  system  of  musical  notation 
was  merely  a  series  of  directions  as  to  the 
intonation  (accentus)  of  the  voice ;  the 
acute  accent,  directing  the  raising  of  the  voice ; 
the  grave,  the  flattening  of  it ;  the  circuinjlex, 
a  movement  up  and  down.  These  afterwards 
were  modified  into  conventional  cadences  of 
various  kinds,  new  signs  being  added  from 
time  to  time  to  those  already  recognized,  and 
the  force  and  meaning  of  the  old  signs  being  | 
amplified.  I 
The  progress  of  these  signs  from  the  acute,  | 
grave,  and  circumflex  into  neumes  of  different  ( 
shapes  can  be  traced  with  tolerable  precision. 
The  acute  accent  grew  into  the  virgula,  the 
grave  accent  into  the  punctus,  the  circumflex 
into  the  clivus  and  podatus.  Hence,  Cousse- 
maker  has,  in  his  valuable  "  Historie  de 
L'Harmonie  au  Moyen  Age,"  divided  neumes 
into  generators  and  derivatives,  separating  the 
former  into  two  kinds,  "  simple  "  (virgula  and 
punctus)  and  "compound"  (clivus  and  po- 
datus) ;  the  latter  class  also  into  two  kinds, 
"bound"  and  "conjoint."  The  following 
shews  the  accentual  neumes  as  used  in  the 
eleventh  century : — 

^  y  ^  *^  IS  i 

I     a     S     4     S  67 


The  names  above  are  as  follows  ; — -i  Ac- 
centus acutus  ;  2  accentus  gravis  ;  3  per- 
cussionalis  brevis  ;  4  percussionalis  longa ; 
5  inflatilis  ;  6  circumflexa ;  7  muta. 

The  next  illustration  of  neumes  is  part  ol 
an  interesting  list  given  in  Gerbertus  "  De 
Cantu  et  Musica  Sacra,"  Vol.  II. : 

Sc^ndwf<&falf  c'clmiumrrorettt'  unc* 
Pettfofiyu  "(livplntuC'^Mn^).  -peirecff  ort/cu'f. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  above  shews  the 
form  of  the  scandicus,  salicus,  climacus,  tor- 
culus,  ancus,  pentafon  (spelt  also  penta- 
phone),  strophicus,  gnomo,  porrectus,  oriscus, 
virgula,  cefalicus(cephalicus),  clivus,  quilisma, 
podatus.  These  are  rfi'i-arranged  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  them  into  verse.  But 
those  who  are  curious  on  the  subject  will  find 
two  admirable  explanatory  tables  in  the  work 
above  alluded  to,  pp.  184,  185. 

Neumes  were  originally  written  above  the 
words  to  be  sung  to  them.  After  the  ninth 
century  they  began  to  assume  graduated 
height  and  position,  this  was  succeeded  by 
the  addition  of  lines  and  clefs.  Neumes 
then  grew  into  ligatures  and  into  notes  repre- 
senting sounds  of  different  lengths.  The 
foundation  of  the  modern  system  of  musical 
notation  was  thus  laid.  [Notation.]  The 
word  neuma  is  probably  connected  with  the 
Greek  pneuma  {ifviv^ia),  a  breath,  and  signi- 
fied originally  a  group  of  sounds  to  be  sung 
to  a  syllable ;  but  later  on  this  particular 
meaning  seems  to  have  merged  into  the 
more  general  one  of  notes;  and  neumes  and 
notes  are  used  almost  as  synonyms.  When 
applied  to  the  system  of  notation  the  word  is 
spelt  without  the  letter  p  (neuma)  ;  when 
applied  to  a  series  of  notes  to  be  sung  to  one 
syllable,  the  word  seems  generally  to  have 
retained  its  p  (pneuma).  The  practice  of 
singmg  pneumas  has  been  at  times  carried 
to  an  almost  ridiculous  extent.  They  may  be 
divided  into  two  classes  :  first,  the  expansion 
of  a  melody  in  the  middle  of  a  word,  as  in 
modern  runs  or  divisions  ;  e.g.: 


le 


(From  the  Compline  Office  on  Holy  Sunday.) 

This  is  not  opposed  to  modern  notions  of 
musical  form. 

The  second  kind  may  be  described  as  a  sort 
of  coda,  or  tail-piece  to  the  final  word  of  a 


(  302  ) 


NEUVIEME  NINTH,  CHORD  OF  THE  MINOR. 


sentence,  and  such  pneumas  were  generally 
sung  to  the  last  syllable  of  the  last  word  ; 
e.g.  : 


Neuvieme  {Fr.)  The  interval  of  the 
ninth. 

Nexus  {Lat.)  One  of  three  branches  of 
Melopoeia — Ductus,  nexus,  extensio.  Ductus 
was  the  movement  up  [rectus)  or  down  {rever- 
tens)  by  single  degrees.  Nexus  was  move- 
ment by  an  interval,  and  was  of  three  kinds  ; 
rectus,  as  fa-gb-ac  ;  revertens,  as  ca-bg-af ; 
circumstans,  as  af-gb-af-ge. 


Extensio  was  the  holding  on  of  the  same  note. 
See  Agoge. 

Niederschlag  {Ger.)  The  accented  part 
of  a  bar. 

Nincu^onth.    An  organ  stop.  [Larigot.] 
Ninna,  nanna  (//.)    A  cradle  song. 
Ninth,   interval  of   a.     A  compound 
interval,  equal  to  a  second  in  the  superior 
octave.     It  may  be  major,  minor,  or  aug- 
mented, e.g.  : 


Major  Ninth.    Minor  Ninth.    Augmented  Ninth. 

Ninth,  chord  of  the  major.  A  chord 
formed  by  a  combination  of  thirds  starting 
with  the  dominant  or  fifth  of  the  scale,  called 
by  some  writers  the  "  added  ninth,"  because 
it  consists  of  a  chord  of  the  dominant  seventh, 
with  the  addition  of  the  ninth  ;  by  others  the 
"  dominant  ninth,"  because  it  occurs  on  a 
dominant  bass. 


It  is  composed  of  five  sounds,  and,  there- 
fore has  four  inversions.  Like  all  chords  of 
the  ninth,  in  its  inversions  the  root  or  ground- 
note  is  seldom  heard.  They  may  be  there- 
fore written  thus : 


1st  Inv.  2nd  Inv.  3rd  Inv.  4th  luv. 

In  the  above,  the  ninth  is  made  to  resolve 
first,  leaving  the  seventh  to  be  resolved  after- 
wards. In  the  following,  both  discordant 
notes  are  resolved  in  the  next  chord : 


The  fourth  inversion,  having  the  ninth  in 
the  bass,  is  not  so  commonly  met  with  as  the 
others.  In  the  resolutions  given  above  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  third  of  the  dominant,  that 
is,  the  leading  note,  ascends  to  its  tonic  ;  the 
minor  seventh  descends  ;  the  major  or  added 
ninth  descends  also.  The  first  inversion  of 
this  chord  is  sometimes  termed  the  "  chord  of 
the  seventh  on  the  leading  note,"  because  the 
leading  note  of  the  scale  is  in  the  bass,  and 
an  interval  of  a  seventh  is  found  in  the  chord. 

For  similar  reasons  the  second  inversion  is 
sometimes  called  the  chord  of  %  on  the  super- 
tonic,  the  third  inversion  that  of  *  on  the 
sub-dominant,  the  fourth  inversion  that  of 
4  on  the  superdominant.  This  chord  and  its 
inversions  (excepting  the  fourth)  are  often 
used  without  preparation. 

Ninth,  chord  of  the  minor.  One  of  the 
most  important  ingredients  of  modern  music. 
Not  only  is  it  exceedingly  beautiful  to  the  ear, 
but  from  its  peculiar  form  it  gives  the 
greatest  possible  facilities  for  modulation  from 
key  to  key,  whether  closely  related  or  not.  It 
consists  of  a  dominant,  its  major  third,  major 
(perfect)  fifth,  minor  seventh,  and  minor 
ninth,  e.g.  : 


In  its  inversions  the  dominant,  that  is,  the 
root  or  ground-note,  is  nearly  always  omitted, 
e.g.: 


In  the  above  examples  the  ninth  only  has 
been  resolved,  leaving  the  seventh  unre- 
solved ;  but  in  resolving  the  seventh  it  will 


(303) 


NINTH,  CHORD  OF  THE  SUSPENDED. 


be  found  that  the  major  or  minor  third  of  the 
succeeding  chord  may  be  used,  thus  : 


Hence  the  chord  is  as  often  found  in  music  in 
a  major  key,  as  in  that  in  a  minor.  The 
beauty  of  the  inversions  no  doubt  arises  from 
the  fact  that  they  consist  practically  of  a 
combination  of  minor  thirds,  e. 


The  alteration  of  the  notation  of  the  inver- 
sions of  this  chord  gives  scope  for  rapid  en- 
harmonic modulation.  Take  for  example  the 
second  inversion  : 

I  2  3    4  5 


No.  I  is  derived  from  G,  dominant  of  C 
No.  2  „  E,         „  A 

No.  3  „  C5,        „  Fj* 

jNo.  4  „  Bt>)        „  E?) 

(No.  5  „  A5f       „  D^f 

Nos.  4  and  5  are  a  complete  change  from  a 
flat  to  a  sharp  key.  Without  altering  the 
sound  of  the  above  chord  it  may  be  made  to 
lead  into  any  of  the  above  keys  or  the  keys 
related  to  them.  Such  a  change  of  notation 
as  this,  without  a  change  of  sound,  is  termed 
an  enharmonic  modulation.  It  has  already 
been  shewn  that  the  chord  may  resolve  either 
into  the  major  or  minor  mode  ;  therefore  the 
tonic  minors  of  the  above  notes,  and  also  the 
keys  related  to  them,  may  be  reached  with 
equal  facility.  On  looking  at  the  five  changes 
given  above,  the  reason  why  the  ground-note 
or  root  is  omitted  from  the  chords  becomes 
obvious,  for  not  only  would  the  symmetry  of 
form  produced  by  the  conjunction  of  the 
minor  thirds  be  destroyed,  but  also  a  definite 
resolution  would  become  absolutely  necessary, 
or,  in  other  words,  the  invaluable  property  of 
"doubtfulness  of  key"  belonging  to  such 
chords  would  be  removed.  One  more  fact 
should  be  noticed.  If  the  list  of  the  notes 
given  above  as  the  ground-notes  of  the  five 
examples  be  read  separately,  thus :  G,  E,  C|, 


B?,  or,  as  Nos.  4  and  5  are  convertible. 


E,  C*,  A^,  and  their  tonics,  C,  A,  F*,  E*>,  or 
C,  a;  F#,  D#,  we  get  the  following  :  ^ 


which  will  be  found  to  be  identical  with  those 
derived  from  them  when  separated  into  ground- 
notes,  both  as  to  the  nature  of  their  construc- 
tion and  their  capability  for  enharmonic 
modulation.  The  first  inversion  of  this  chord 
is  often  called  the  chord  of  the  diminished 
seventh,  because  of  the  interval  between  the 
bass  note  and  minor  ninth  of  the  root. 

Ninth,  chord  of  the  suspended.  A 
name  given  to  the  chord  of  the  ninth  on  the 
tonic,  as  opposed  to  that  of  the  ninth  of  the 
dominant,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  former  is 
more  often  used  as  a  prepared  discord  than 
the  latter.  The  ninth  may  or  may  not  be 
accompanied  by  the  seventh  (in  this  case  the 
leading  note).  In  the  following  examples  the 
seventh  is  omitted  : 


The  seventh  is  included  in  the  following 
examples  : 


It  will  be  seen  that  the  note  on  which  the 
suspension  resolves  is  not  heard  with  the 
suspension,  except  in  the  original  position  of 
the  chord  ;  also,  that  the  third  inversion  is 
only  to  be  obtained  when  the  seventh  is  used. 
The  ninth  is  not  unfrequently  resolved  up- 
wards, in  which  case  some  authors  would  not 
call  it  a  "  suspension,"  but  a  "  retardation," 
e.g.: 


The  ninth  and  seventh  are  both  used  with 
the  fourth,  or,  as  it  is  more  properly  termed, 
the  eleventh  on  the  tonic;  under"  Suspension," 
examples  of  their  combination  will  be  found. 


(  304  ) 


NOBILE  NOMENCLATURE. 


The  division  of  discords  into  discords  o 
suspension,  discords  by  retardation,  dis- 
cords by  addition,  and  fundamental  dis- 
cords, is  purely  arbitrary,  consequently  hardly 
any  two  authors  apply  these  names  in  the 
same  way.  It  is  highly  desirable  that  a 
simple  and  consistent  method  of  arranging 
chords  should  be  generally  adopted. 

Nobile,  nobilmente,  con  nobilita  {It.) 
With  grandeur,  nobly. 

Nocturns.  Services  of  the  church  held 
during  the  night,  for  which  certain  portions 
of  the  Psalms  are  set  aside,  each  of  which  is 
termed  in  the  Breviary  a  nocturn  [Horae 
Canonicae.] 

Nocturne  [Fr.)  [Notturno.] 

Nodal  line.    [Acoustics,  §  7.] 

Node.    [Acoustics,  §  7. J 

Nodus  (Lat.)  Lit.  a  knot.  A  Canon.  So 
called  because  compositions  of  this  class  were 
sometimes  given  as  enigmas,  the  meaning  of 
which  had  to  be  unravelled.  [Canon.] 

Noel  (Fr.)  "Good  news."  Old  Eng.: 
Newell.  A  word  used  as  a  burden  to  Carols 
at  Christmas.  Hence,  Carols  are  sometimes 
called  noels,  or  nowells.  [Carol.] 

Nofre.  [Nefer.] 

Noire  {Fr.)  A  crotchet  J.  The  black  note. 

Noise  {Old  Eng.)  Music,  or  a  performance 
of  music.  As  in  Shakespeare's  Henry  IV.,  part 
II.,  Act  4,  "  See  if  thou  canst  find  Sneak's 
noise.'l  So  also  in  Milton's  "  Ode  on  the  morn- 
ing of  Christ's  nativity  :  " 

"When  such  music  sweet 
Their  hearts  and  ears  did  greet, 

As  never  was  by  mortal  finger  strook  ; 
Divinely  warbled  voice 
Answering  the  stringed  noise, 

As  all  their  souls  in  blissful  rapture  took." 

The  prayer-book  version  of  the  Psalms  has 
"  God  is  gone  up  with  a  merry  noise."  ("  As- 
cendit  Deus  in  jubilo."  Vulgate.) 

Nomenclature.  In  music  the  terms 
applied  to  the  various  signs  employed  to  stand 
as  the  representatives  of  time,  sounds,  pitch, 
pace,  and  expression.  Mr.  Hullah,  in  a  paper 
recently  read  before  the  Musical  Association, 
says  :  "  The  signs  relating  to  time  are  the 
breve,  semibreve,  minim,  crochet,  quaver, 
semiquaver,  and  demisemiquaver.  Of  these 
names  the  first  three  have  lost  their  signifi- 
cance ;  the  fourth  is  no  longer  appropriate  ; 
the  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh,  are  arbitrary. 

"  The  Germans  call  these  notes,  beginning 
from  our  semibreve,  the  whole  note,  thf  half 
note,  the  quarter  note,  and  so  on.  These 
appellations,  so  far  as  they  express  the  pro- 
portion of  the  first  note  named  to  those  which 
follow  it,  are  convenient ;  they  form  of  them- 
selves a  time-table.  But  it  is  an  imperfect 
one  ;  for  they  do  not  show,  without  further 
calculation,    any    intermediate  proportion. 


They  show  at  once  that  eight  quavers  =  ono 
semibreve,  but  not  at  once  that  four  quavers 
=  one  minim.  But  I  have  a  much  more 
serious  charge  to  bring  against  them.  They 
assume  what,  if  not  always  false,  is,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  not  always  true — that  the  semi- 
breve is,  or  that  any  form  of  note  can  be 
absolutely  a  '  whole  note.'  'What  is,  or  whc.t 
should  be  regarded  as  a  whole  note  ?  If  I 
were  sure  that  the  word  "phrase"  represented 
to  all  of  us  the  same  idea  as  it  does  to  me,  I 
should  answer  unhesitatingly  that  a  whole 
note  was  any  note  that  could  be  divided  into 
a  phrase,  or — to  be  a  little  more  precise — any 
note  divided  or  undivided,  which  would  fill 
either  an  entire  measure  or  require  as  many 
beats  as  would  make  one.  This  would  give 
us  practically  four  claimants  to  the  title  of 
whole  note ;  the  hreve,  the  average  whole 
note  of  the  sixteenth  century;  the  semibreve, 
the  average  whole  note  of  our  own  time  ;  the 
minim,  and  even  the  crotchet.  For,  that 
movements  innumerable  of  four  beats  in  a 
measure,  each  of  which  is  a  quaver,  exist, 
I  need  not  say,  nor  that  the  measure  even  of 
four  semiquavers  has  been  occasionally  em- 
ployed. 

"  It  is  certain  that  a  sound  lasting  four  beats 
may  be  expressed,  and  has  been  expressed  by 
six  different  forms — the  maxim,  the  long,  the 
breve,  the  semibreve,  the  minim,  and  the 
crotchet.  Perhaps  some  musician  of  the 
future  may  think  proper  to  express  such  a 
note  by  a  quaver. 

"  Letusnowconsider  the  names  used  by  the 
French— a  people  possessing  in  high  perfec- 
tion the  power  of  clear  exposition  of  what  they 
themselves  see  clearly.  As  usual,  they  leave 
or  throw  on  one  side  whatever  they  regard  as 
uncertain,  or  equivocal,  or  not  commonly 
accepted,  and  proceed  to  deal  with  the  undis- 
puted and  indisputable  facts  or  portions  of 
facts  before  them.  And  what  is  there  in 
respect  to  the  forms  which  express  the  relative 
durations  of  sounds  ?  First,  that  they  are 
forms,  and  secondly,  that  they  are  different 
forms  ; — that  one  is  an  oval  or  circle,  that 
another  is  a  circle  with  a  stem,  and  another  a 
circular  spot  also  with  a  stem  ;  and  that  all 
other  notes  are  opaque  and  have  not  only 
stems  but  hooks  varying  in  number.  They 
call  these  notes  or  forms  as  they  find  them, — 
round,  white,  black,  hooked,  twice-hooked,  and 
thrice-hooked.  I  certainly  prefer  the  German 
nomenclature,  which,  though  raised  on  a 
false  basis  is  consistent,  to  our  own,  which 
is  inconsistent  as  well  as  false  ;  but  I  prefer 
the  French  to  the  German,  because,  not  pre 
tending  to  do  so  much,  it  does  what  it  pre- 
tends to  do  perfectly. 

"  The  nomenclature,  not  of  sounds,  but  Dt 
the    relations    between    them-  the  nomen- 


(  305  ) 


u 


NOMENCLATURE. 


clature  of  musical  intervals,  is  a  subject  on 
which  English  theorists  and  practitioners  are 
by  no  means  agreed. 

"  I  believe  that  the  secofids  and  thirds  and 
their  inversions  the  sevenths  and  sixths  found 
in  the  so-called  '  natural '  scale,  and  all 
scales  made  like  it,  are  very  generally  called 
among  us,  major  and  minor ;  and  that  six  of 
the  fourths  and  their  inversions  the  fifths  are 
as  generally  called  perfect.  Here,  however, 
agreement  ends.  For  the  one  exceptional 
fourth  and  the  one  exceptional  fifth  rejoice  each 
in  as  many  aliases  as  a  swindler  finally  run 
down  by  the  police  detective.  To  the  excep- 
tional fourth,  which,  according  to  the  old 
theorists  '  diabolus  est,'  I  have  heard  and  seen 
applied  the  name  'tritone,'  and  the  epithets 
sharp,  siiperfiuoHS,  redundant  and  augmented ; 
to  the  exceptional  fifth  the  epithets  flat,  false, 
imperfect,  diminished  and  equivocal.  Others 
might  possibly  be  added  to  this  list.  To  the 
name  tritone  no  objection  is,  I  think,  open  ; 
it  expresses  the  contents  of  the  interval — 
three  tones;  but  it  carries  with  it  the  dis- 
advantage of  there  being  no  corresponding 
name  for  its  inversion,  the  exceptional  fifth. 
Augmented  and  diminished  are  no  doubt 
antonyms  ;  but  both  are  epithets  which,  as  I 
shall  try  to  show,  ought  to  be  reserved  ex- 
clusively for  another  class  of  intervals — the 
chromatic.  Superfluous  and  redundant  are, 
I  think,  clumsy  epithets  ;  but  if  either  is  to  be 
applied  to  the  exceptional  fourth,  its  antonyms 
scanty  or  insufficient  should  be  applied  to  the 
exceptional  fifth.  If  this  last  interval  is  to  be 
called  false,  its  inversion  (the  tritone)  should 
be  called  tr7ie.  Only  one  of  these  epithets 
seems  to  me  quite  unobjectionable — iviperfect 
as  applied  to  the  exceptional  fifth.  As  an 
antonym  to  this  I  have  long  used  the  epithet 
pluperfect,  which  has  been  very  largely 
adopted. 

"  I  objected  just  now  to  the  epithets  aug- 
tnented  and  diminished  as  applied  to  these 
particular  intervals,  the  exceptional  fourth 
and  fifth.  I  think  these  should  be  reserved 
exclusively  to  chromatic  intervals.  I  know  of 
course  that  my  objection  involves  a  principle, 
or  rather  begs  a  question.  What  is  achro- 
matic interval  ?  This  question,  as  often  hap- 
pens, throws  us  back  on  another.  What  is  a 
chromatic  scale  ?  A  chromatic  scale  I  should 
define,  with  Dr.  Crotch,  to  be  a  scale  contain- 
ing more  than  two  semitones.  The  so-called 
*  natural '  scale,  and  all  other  scales  made 
like  it,  is  not  a  chromatic  scale,  neither  are 
any  of  the  ancient  scales  formed  from  the 
arrangement  of  the  same  series  of  sounds  in 
a  different  order.  Of  these  last  the  '  natural ' 
minor  scale  is  one,  and  the  only  one  familiar 
to  the  modern  musician.  Only  however  by 
means  of  a  most  serious  alteration  has  it  been 


reconciled  to  modem  tonality,  which  above 
all  things  demands,  as  the  unequivocal  sign, 
seal,  or  confirmation  of  a  key,  the  combina- 
tion known  as  the  '  discord  c  f  the  dominant 
seventh.'  Such  a  combination  on  the  5th  of 
the  natural  minor  scale  is  only  possible  by  an 
alteration  or  non-naturalization  which  at  once 
brings  it  under  Dr.  Crotch's  definition.  In 
the  series  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  Ft),  GjJ,  and  A,  we 
find  three  semitones,  and  one  interval  greater 
than  a  tone.  Moreover,  by  skips  from  one 
note  to  another  of  a  scale  so  constituted, 
we  get  three  other  intervals  alien  to  the 
natural  scale,  the  inversion  of  the  altered 
second  formed  by  F-Gj,  the  altered  fifth 
formed  by.  C-Gj,  and  its  inversion.  These 
intervals  are,  I  conceive,  augmentations  or 
diminutions  of  intervals  which  would  have 
remained  unaltered,  but  for  the  artificial  pro- 
cess needed  to  reconcile  the  minor  key  with 
modern  tonality ;  they  are  therefore,  I 
believe,  generally  called  augmented  and 
diminished  accordingly.  So  all  intervals, 
which  the  cultivated  ear  does  not  reject  as 
cacophonous,  formed  by  notes  one  or  both  of 
which  are  foreign  to  the  key  to  which  they 
are  introduced,  are  but  augmentations  or  di- 
minutions of  those  that  are  natural  to  it. 
Without  change  of  key  we  can  augment  cer- 
tain of  the  unisons,  seconds,  fifths,  and  sixths  ; 
and  diminish  certain  of  the  octaves,  sevenths, 
fourths,  and  thirds.  Now,  as  we  have,  seen, 
in  the  unaltered  or  natural  scale,  major  or 
minor,  we  find  no  examples  of  any  one  of  these  , 
intervals  ;  they  are  uniformly  the  result  of 
artificial  treatment.  But,  with  the  exceptional 
fourth  and  fifth  the  case  is  altogether  different ; 
they  are  not  the  results  of  artificial  treatment, 
we  find  them  ready  to  our  hands ;  and  they  are 
as  much  constituent  parts  of  the  scale  in  which 
we  find  them  as  is  the  semitone  between  the 
third  and  fourth  sounds.  How  then  can  the 
interval  F-B  in  the  scale  of  C,  be  augmented 
or  B-F  diminished  ?  Of  what  are  they  aug- 
mentations or  diminutions  ?  Of  F-B),  or  of 
F^-B  ?  Are  B?  or  FJJ  constituents  of  the  scale 
— I  do  not  say  the  key — of  C  ?  If  they  are,  our 
modern  tonality  must  be  reconstructed  defond 
en  comble,  and  every  scale  must  be  allowed 
three  dominants  instead  of  one.  Again,  we 
find  that  the  intervals  of  the  natural  scale 
which  bear  augmentation  are  the  largest  of 
their  kind  in  it,  and  those  which  will  bear 
diminution  the  smallest.  Of  the  seconds  we 
can  augment  only  the  major  ;  of  the  thirds  we 
can  diminish  only  the  minor.  Can  we  aug- 
ment the  tritone,  the  largest  fourth  in  the  scale, 
or  diminish  its  inversion,  the  smallest  fifth  ? 
Both  have  reached  their  utmost  limits,  and 
resist  and  defy  all  attempts  to  put  them  furthei 
asunder  orbringthem  nearer  together.  If  it  be 
answered  that  they  are  already  augmented 


(  306  ) 


NOMENCLATURE. 


and  diminished,  I  ask  again  wiiat  was  their 
original  condition  ?  The  tritone  and  its  inver- 
sion are,  I  repeat,  constituents  of  the  diatonic 
scale  ;  and  they  are  diatonic  intervals  accord- 
ingly. For  the  latter  an  epithet,  imperfect,  is 
already  largely  accepted  ;  I  submit  to  you,  in 
the  absence  of  a  better,the  epithet  /j/ziperfect 
for  its  inversion. 

Before  quitting  this  second  division  of  my 
subject — pitch  —  I  will  ask  you  to  give  me  your 
attention  for  a  few  moments  longer.  It  seems 
to  me  that  musicians  have  much  cause  to 
complain  of  the  way  in  which  not  merely 
general  litterateurs  but  even  scientific  writers 
employ  words  to  which,  since  music  has  been 
an  art,  musical  artists  have  agreed  in  attach- 
ing certain  definite  significations.  Perhaps 
the  most  glaring  instance  of  this,  and  it  is  the 
only  one  which  I  shall  give,  is  the  employment 
of  the  word  '  tone  '  to  express  the  thing  or 
sensation  which  we  and  they  also  sometimes 
call  '  sound. '  A  tone  with  us  is  not  a 
sound,  but  the  relation  or  difference  between 
one  sound  and  another.  This  acceptation  of  the 
word  would  seem  to  be,  if  not  as  old  as  the 
musical  art  itself,  at  least  of  great  antiquity, 
as  is  shewn  in  the  co-existence  of  two  such 
words  as  tctrncliui  d  and  tritone  ;  the  one,  ob- 
serve, representing  a  passage  of  four  sounds, 
or  strings  which  produce  them.  The  other,  I 
an  interval  which,  though  it  includes  four 
sounds,  is  named  after  the  three  intervals — 
tones — which  separate  them.  We  hear  now 
of  over-tones,  or  the  acute  sounds  resulting 
from  spontaneous  vibration  ;  and  of  under- 
tones, meaning  grave  sounds  resulting  from 
the  combination  of  others.  Some  of  us  have 
occasionally  been  at  a  good  deal  of  pains  to 
explain  that  a  major  third  consists  of  or 
includes  two  tones  :  if  a  tone  be  a  sound,  a 
major  third  must  consist  of  three  or  even  of 
five  tones — or  of  both  three  and  five.  The 
most  recent  and  extravagant  employment  of 
this  word,  in  this  sense,  is  in  its  application 
to  great  composers.  Beethoven  especially  we 
often  hear  of  as  a  great '  tone-poet.'  I  should 
say  that  if  this  terminology  is  to  be  accepted 
at  all,  it  should  be  graduated  or  made  more  j 
precise  ;  so  as  to  express  the  rank  of  the  poet 
to  whom  it  is  applied.  If  Beethoven  be  a  tone 
poet,  some  of  our  contemporaries  should  be 
authorized  to  call  J.  S.  Bach  an  augmented 
tone  poet,  and,  e  converso,  Rossini  a  semitone 
poet.  What  designation  should  be  applied  to 
the  vast  crowd  of  less  successful  aspirants  to 
musical  fame  I  know  not.  Perhaps  they  might 
be  put  off  with  some  of  those  minute  intervals 
the  excess  or  insufficiency  of  which  disturbs  the 
minds  of  those  who  still  generously  devote 
themselves  to  the  search  afterthat  philosopher's 
stone  of  our  art — Perfect  intonation. 

"Ipassonnowtotheconsideration  oiexpres-  \ 


sion,  under  which  term  we  may  class  words  or 
signs  indicative  of  pace,  intensity,  style. 

"A  growing  disposition  has  been  observable 
of  late  among  the  different  musical  peoples  of 
Europe  to  use  their  own  languages  as  vehicles 
for  these  indications.  I  think  this  is  to  be 
regretted  :  (i)  as  inconvenient  to  foreigners 
among  whom  their  music  is  likely  to  go.  It 
seems  hard  on  an  English,  French,  Italian, 
Hungarian,  or  Bohemian  musician,  that  to 
understand  a  piece  of  mtasic  by  any  eminent 
modern  German  master,  he  must  not  only  be  a 
musician,  but  a  linguist  ;  that  he  should  not 
merely  be  able  to  appreciate  the  musical 
sound  of  the  notes  in  the  score  before  him, 
but  have  also  a  vocabulary,  practically  un- 
limited, of  German  words.  He  opens,  say, 
Schumann's  Overture  to  '  Genoveva.'  He 
sees  by  the  position  of  the  stave,  headed  by 
the  C  clef  and  designated  '  Bratsche,'  what  is 
the  meaning  of  that  word  ;  he  need  not  have 
much  doubt  about  the  stave  similarly  headed 
and  holding  three  parts,  against  which  is 
written  Posaunen  ;  by  the  shapes  of  the  pas- 
sages intended  for  them,  he  may  construe 
Ventilliorn  in  Es,  Waldliorn,  and  Paukcn ; 
and  by  the  help  of  the  metronome  mark  he 
may  come  at  the  meaning  of  langsani.  But 
a  little  further  on  he  encounters  leidenschaft- 
I  lick  bewegt,  which  is  harder  upon  him  ;  and 
a  little  further  still,  se/i/-  frisch,  which  is  really 
too  bad.  This  example  has  lately  found 
imitators  among  the  Scandinavians,  who 
expound  their  musical  intentions  in  words 
which  a  German  of  philological  tastes  and 
pursuits  could  doubtless  make  out,  but  which 
to  the  average  German  must  be  as  unintelli- 
gible as  to  the  average  Englishman.  Strange 
to  say,  the  French,  who  take  it  for  granted 
that  everybody  understands  their  language, 
or  ought  to,  have  not  sinned  in  this  way  so 
much  as  the  Germans.  It  is  true  that  the 
scores  of  their  operas  are  covered  with 
phrases  like  '  avec  chaleur,'  '  trds-simplement,' 
'  a  demi-voix,'  '  avec  ironie,'  but  these  may 
be  regarded  as  '  stage  directions  '  addressed 
to,  and  inevitably  intelligible  to  those  who 
i  are  to  play  the  parts  as  well  as  sing  the 
music  to  which  they  refer.  Otherwise  French 
composers  limit  themselves  in  their  scores 
to  a  few  native  words  such  as  detache,  douce - 
ment,  and  the  like.  As  for  ourselves,  our 
modern  musical  publications  would  indicate, 
what  certainly  is  the  reverse  of  true,  that  we 
are  the  greatest  linguists  on  earth.  It  is 
needless  to  present  examples  of  what  every- 
body is  familiar  with  ;  we  have  all  seen,  and 
see  daily,  title-pages,  for  instance,  in  which 
two,  three,  and  even  four  languages  are 
employed.  (2)  Irrespective  of  its  practic.il 
inconvenience,  which  I  do  not  wish  to  over- 
rate, this  practice  takes  from  music  its  noblest 


(  307  ) 


NOMOS  NOTA. 


characteristic — its  catholicity.  We  musicians 
are  able  to  discourse  in  a  language  touching 
to  the  hearts,  if  not  always  clear  to  the  intel- 
ligences, of  every  people  on  the  face  of  the 
globe  ;  and  we  are  furnished  with  an  alphabet 
in  which  to  write  this  language,  which  is  not 
the  invention  of  a  single  mind,  but  of  a 
thousand  minds — a  thing  which  has  marched 
on  to  its  present  perfection  pari  passu  beside 
music  itself ;  an  alphabet  so  clear,  to  him 
who  knows  how  to  read  it,  that  a  musical 
composition,  no  matter  of  what  intricacy, 
composed,  let  us  say  at  Moscow,  can,  with- 
out any  serious  violation  of  the  intentions  of 
its  author,  and  without  his  personal  assist- 
ance, be  performed  within  a  few  days,  weeks, 
or  months,  in  London,  Paris,  New  York,  or 
Melbourne — wherever  there  are  artists  to 
interpret  it.  Let  us  cherish  this  precious 
possession,  and  do  what  we  can  to  prevent 
its  acquiring  a  sectarian,  provincial,  or  even 
national  character,  through  the  introduction 
of  any  peculiarities  whatever.  The  directions 
of  which  I  have  spoken  were,  up  to  a  compara- 
tively recent  time,  made  all  the  world  over  in 
one  language  —  Italian.  And  even  to  this 
hour,  the  most  Teutonic  of  musical  composers 
are  still  obliged  to  resort  to  that  language. 
In  the  score  of  which  I  have  just  spoken, 
Schumann's  '  Genoveva,'  there  are  as  many 
Italian  words  or  abbreviations  of  Italian  words 
as  there  are  measures,  very  often  more.  The 
words  dolce,  sempre,  basso,  soli,  divisi,  and 
the  like,  are  of  frequent  occurrence  ;  and  as 
for  the  contraction  of  piano,  forte,  crescendo, 
diminuendo,  sforzato,  and  the  like,  they  may 
be  counted  by  hundreds.  Granted  that  Italy 
has  not  been  observant  of  Andrew  Marvel's 
caution — 

"  The  same  arts  that  did  attain 
A  power,  must  it  maintain  :" 

granted  that  she  has  not  held  her  own  against 
such  competitors  as  Germany  during  the  last 
hundred  years  has  brought  into  the  field,  are 
we  to  lose  all  veneration  for  the  people  whom 
the  slightest  acquaintance  with  musical  his- 
tory will  show  to  have  been  the  musical 
teachers  of  all  the  world  ?  Are  we  to  kick 
down  the  ladder  by  which  we  have  risen  to 
our  present  superiority  —  to  turn  a  cold 
shoulder  on  old  friends  because  we  have 
become  better  off,  and  it  may  be  wiser  than 
they  ?  Not,  however,  to  throw  more  sentiment 
round  this  matter  than  it  will  bear,  it  does 
seem  unwise  to  subject  ourselves  to  the  in- 
conveniences of  which  I  have  spoken,  when 
they  can  be  avoided  by  the  simple  process  of 
using  only  one  vocabulary,  and  that  not  a 
new  or  unaccustomed  one,  but  one  with 
which  every  musical  people  is  at  least 
partially  familiar." 


Nomos  v6itot:{Gk.)  h&ong.  vofiontoktfUKoU 
war-songs. 

Nona  {It.)  A  ninth. 

Nonenakkord  {Ger.)  The  chord  of  the 
ninth. 

Nonetto  [It.)  A  piece  of  music  for  nine 
voices  or  instruments. 

Nonny,  or  "Hey  nonny."  A  common 
burden  to  old  English  ballads,  as  "  fa,  la,  la," 
was  to  madrigals. 

Nonuplet.  A  collection  of  nine  notes  to 
be  played  in  the  time  of  eight,  or  six. 

Normal  Pitch.  [Pitch.] 

Normalton  (Ger.)  The  standard  sound. 
[A.  §  5-] 

Normaltonart  {Ger.)    The  normal  scale, 

C  major  and  its  relative  minor  A. 

Nota  (//.)  A  note,  as,  nota  buona,  an 
accented  note  ;  nota  cambiata,  in  counter- 
point, the  proceeding  from  a  discord  to  a 
concord  by  a  skip,  e.g.  : 


nota  caratteristica,  a  leading  or  characteristic 
note  ,  nota  cattiva,  an  unaccented  note  ;  nota 
d'abellitnento,  a  grace  note,  note  of  transition  ; 
nota  di  passaggio,  a  passing  note ;  nota  sen- 
sibile,  the  leading  note  or  subtonic. 

Nota,  or  Figura  {Lat.)  (i)  In  general, 
any  musical  sign.  (2)  In  particular,  the 
signs  placed  upon  the  stave  which  shewed 
by  their  shape  and  position  tlie  duration  and 
pitch  of  sound.  They  constitute  the  essence 
of  mensurable  tnusic  (cantus  mensurabilis)  as 
opposed  to  mere  "  signs  of  intonation,"  such 
as  were  the  neumes.  The  first  division  of 
notes  was,  as  might  be  expected,  into  long 
and  short  (breve  or  brief),  "mensurabilis 
musica  est  cantus  longis  brevibusque  men- 
suratus."  (Johannes  de  Moravia.)  The  long 
was  a  four-sided  note  with  a  tail  (No.  2)  ; 
the  breve  a  four-sided  note  without  a  tail 
(No.  3)  ;  the  semibreve  a  diamond  note 
(No.  4).  

■  *  T 

1*3456 

These  notes  varied  in  length  (i)  according 
to  the  time-signature,  (2)  according  to  the 
notes  which  preceded  or  followed  them,  (i) 
In  duple  measure  each  was  equal  to  two  ol 
the  next  order  ;  in  triple  measure  each  was 
equal  to  three.  Thus,  an  imperfect  (duple) 
long  was  equal  to  two  breves  ;  a  perfect 
(triple)  long  to  three  breves,  and  so  on.  (2) 
A  long  was  perfect  when  placed  before  an- 
other long ;  imperfect  when  preceded  or 
followed  by  a  breve,  &c.  The  double  long  or 
maxim  or  large  is  shewn  in  No.  i.  It  was 
I  in  form  like  along,  but  had  an  extended  head. 


(  308  ) 


NOTATION. 


The  introduction  of  the  dot  (punctus)  fortu- 
nately reheved  musicians  of  the  compUcations 
above  mentioned,  by  adding  half  its  value  to 
a  note  regardless  of  its  position  or  the  time- 
signature.  In  course  of  time  six  musical 
figures  were  admitted,  as  shown  above:  i, 
double  long  ;  2,  long ;  3,  breve  ;  4,  semibreve  ; 
5,  minim  ;  6,  semiminim. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  an  extraordinary 
movement  to  create  novelties  in  notation 
seems  to  have  arisen,  and  treatises  of  that 
date  abound  with  rules  as  to  the  position  of 
the  tails  of  notes  ;  for  their  absolute  length  or 
proportion  to  each  other  was  made  to  depend 
on  this.  A  breve  was  allowed  a  tail  to  the 
left,  a  long  to  the  right.  Also,  notes  with 
tails  up  and  down  ^  were  invented,  called 
dragine  or  fuiscee,  and  notes  with  two  tails  in 
the  same  direction  ^ 

Then,  again,  open  notes  (evacuatse)  were 
used,  and  when  the  head  was  black  they 
were  one-third  less  in  value.  These,  and 
other  similar  complicated  systems,  never 
appear  to  have  been  generally  received. 

On  the  disuse  of  the  double  long  (No.  i) 
the  note  No.  2  seems  to  have  been  made  into 
the  breve.  No  3  into  the  semibreve,  and  No. 
4  into  the  minim.  The  note  No.  5  then 
became  a  sentiminima  (crotchet),  and  No.  6 
the  fusa  or  unca  (hooked-note  or  quaver). 

The  notes  Nos.  2,  3  and  4  were  adopted 
by  Marbecke,  1550,  as  his  breve,  semibreve, 
and  minim,  and  are  so  named  in  one  of  the 
latest  and  best  treatises  on  Church-song, 
*'  Les  vrais  principes  du  chant  Gregorien  " 
(Malines,  1845).  should  be  remarked 

that  in  the  "  Traite  theorique  et  pratique  du 
plain-chant"  (Paris,  1750).  No.  2  is  called 
the  long,  and  No.  4  the  breve.  Other  autho- 
rities might  be  cited  to  show  that  uniformity 
of  nomenclature  has  never  existed  with  regard 
to  this  subject.  In  the  majority  of  modern 
works  on  Plain  Song,  No.  2  is  the  breve.  No. 
3  the  semibreve.  No.  4  the  minim. 

Notation,  Early  Systems  of  Musical,  down 
to  the  invention  of  Notes. — The  most  ancient 
system  known  to  us  of  expressing  musical 
sounds  upon  paper, or  other  material  employed 
for  that  purpose,  is  that  of  Alypius  for  the 
music  of  ancient  Greece.  This  treatise  sup- 
plies a  complete  method  of  representing  the 
notes  by  letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet,  the 
letters  being  sometimes  upright,  sometimes 
on  their  sides,  and  sometimes  upside  down, 
or  broken  in  half.  Unluckily,  there  are  but 
three  extant  specimens  of  Greek  music,  in 
the  genuineness  of  which  any  reliance  can  be 
placed,  to  which  this  system  can  be  applied. 
The  three  are  Greek  hymns,  of  uncertain 
date,  which  were  first  published  by  Galilei  in 
1580,  and  by  successive  writers  down  to  Dr. 


Burney  ;  but  there  are  evidently  mistakes,  aa 
well  as  omissions,  in  the  manuscripts  from 
which  the  printed  copies  were  derived,  and 
the  results  are  therefore  unsatisfactory.  The 
system  of  Alypius  does  not  supply  an  adequate 
clue  to  the  scales  that  are  included  in  the 
later  Greek  treatise  of  Aristides  Quintilianus. 
Scales  are  a  sure  test  as  to  whether  a  clue  be 
right  or  wrong,  especially  where  the  accom- 
panying text  gives  an  explanation  of  the  in- 
tervals that  should  occur,  as  in  that  case. 
The  system  of  Alypius  has  therefore  become, 
for  practical  purposes,  useless.  It  ma)'  suf- 
fice then  to  say,  that  it  may  be  referred  to  in 
the  collection  of  Greek  writers  upon  music  pub- 
lished by  Meibomius  at  Amsterdam  in  1652. 
If  any  further  specimens  of  Greek  music 
should  be  discovered,  it  seems  more  probable 
that  the  later  system  of  musical  notation  in- 
cluded in  the  treatise  of  Aristides  Quintilianus 
will  be  of  avail  than  that  of  Alypius.  Aristides 
begins  with  the  double  omega  lor  gam »i a — the 
g  on  the  lowest  line  of  the  bass  clef — and 
carries  up  the  scale  to  the  extent  of  three 
octaves  and  a  third,  viz.  to  b,  including  every 
intervening  semitone  as  well  as  tone.  This 
notation  will  be  found  on  the  lower  half  of 
p.  27  of  his  treatise,  which  is  also  included  in 
Meibomius's  collection  of  the  Greek  Authors 
on  Music.  The  notation  may  be  described 
as  a  later  form  of  that  employed  by  Alypius. 
Variations  between  the  manuscripts  used  by 
Meibomius  and  others  are  noted  at  pp.  243 
to  245  of  the  same  work. 

One  other  Greek  system  remains  to  us  of 
uncertain  date.  This  is  the  ecclesiastical 
notation  of  the  Greek  Church.  It  is  supposed 
to  have  originated  in  Greek  accents,  and  to 
have  been  gradually  enlarged  into  a  compli- 
cated system  of  signs  for  chanting.  These 
were  written  over  the  words  without  lines  or 
spaces.  Specimens  of  this  kind  of  writings 
of  various  ages,  may  be  seen  in  Gerbert's  De 
Cantu  et  Musica  Ecclesice  (vol.  ii.  p.  56  et  seq.), 
and  the  signs  are  explained  by  Chrysante  de 
Madyte,  Archbishop  of  Durazzo  in  Illyria,  in 
the  third  chapter  of  his  Introduction  to  the 
theory  and  practice  of  ecclesiastical  music,* 
published  in  Paris  in  1821. 

The  Chinese  have  a  good  diatonic  scale, 
but  have  now  degenerated  into  a  state  of  mu- 
sical barbarism,  and  do  not  know  how  to 
use  it.  The  Chinese  system  of  musical  no- 
tation is  explained  by  Morrison  in  his  Dic- 
tionary of  the  Chinese  language.  Chinese 
musicians  use  principally  the  five  tones  of 
the  scale  without  the  semitones,  but  they  oc- 
casionally use  semitones  also,  as  is  proved  by 
the  song,  "  Nien  lai  yun  chue  koo  woo  e," 


*  EJiraywy*)  tie  to  Otup-qriKOv  Kai  irpanTiKOV  rf)^ 
eKi:\t]<7ia(TTiicr}g  fiovciKijg  (8vo.)  Paris,  1821. 


(  ) 


NOTATION. 


and  by  some  others,  printed  in  China  about 
1790.  In  these  cases,  supposing  the  interval 
between  E  and  F  to  be  a  semitone  as  in  our 
tonal  system,  it  is  to  be  found  in  passages 
both  ascending  and  descending.  As  the  fact 
of  the  use  of  semitones  by  the  Chinese  is 
denied  by  M.  Fetis,  it  is  well  to  give  the  title 
of  the  work  from  which  this  opposite  conclu- 
sion is  drawn.  It  is  "  Sin  ting  kew  kung  ta 
ching  nan  tsze  kung  poo,"  and  is  compiled 
by  Chow  Tseang-yuh  and  others.  The  music 
and  the  words  of  the  song  were  kindly  trans- 
cribed for  the  writer  by  Mr.  Robert  K.  Douglas, 
of  the  British  Museum,  whoadopted  Morrison's 
interpretation  of  the  musical  notes. 

We  next  come  to  the  Romans,  who  de- 
rived both  their  system  of  music  and  of  mu- 
sical notation  by  letters  of  the  alphabet,  from 
the  Greeks.  The  Romans  adopted  only  one 
of  the  Greek  divisions  of  the  scale,  viz.,  the 
diatonic,  consisting  of  tones  and  semitones, 
as  in  modern  music.  They  had  therefore  a 
sufficient  number  of  characters  in  their  alpha- 
bet without  breaking  the  letters  into  parts,  and 
without  turning  them  round  about,  like  the 
Greeks. 

We  have  no  extant  specimen  of  the  music 
of  classical  Rome,  and  there  remains  but 
one  Roman  treatise  on  music  that  has  any 
claim  to  completeness,  and  yet  it  is  far  from 
being  complete.  This  is  by  the  "  ultimus 
Romanorum"  Boethius,  who  was  put  to  death 
by  Theodoric  the  Goth  in  525.  It  is  entirely 
copied  from  the  Greeks  by  a  philosopher 
who  had  read  Greek  treatises,  but  who  seems 
to  have  had  no  practical  knowledge  of  music, 
and  in  many  cases  to  have  mistaken  the 
meaning  of  Greek  musical  terms,  even  of 
those  which  express  the  lowest  and  the 
highest  sounds. 

In  later  ages,  Boethius  was  claimed  as  a 
Christian,  and  as  he  wrote  in  Latin,  instead 
of  Greek,  there  was  a  double  reason  why  his 
work  should  be  chiefly  followed  by  writers  on 
Church  music* 

Nevertheless,  the  seven  letters  of  the  alpha- 
bet, A  to  G,  which  were  used  as  names  for 
the  seven  notes  of  the  scale,  were  referred 
back  by  them  to  Virgil,  as  the  "  septem  dis- 
crimina  vocum,"  alluded  to  in  the  ^neid  (vi. 
645). 

In  the  treatise  of  Boethius  the  letters  run 
I  eyond  G,  and  up  to  O  and  P,t  for  the  second 
octave,  but  they  are  intended  as  demonstra- 
tions of  the  diagrams  in  the  fourth  book,  ra- 
ther than  as  musical  notes.  This  is  proved 
by  A  being  there  marked  to  the  note  that 
would  be  C  in  music,  and  by  the  same  sys- 

•  This  had  an  unfortunate  effect  upon  Church  music, 
and  we  propose  to  show  elsewhere  that  at  least  one  of 
ita  defects  may  be  traced  back  to  this  cause. 
Our  i  and  J  count  but  as  one  letter. 


tem  of  illustration  by  letters  being  adopted 
throughout  his  treatise. 

The  mediaeval  system  of  musical  notation 
was  sometimes  by  letters  of  the  alphabet, 
from  A  to  G  for  the  lowest  seven  notes,  and 
from  H  to  O  for  the  second  seven ;  but  it  was 
far  more  generally  by  marks  or  signs  over  the 
words  called  neumes,  or  pneumata,  breathings 
for  sounds.  These  names  were  taken  from 
the  Greek  words,  irvtiifia  and  its  plural  iryevft- 
ara.  There  are  cases,  but  they  are  rare,  in 
which  the  two  systems  of  letters  and  neumes 
are  combined,  the  letters  giving  greater  cer- 
tainty to  the  neumes.  An  early  instance  of 
this  combination  is  found  in  a  collection  of 
Latin  hymns,  anciently  used  at  St.  Augus- 
tine's, Canterbury.  The  writing  is  of  the 
tenth  century,  and  the  hymn  is  addressed  to 
the  Saint  Augustin  of  the  English  (Austin  the 
Monk).  It  begins:  "Gemma  sacerdotum  ! 
rutilans  lux  alma  piorum  Anglorum." 

The  compass  of  this  hymn  is  nine  notes, from 
bass  C  to  tenor  D,  and  the  letters  go  up  to  L. 
(Cotton  MSS.,Brit.  Mus.Vesp.D.,  vi.  fol.  77.) 
A  book  was  printed  in  facsimile  in  Brussels, 
a  few  years  ago,  entitled  Antiplionaire  de  Saint 
Gr^o-oirg, supposed  at  first  to  be  from  a  con- 
temporary manuscript,  and  afterwards  from  a 
copy  made  about  the  year  790.  The  facsimile 
shows  writing  not  older  than  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, and  Father  Schubiger  conclusively  dis- 
proves the  assumed  age  and  character  of  the 
manuscript  by  identifying  one  of  the  se- 
quences included  in  it,  "  Laus  tibi,  Christe" 
(p.  62)  as  written  by  Notker,  Abbot  of  the 
Monastery  of  Saint  Gall.  There  is  little  rea- 
son for  believing  that  the  chants  in  any  anti- 
phonary  of  the  time  of  Gregory  the  Great 
would  be  intelligible  now,  or  indeed  that  they 
ever  were  legible  without  living  help,  for  Saint 
Isidore,  Bishop  of  Seville,  who  was  a  junior 
friend  of  Gregory's,  and  one  who  had  long 
outlived  him,  says  in  the  third  book  of  his 
Origines,  or  Etymologies,  that  "unless  sounds 
are  retained  in  the  memory,  they  perish,  be- 
cause they  cannot  be  written. "J  This  Saint 
Isidore  wrote  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh 
century.  It  seems  to  argue  that  the  letters  of 
the  Roman  alphabet  were  not  in  use  for  noting 
down  Church  music  at  that  early  date. 

Neumes  which  had  neither  lines  nor  letters 
added  to  them  were  but  marks  or  signs 
over  the  words,  to  serve  as  rough  guides  to 
the  eye,  whether  the  voice  should  rise  or  fall. 
They  could  only  serve  to  remind  the  singer  of 
chants  which  he  had  first  learnt  by  ear.  He 
could  not  tell  exactly  how  far  to  ascend  or 
to  descend,  and  whether  by  tone  or  semitone, 
nor  the  note  to  begin  upon.    There  was  no 


*  "  Nisi  enim  ab  homine  memoria  teneantur,  soni 
pereunt,  quia  scribi  non  ^jossunt." 


(  J 


NOTATION. 


precise  measure  of  time  in  them.  The  earlier 
neumes  were  but  an  expansion  of  the  system 
of  accents  and  stops.  At  a  later  date,  the 
flourish  at  the  end  of  a  chant,  or  of  an  alleluia 
was  called  tlie  neume.  These  had  no 
words  to  them,  and  were  to  be  sung  in  one 
breath. 

The  next  system  was  one  without  neumes, 
but  with  a  ladder  of  letters  placed  one  above 
the  other  at  the  beginning  of  the  chants. 
The  syllables  of  the  words  were  then  discon- 
nected in  order  to  place  each  syllable  on  a 
level  with  the  letter  which  represented  the 
note  to  which  it  was  to  be  sung. 

This  system  seems  to  have  been  invented 
in  Flanders,  by  Hucbald,  a  monk  of  Saint 
Amand,  who  died  at  an  advanced  age  in  930 
or  932.  Instead  of  using  seven  letters,  he 
employed  but  four  (on  the  Greek  tetrachord 
system),  viz.,  D,  E,  F,  and  G.  He  turned 
these  four  into  four  different  positions,  to 
make  four  disjoined  tetrachords  or  fourths. 
The  twisting  about  of  the  letters  was  probably 
borrowed  from  the  Greek  notation  of  Alypius. 
They  were  first  in  their  ordinary  position, 
then  faced  the  reverse  way,  and  then  turned 
upside  down,  and  faced  to  the  left  and  to  the 
right.  By  this  means  he  obtained  a  scale  of 
sixteen  notes,  and,  for  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth,  to  complete  his  number,  he  turned 
the  first  and  second  letters  jacent  on  their 
faces. 

It  must  be  noted  that  Hucbald's  scale  was 
not  what  the  ecclesiastical,  or  "  Gregorian  " 
scale  is  commonly  supposed,  and  said,  to  have 
been.  He  made  all  his  fourths  to  have  the 
semitone  between  the  second  and  third  notes, 
as  in  D,  E,  F,  G.  This  has  been  overlooked 
by  all  who  have  written  about  his  notation, 
and  Kiesewetter,  in  his  History  of  Music,  has 
translated  Hucbald's  examples  without  mark- 
ing a  single  sharp  or  flat.  Yet  Hucbald's 
text  is  clear  enough  to  any  one  not  prepos- 
sessed with  the  immutability  of  "  Gregorian" 
music,  for  he  says  repeatedly  that  his  tetra- 
chords have  the  same  succession  of  intervals 
whether  taken  up  or  down.* 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  what  is  called 
"  Gregorian  music  "  is  of  the  age  of  Saint 
Gregory.  The  word  means  nothing  more 
than  the  "  use  of  Rome."    "  Nos  Gregoriani 


•  See  Hucbald's  Musica  Euchiriadis,  in  Gerbert's 
Scriptures  de  Musica  Ecclesite,  v.  i,  p.  152.  In  col.  i, 
lines  17  and  18,  "  ut  semper  quatuor  et  quatuor  ejus- 
dem  conditionis  sese  consequantur."  In  col.  2,  lines  2 
and  3,  "  Secundus  deuteros,  tono  distans  a  proto; 
tertius  tritos,  semitonio  distans  a  deutero."  At  p.  156, 
lines  I  to  4,  "  Sed  dum  forte  in  sono  aliquo  dubitatur 
qualis  sit,  turn,  a  semitoniis  quibus  constat  semper 
deuterum  tritumque  disjungi ;  toni  in  ordine  rimentur.'' 
p.  152,  col.  2,  "  Sive  sursum  sive  jusum  sonos  in  ordine 
iucas  "  If  it  is  to  be  the  same  up  or  down,  the  semi- 
tone -  '1st  always  be  in  the  middle. 


et  nos  Ambrosiani  " — "  'We  who  follow  the 
use  of  Rome,  and  we  who  follow  the  use  of 
Milan."  As  another  proof  that  the  music  is 
changed  since  the  tenth  century,  a  second 
writer  of  the  same  age  may  be  cited. 
Notker  says  in  his  De  Octo  Touts,  that  every 
chant  of  the  first  and  second  tones  ends  in  B  ; 
of  the  third  and  fourth  in  C  ;  of  the  fifth  and 
sixth  in  D  ;  and  of  the  seventh  and  eighth 
in  E.t  This  differs  much  from  the  law  of 
later  times. 

The  "  Gregorian"  tones  have  been  changed 
by  altering  the  positions  of  the  semitones  in 
the  scales.  Th ;  first  and  second  of  later  dates 
end  on  D  ;  the  third  and  fourth  on  E  ;  the 
fifth  and  sixth  on  F  ;  and  the  seventh  and 
eighth  on  G.  The  music  cannot  be  the  same, 
because  the  intervals  follow  in  a  different  suc- 
cession. It  is  not  surprising  that  the  music 
should  have  been  changed  since  the  tenth 
century,  the  only  wonder  would  be,  if  it  had 
not. 

Hucbald's  tetrachord,  with  its  semitone  in 
the  middle,  became  the  parent  of  the  hexa- 
chord  system,  or  six-note  scale.  It  consisted 
of  a  tetrachord  of  the  same  kind  as  Hucbald's 
in  the  middle,  and  a  tone  added  at  each  end. 
It  had  quite  the  same  object — that  of  bringing 
the  semitone  into  the  middle  (between  ini  and 
fa)  so  as  to  make  the  succession  of  intervals 
the  same  whether  the  scale  were  taken  up  or 
down. 

Hucbald's  scale  was  as  follows  :  P  (gamma) 
A,  Bb,  C,— D,  E,  F,  G,-a,  b5,  c,  d,-e,  f$, 
g,  a, — b,  c^.  His  letters  were  placed  in  spaces 
formed  between  lines,  which  lines  were  de- 
signed to  represent  strings.  In  the  following 
example,  our  ordinary  letters  are  used,  instead 
of  Hucbald's  oddly  shaped  antiquities,  because 
they  are  more  readily  intelligible  to  general 
readers. 


A  a_  

G  da  te   num  

F   Lau   mi  de  

E  do  e  

D   ccelis. 


The  words  are:  "  Laudate  Dominum  de 
coelis." 

One  great  objection  to  this  system  was  the 
dislocation  of  syllables  ;  and  another  was, 
that  it  rendered  necessary  the  doubling  and 
trebling  of  the  vowels  when  there  were  two 
or  three  notes  to  one  syllable.  Lastly,  Huc- 
bald's musical  scale  was  not  ruled  by  musical 

+  "  Ex  septem  bis  quatuor  sunt,  nempe  B,C,  D,  E,  in 
quas  omnis  cantus  desinit :  qui  primi  et  secundi  toni 
est,  desinit  in  B  ;  qui  tertii  et  quarti  in  C  ;  qui  quinti  et 
i  sexti  in  D ;  qui  septimi  et  octavi  in  E."  Gerhert's 
i   Scriptorcs,  I.  96.    There  were  two  Notkers  at  St.  Gall, 
I   and  this  treatise  is  attributed  by  Gerbert  to  Notker 
Labeo  (large  lipped),  but  b»th  were  of   the  tenth 
I   century,    The  .first  was  the  abbot,  and  the  second  a 
I    monk  of  St.  Gall. 


(  3"  ) 


NOTATION. 


laws.  He  had  bjj,  f^,  and  c  J  *s  octaves  to 
Bt7,  F,  and  c.  Surely  then  some  Hcence 
must  have  been  taken  by  the  singer,  for  no 
man  with  ears  about  him  could  sing  such 
octaves.  These  were  indeed  the  dark  ages 
of  music.  Hucbald's  harmony  is  equally 
barbarous. 

In  all  countries  which  were  in  communion 
with  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  system  of 
writing  down  the  music  of  the  chants,  either 
by  neumes  or  by  letters,  endured  for  several 
centuries.  The  great  preponderance  was  by 
neumes;  indeed,  the  use  of  letters  was  com- 
paratively rare.  The  neumes  were  written 
over  the  words,  without  either  lines  or  spaces 
to  fix  them  to  any  pitch,  or  to  distinguish  tone 
from  semitone.  The  earliest  improvements 
upon  this  general  practice  are  to  be  found 
in  the  Prosae  et  Sequentiae  (Hymns  of  Praise) 
which  each  country  produced  for  itself. 

The  earliest  use  of  four  lines  and  spaces  is 
to  be  found  in  England.  There  are  extant 
hymns  with  the  neumes  written  upon  alternate 
line  and  space,  and  with  an  index  letter  at  the 
signature  to  fix  the  position  of  all,  and  these  in 
a  manuscript  of  the  reign  of  Ethelred  II,  who 
is  prayed  for  by  name  in  the  Third  Litany  as 
"  our  King"  (regem  nostrum),  and  whose  reign 
was  from  978  to  1016.  The  manuscript  was 
then  in  use  at  Winchester  Cathedral,  and  is 
now  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford  (MSS. 
Bodley,  No.  775).  The  difference  between  this 
early  English  notation  and  that  of  later  general 
use  is  neither  great  nor  important.  It  con- 
sists only  in  the  English  use  of  any  letter  of 
the  octave  at  the  signature,  instead  of  con- 
fining it  to  F,  C,  or  G.  Yet  this  is  a  suffi- 
ciently distinctive  mark. 

Only  the  new  hymns  are  upon  four  lines 
and  spaces.  The  prayers  and  the  psalms 
ave  the  old  indefinite  neumes. 

The  English  continued  to  use  any  one  of 
t'le  seven  letters  at  the  signature  down  to  the 
first  half  of  the  tliirteenth  century.  At  that 
time  notes  had  been  invented,  and  neumes 
were  being  gradually  changed  into  the  forms 
of  notes. 

Although  early  English  service  books  are 
exceedingly  scarce,  owing  to  the  wholesale 
destruction  of  them  enforced  by  the  severest 
penalties  for  having  any  in  possession  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  yet  there  are  a  few 
still  extant.  Among  these  are  the  Saint 
Alban's  Gradual  in  the  British  Museum  (MSS. 
Reg.  2  B.  iv.),  and  an  equally  beautiful  manu- 
script in  the  Cotton  Collection  (Caligula  A. 
14).  These  contain  some  of  the  same  hymns 
which  are  included  in  the  Winchester  manu- 
script, and  to  the  same  music.  An  examina- 
tion of  the  foreign  collections  of  hymns,  enu- 
merated by  Daniel,  Mone,  and  G.  Morel,  does 
not  reveal  any  of  the  same  as  having  been  in 

(  3 


use  abroad,  neither  does  the  use  seem  to  have 
extended  beyond  the  southern  half  of  England, 
all  yet  discovered  belonging  to  the  province 
of  Canterbury. 

Early  English  advances  in  music  are  to  be 
traced  to  the  same  cause  as  the  early  pro- 
ficiency in  other  arts  and  sciences,  and  in 
Greek  and  Latin.  It  was  the  fortune  of 
England,  about  seventy  years  after  the  con- 
version of  the  southern  part  of  the  kingdom 
by  Saint  Augustine,  to  have  a  very  learned 
Greek  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  he 
came  to  England,  accompanied  by  an  almost 
equally  learned  African,  who  became  Abbot  of 
Saint  Peter's,  afterwards  called  Saint  Augus- 
tine's, at  Canterbury. 

Pope  Vitalian  had  offered  the  Archbishopric 
to  Hadrian,  but  Hadrian  pleaded  his  youth  and 
unworthiness,  and  recommended  Theodore 
in  his  place.  The  Pope  was  doubtful  whether 
Theodore  might  not  introduce  some  of  the 
usages  peculiar  to  the  Eastern  Church,  and 
therefore  sent  Hadrian  to  accompany  him,  and 
to  keep  an  eye  over  him  in  that  respect. 
Theodore  remained  in  England  till  his  death, 
viz.,  from  669  to  690,  and  Hadrian  survived  him 
till  709.  These  two  taught  the  arts  and  sciences 
as  well  as  the  languages  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
and  the  gain  to  the  nation  was  soon  apparent 
through  the  many  learned  men  that  England 
speedily  produced. 

The  venerable  Bede  says  that  some  of  their 
scholars  were  living  in  his  own  time,  who 
were  as  well  versed  in  Greek  and  Latin  as  in 
their  native  tongue.*  Aldhelm,  who  was  one 
of  Hadrian's  pupils,  was  also  one  of  the  first 
Englishmen  who  became  celebrated  for  his 
skill  in  music,  in  poetry,  and  in  other  liberal 
arts.  It  is  clear  that  the  organ  was  intro- 
duced into  England  about  the  time  of,  and 
probably  by,  Theodore,  from  Aidhelm's  full 
description  of  it  in  his  Laus  Virginitatis. 

It  was  a  great  advantage  for  us  to  have  a 
Greek  master,  for  the  Romans,  from  Boethius 
downwards,  knew  very  little  about  music. 
Boethius  seems  only  to  have  known,  or  taught, 
the  antiquated  Pythagorean  division  of  a  scale, 
with  all  major  tones  in  it,  and  so  false  thirds. 
The  celebrity  of  Greek  teachers  endured  at 
least  till  the  nth  century,  for  Guido  d'Arezzo, 
in  his  letter  De  ignoto  Cantu,  thus  alludes  to 
them:  "I  have  seen  many  very  acute  philo- 
sophers who,  for  the  study  of  this  art  of  music, 
I  have  not  only  sought  Italian,  French  and 
German  masters,  but  even  the  very  Greeks 
themselves. t  Neither  did  the  cultivation  of 
music,  once  introduced,  die  away  in  England, 
for,  in  the  time  of  St.  Dunstan,  who  was  him- 
self an  organ-builder,  the  Winchester  organ 

•  Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History,  Book  4,  cap.  2. 
f  "  Ipsos  que  etiam  Graecos  qusesivere  magistr*-*." 

12  ) 


NOTATION. 


had  400  pipes.  The  large  number  of  men 
necessary  to  blow  this  organ  (which  was  to  be 
heard  all  over  Winchester),  seems  to  prove  the 
bellows  to  have  been  on  the  Greek  construction. 
Wolstan  (or  rather  Wulstan)  of  Winchester, 
who  describes  this  great  organ  in  his  metrical 
life  of  Saint  Swithun,  was  the  author  of  a 
treatise  on  harmony  {De  Tononiin  Hannonia) ; 
which  continued  in  use  in  the  13th  century. 
William  of  Malmesbury  describes  it  as  a 
most  useful  book  [valde  utile),  nearly  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  after  it  had  been  written, 
while  St.  Dunstan  was  the  author  of  a  still 
extant  "  Kyrie,"  a  creditable  specimen  for 
the  age,  in  good  Greek  Dorian  or  D  minor. 

Some  of  the  Anglo-Latin  hymns,  written 
upon  lines  and  spaces,  are  of  a  very  florid 
character.  (See,  for  instance,  Cotton  MSS., 
Julius  A.,  vi.  fols.  18  and  19.) 

The  next  musical  system  in  order  of  date 
was  that  of  the  hexachord.  This  endured  for 
many  centuries,  and  yet  it  seems  impossible 
to  find  any  thing  in  it  to  commend.  It  is  Huc- 
bald's  system  applied  to  the  later  church-scale, 
and  with  extra  complexity. 

The  one  argument  in  its  favour  adduced 
by  old  writers  is  the  ultra-perfection  of  the 
number  6.  This  admirable  quality  is  dis- 
covered through  its  containing  within  itself 
all  its  aliquot  parts,  viz.,  3,  2,  and  i,  and  "such 
perfect  numbers  are  rare."*  To  all  this,  it 
might  have  been  answered  that  the  hexachord 
does  not  contain  six  equal  parts  ;  but,  in  any 
case,  its  perfections  will  weigh  lightly  in  mo- 
dern estimation  against  the  far  more  ancient, 
the  one  and  only  true  system  of  the  octave. 
Eventually  the  hexachord  system  was  combined 
with  that  of  the  octave. 

The  hexachord  required  not  only  the  alpha- 
betical name  for  the  note  (which  sufficed  by 
itself  in  the  octave  system)  but  also  to  tag 
on  two  or  three  other  names.  Wherever  the 
interval  between  two  notes  was  but  a  semi- 
tone, there  was  placed  a  mi  for  the  one,  and 
a  fa  for  the  other;  and  as  there  was  a  b  flat 
in  use,  as  well  as  a  b  natural  in  the  acute  and 
super-acute  parts  of  the  scale,  so  there  must 
be  a  separate  hexachord  for  each  of  the  two, 
and  at  the  interval  of  only  one  tone,  the  first 
hexachord  beginning  on  F,  and  the  second 
on  G.  The  addition  of  the  tone  below  Huc- 
bald's  tetrachord  seems,  by  accident  rather 
than  by  design,  to  have  changed  the  hexa- 
chord from  minor  into  part  of  a  major  scale, 
by  moving  the  position  of  the  semitone  to  the 
interval  of  one  tone  higher.  If  any  one  had 
designed  such  a  reason  for  the  change, 
there  would  have  been  some  sense  in  the 
system,  although  it  v/as  still  but  an  imperfect 
attempt  to  return  to  the  octave.    As  it  was, 

•  Walter  Odington,  aptid  De  Coussemaker's  Scripto- 
ntm,  I.  215. 


it  may  have  been  an  accidental  stepping-stone 
to  the  use  of  the  major  scale,  by  placing  C 
below  Hucbald's  D,  and  thus  making  the  in 
tervals  in  that  position,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  A,  but 
this  order  of  notes  already  existed  in  the  scale. 
The  ancient  Greek  scale  was  wholly  mmor, 
and  beginning  and  ending  on  the  third  note  of 
a  minor  scale  must  make  a  "  relative"  major. 
The  sharp  seventh  is  a  comparatively  modern 
addition  to  minor  scales. 

The  following  is  the  Hexachord  system 
included  in  the  octave  scale : 


Super-acute. 


Grave  octave. 


All  this  surplusage  of  names  does  not  suf- 
fice to  distinguish  the  notes  of  one  octave 
from  another.    There  are  two  E-la-mis,  two 
F-fa-uts,  two  G-sol-re-uts,  two  A-la-mi-res, 
two  b-fas,  and  three  b-mis.  The  only  notes 
distinguished  arc  C  and  D,  so  there  could 
hardly  be  a  more  complicated  and  useless 
system  of  nomenclature.    It  was  taken  from 
the  initial  syllables  of  a  hymn  to  Saint  John 
the  Baptist,  which  is  too  short  to  be  omitted. 
Ut  queant  laxis       5o/ve  polluti 
/?esonare  fibris.       Labia,  reati, 
71/zra  gestorum  Sancte  Johannes. 

Famuli  tuorum: 
Here  was  a  sa  for  the  seventh  note  of  the 
scale  ;  but,  on  account  of  the  perfection  of  the 
number  6,  it  was  not  employed.  In  later  use, 
in  order  to  mark  another  semitone  by  the 
vowel  i  (as  in  mi)  sa  was  turned  into  5/.  Ut 
was  also  changed  to  Do  (France  excepted) 
for  the  sake  of  openness  of  the  vowel,  although 
it  was  already  included  in  50/. 

Guido  Aretino,  or  d'Arezzo,  had  for  a  long 
time  the  credit,  or  discredit,  as  some  may 
think  it,  of  having  invented  the  hexachord 
system.  He  makes  no  claim  to  it  in  any  oi 
his  works,  and  as  M.  Fetis  has  justly  re- 


t  This  "e"  in  the  super-acute  part  of  the  scale  is  an 
addition  made  in  the  14th  century. 


NOTATION. 


marked,  Guide's  fame  has  rested  far  more 
upon  what  has  been  attributed  to  him,  than 
upon  what  he  really  did.  His  reputation  as 
a  teacher  was  well  deserved,  for  he  directed 
his  pupils  to  sing  intervals  without  always  re- 
ferring to  the  monochord,  but,  instead  of  it, 
to  think  of  similar  intervals  in  some  well- 
known  hymns,  such  as  this  "  Ut  queant  laxis." 
It  appears  from  John  of  Cotton,*  who  wrote 
soon  after  Guido,  and  who  was  one  of  his  great 
admirers,  that  this,  had  been  long  the  practice 
with  French,  Germans,  and  English,  and  even 
upon  this  particular  hymn,  but  it  was  unknown 
to  Cotton  that  the  Italians  had  ever  employed 
it  for  that  purpose  before  Guido's  time.f 

A  second  system,  which  has  been  attributed 
to  Guido,  is  that  of  the  red  and  yellow  lines  for 
F  and  C.  In  his  M icrologus  Guido  says :  "  In 
order  that  sounds  may  be  discerned  with  cer- 
tainty, we  mark  some  lines  with  various 
colours,  so  that  the  eye  may  immediately  dis- 
tinguish a  note,  in  whatever  place  it  may  be. 
For  the  third  of  the  scale  [C]  a  bright  saffron 
line.  The  sixth  [F],  adjacent  to  C,  is  of  bright 
vermilion,  and  the  proximity  of  others  to  these 
colours  will  be  an  index  to  the  whole.  If  there 
were  neither  letter  nor  coloured  line  to  the 
neumes,  it  would  be  like  having  a  well  with- 
out a  rope — the  water  plentiful,  but  of  no  use 
to  those  who  see  \t."X  This  exactly  describes 
the  state  of  all  music  with  neumes  only,  and 
it  sufficiently  accounts  for  all  the  changes  that 
have  occurred  in  the  traditions  of  several  cen- 
turies. Of  the  fact  of  change  there  can  be  no 
reasonable  doubt.    Much  of  the  Gregorian 


*  This  author  is  largely  quoted  by  foreign  writers, 
and  always  as  Johannes  Anglicus,  but  his  precise 
birthplace  is  not  known.  There  are  four  places 
named  Cotton  in  England  (besides  Cotton  Abbots  and 
Cotton  Edmundsl.  They  are  in  Suffolk,  Yorkshire, 
Cheshire,  and  Shropshire.  It  may  be  conjectured  that 
he  was  one  of  the  monks  driven  from  England  in  the 
time  of  William  I.,  for,  if  he  had  remained  here,  his  ex- 
cellent treatise  would  surely  have  been  quoted  by  some 
English  writers,  such  asOdington,  and  he  could  hardly 
have  escaped  notice  by  Bale  and  others.  Cotton  dedi- 
cates his  treatise  "  Domino  et  patri  suo  venerabili  an- 
tistite  Fulgentio"— not  "  Anglorum  antistite,"  as  printed 
by  Gerbert.  There  is  an  imperfect  copy  of  liis  treatise, 
written  in  the  12th  century,  in  the  Cotton  Collection 
{Vespasian,  A.,  xi.  fol.  131).  It  is  to  be  inferred  that  he 
went  from  one  of  the  northern  counties,  in  the  province 
of  York,  as  he  does  not  seem  to  have  known  Canter- 
bury use. 

f  Cap.  i.  apud  Gerbert's  Scriptorcs,  2,  232. 
X  Regulas  Musica;  Rythmicae,  apud  Gerbert,  ii.  30-31. 
"  Ut  proprietas  sonorum  discernatur  clarius, 
uasdam  lineas  signamus  variis  coloribus  ; 
t  quo  loco  quis  sit  tonus  mox  discernat  oculus. 
Ordine  tertiae  vocis  splendens  crocus  radiat, 
Sexta  ejus,  sed  affinis,  flavo  rubet  minio; 
Et  affinitas  colorum  reliquis  indicio. 
At  si  littera  vel  color  neumis  non  intererit, 
Tale  erit  quasi  funem  dum  non  habet  puteus, 
Cujus  aqu»,  quamvis  multae,  nil  proount  viden- 
tibus." 

(  3t 


music  is  now  just  as  deficient  in  tonality  as 
the  Chinese  ;  but  a  skilful  organist  can,  by 
the  use  of  anti-Gregorian  harmonies,  bring 
some  of  it  into  shape. 

It  will  be  observed  that  Guido  does  not 
claim  to  have  invented  the  use  of  the  red  or 
yellow  line,  but  to  have  employed  them.  There 
are  specimens  of  both  colours,  among  the 
fragments  printed  in  Martini's  Storia  della 
Musica,  which  have  been  judged  to  be  de- 
cidedly older  than  Guido's  time,  and  M.  Fetis 
(in  his  memoir  of  Guido)  states  that  he  has 
in  his  own  library  some  more  ancient  still. 
The  superior  antiquity  of  the  red  line  seems  to 
be  beyond  question.  This  system  was  un- 
doubtedly an  improvement  upon  the  oldest — 
that  of  having  neither  line  nor  letter  to  the 
neumes — but  it  was  not  one  that  would  lead 
up  to  the  use  of  alternate  line  and  space,  be- 
cause the  lower  C,  the  third  of  the  scale,  was 
below  F,  the  sixth,  and  there  could  be  no  line 
between  them,  unless  lines  only,  and  not  lines 
and  spaces,  were  employed.  D  and  E  only 
intervened  between  C  and  F,  and  so  a  single 
line  with  its  space  on  each  side  would  have 
been  too  much.§ 

Guido  himself  makes  claim  but  to  one  in- 
vention, which  he  describes  as  "most  useful" 
and  "  hitherto  unheard. "||  John  of  Cotton  gives 
him  the  credit  for  the  same.^  It  is  but  a  mo- 
dified copy  from  Hucbald,  utilising  the  spaces 
without  employing  the  lines.  Instead  of 
twisting  round  the  four  letters,  as  Hucbald 
did,  Guido  placed  the  five  vowels,  a,  e,  i,  o,  u 
at  the  ends  of  the  spaces ;  and  when  more  notes 
than  five  were  wanted,  then  the  a,  e,  i,  o  and  u 
were  repeated.  The  system  is  shown  in  the 
following  example : 


F  ri   ri  lis  u  i 

ve                               ter,        be  e 
Ma  ma  ra  a 


The  words  are :  "  Maria,  veri  solis  mater, 
ubera  tuos."  This  system  will  hardly  be  judged 
as  an  improvement  upon  that  of  Hucbald.  The 
vowels  were  not  even  distinguished  by  capital 
and  small  letters,  so  that  a,  e,  and  i,  each  re- 
presented three  different  notes,  and  o  and  u 
two  ;  unless  there  were  a  double  line  of  a,  e, 
i,  o,  u's,  as  with  the  mi  fas.    A,  for  instance, 


§  Some  years  ago  the  writer  exhibited  several  speci- 
mens  of  this  musical  notation  with  the  red  and  yellow 
Imes  to  the  Musical  Society  of  London.  The  parchments 
had  been  cut  up  to  line  the  covers  of  old  books.  The 
chants  were  plagals,  so  the  C  line  was  always  below  F. 

II  "  utilissimum  usui,  licet  hactenus  inauditum,"  M' ■ 
crologus,  Cap.  17. 

IT  "Adhuc  et  aliam  modulandi  monstramus  viam, 
pulcram  sane,  sed  ante  Guidonem  inusitatam."  Cap. 
XX.,  Gerbert's  Scriptores,  II.  256. 

4 ) 


8 


NOTATION. 


might  be  either  gamma,  the  lowest  note  of 
the  scale,  the  E  above  it,  or  the  c  above  E. 

Guido's  invention  was  dying  out  of  use 
about  1 220,  when  Walter  Odington  wrote  his 
treatise.*  Odington  does  not  in  any  way 
notice  the  red  and  yellow  line  system,  which,  if 
it  was  ever  adopted  by  English  scribes  (and 
that  seems  doubtful),  must  soon  have  passed 
away.  His  own  examples  are  upon  the 
English  plan  of  employing  any  one  of  the 
seven  letters  as  a  clef  note,  and  of  utilising 
four  lines,  and  spaces,  changingthe  clef  {clavis) 
when  the  compass  extended  beyond  them.f 

There  are  some  difficulties  in  fixing  the 
exact  date  of  Guido  Aretino,  or  d'Arezzo. 
The  one  fact  which  ought  to  be  beyond  ques- 
tion is  the  evidence  of  Guido's  cotemporary, 
Adam  of  Bremen,  who  says  that,  about  1067, 
Hermann,  Archbishop  of  Bremen,  called 
Guido,  the  musician,  to  Bremen,  to  correct 
the  music,  as  well  as  the  monastic  discipline 
of  his  See.  I  At  the  other  extreme  of  date 
stands  the  prose  version  of  the  Micrologns, 
which  is  dedicated  to  Theobald,  Bishop 
of  Arezzo,  who,  according  to  Ughelli,  died 
in  1037.  There  seems  but  little  doubt  that 
Cardinal  Baronius  (writing  in  the  i6th  century) 
was  wrong  in  placing  Guido  the  musician, 
under  the  year  1022.  The  very  quotation 
that  he  copies  supplies  a  sufficient  correc- 
tion. It  is  from  a  manuscript  of  the  Micro- 
logns, ending :  "  Explicit  Micrologus  Gui- 
donis,  suas  aetatis  anno  trigesimo  quarto, § 
Johanne  Vigesimo  Romanam  gubernante  ec- 
cle^am,  sub  quo  ejusdem  Guidonis  librorum 
editio  facta  est."  The  Cardinal  adds  of 
Pope  John  XX. :  "  Successit  hie  Benedicto," 
and  again :   "  ex  cujus  numeratione  pariter 


*  "  Sed  talis  modus  componendi  jam  evanescit."  See 
Coussemaker's  Scriptonim,  I.  217. 

t  See  "  De  Clavibus,"  p.  214.  "  Unam  dictarum 
clavium  semper  una  linearum  lineatur,  aliter  spaciatur  ; 
linearis  pro  eo  quod  linese  applicatur;  spatialis  pro  eo 
quod  spatium  occupat,  ut  hie."  This  most  useful 
treatise  has  been  recently  printed  by  M.  E  de  Cousse- 
maker,  in  his  Scriptorum  de  Musica  medii  Mvi  nova 
Series  a  Gerbertina  alterum.  The  only  writer  unques- 
tionably English  in  Gerbert's  Series  is  John  of  Cotton. 
M.  de  Coussemaker  has  added  John  Hothby  (called 
Ottebi  by  Italians!,  Walter  Odington,  John  of  Garland, 
John  of  Tewkesbury,  Simon  Tunstede,  Robert  de 
Handlo,  John  Hanboys,  Theinred  of  Dover,  and  the 
works  of  some  anonymous  writers,  together  with  a 
preatly  increased  number  of  good  foreign  authors. 
The  limited  number  of  copies  printed  makes  the  speedy 
acquisition  of  this  collection  desirable  to  all  those  who 
are  interested  in  the  subject. 

X  "  Musicum  Guidonem  Hermannus,  Archiepiscopus, 
Bremam  adduxit,  cujus  industria  melodiam  et  claustra- 
lem  disciplinam  correxit."  Historia  Ecclesiarum  Ham- 
''urgensis  et  Bremensis,  &c.,  ab  anno  788  ad  1072,  lib.  2, 
cap.  102,  p.  30. 

§  M.  Fetis  has  printed  it  24  instead  of  34  in  his 
Memoir  of  Guido.  Biugraphie  Universelle  des  Musi- 
cisns,  V.  4,  p  147,  col.  I. 


intelligimus  Joannem  Benedicto  successorem, 
Vigesiimim  ordine  nuncupatum  ejus  nominis 
Romanum  Pontificem."  [Annales  Ecclesia, 
anno  1022.)  As  Benedict  VHI.  was  Pope 
in  1022,  that  date  could  not  be  right  for  either 
of  the  Johns.  John  XIX.  succeeded  Bene- 
dict VIII.  in  1024,  and  John  XX.  followed 
Benedict  IX.  in  1044,  and  was  deposed  by 
the  Council  of  Sutri  in  1046,  after  which 
Benedict  IX.  was  restored. ||  The  short  reign 
of  John  XX.,  his  speedy  deposition,  and  the 
restoration  of  Benedict,  have  caused  John  to 
be  overlooked  by  some  chronologers,  and 
there  is  a  gap  in  the  list  of  Johns  which  they 
supply  variously.  M.  Fetis  has  adopted 
John  XIX.  as  Guido's  John  XX.,  and  it  has 
seemingly  been  the  cause  that  induced  him 
to  question,  if  not  wholly  to  reject,  the  most 
reliable  of  all  the  evidence — that  of  Adam  of 
Bremen — because  Guido  might  be  supposed 
to  be  too  old  to  be  sent  for  in  1067.  But  the 
date  of  John  XX.,  1044  to  1046,  would  restore 
the  probability,  and  Baronius's  error  of  1022 
may  be  accounted  for  by  a  confusion  between 
Guido  Aretino  the  musician,  and  another 
Guido  Aretino,  who  became  prior  of  the 
convent  of  Santa  Cruce  at  Avellano  in  1029. 
The  latter  has  often  been  mistaken  for  Guido 
the  musician,  and  M.  Fetis  has  enumerated 
some  of  the  cases. ^ 

Having  touched  upon  the  date  of  Guido, 
it  is  of  more  importance  to  our  present  subject 
to  point  out  some  anachronisms  in  the  copy  of 
the  Micrologns,  printed  by  the  Abbe  Gerbert. 
A  manuscript  of  the  earliest  date  should  have 
been  selected  for  publication,  for,  in  so  popular 
a  work,  it  might  have  been  expected  that  the 
notation  of  the  examples  would  be  adapted 
by  the  copyist  to  the  use  of  his  own  age. 
Those  at  pages  10  and  12  of  Gerbert's  edition 
have  been  thus  modernised.  They  are  printed 
on  lines  and  spaces,  which  Guido  did  not  use 
together,  and  a  comparison  of  the  whole  text 
with  that  of  one  of  the  manuscripts  in  the 
British  Museum,**  proves  that  large  additions 
have  been  interpolated  to  Guido's  text  in 
Gerbert's  edition,  not  only  in  the  Micrologus, 
but  also  more  largely  in  the  De  ignoto  Cantu. 

The  transition  from  neumes  to  notes  was 
an  easy  one.    It  was  called  "  quadrating " 


II  "  Silvestre  III.,  antij>ape,  etoit  eveque  de  Sabine, 
lorsqu'apres  avoir  chasse  Benoit  IX.,  en  1044,  leg 
Romains  le  mirent  a  sa  place.  Trois  mois  apres, 
Benoit  fut  retabli  par  sa  famille  :  son  rival  force  de 
ceder,  vendit  sa  dignite  a  un  pretre,  qu'il  sacra  sous  )e 
nom  de  Jean  XX.,  mais  resta  luimeme  a  Rome,  et  con- 
serva  ses  partisans.  Le  conseil  de  Sutri,  1046,  les 
d^clara  tous  les  deux  usurpateurs — Voyez  Benoit  IX.  et 
Gregoire  VI."  {Dictionnaire  General  de  Biographie  et 
d'Hhtoire,  par  Ch.  Dezobry  et  Th.  Bachelet,  Paris, 
8vo,  1857.) 

IT  Biographie  Universelle,  v.  4,  p.  148,  col  2. 
•*  Addit.  MSS.,  No.  10,335,  eleventh  century 


(3 


NOTAZIONE  MUSICALE  NUT. 


Ihem,  i.e.,  squaring  them  like  the  old  shape 
of  the  natural  B.  They  thus  filled  the  spaces 
between  the  lines.  But  although  such 
changes  were  easy,  they  were  practically 
slow,  because  old  habits  and  prepossessions 
worked  against  them. 

The  best  explanation  of  neumes  is  that  of 
M.  de  Coussemaker,  in  his  Histoire  de  I'Har- 
monie  an  Moyen  Age,  where  two  tables  of 
neumes  with  their  interpretations,  will  be 
f6und  at  p.  184.  Whoever  shall  desire  to 
modernise  neumes  will  do  well  to  consider 
first  the  country  and  the  age  in  which  the 
rhanuscript  was  made.  For  instance,  the 
Quilis»ia  may  be  either  a  mark  for  a  tremu- 
lous expression  without  altering  the  note,* 
and  it  may  be  a  sign  of  graduated  ascent  of 
two  or  three  notes.f  The  first  is  the  earlier 
use  (and  just  what  its  form  would  seem  to 
have  been  invented  to  express)  and  the 
second  is  the  later  use,  when  neumes  were 
soon  to  be  altered  into  notes.  The  reader 
will  find  many  pages  of  facsimiles  of  neumes 
in  M.  de  Coussemaker's  great  work,  and 
some  in  Gerbert's  De  Cantu  et  Musica  Ec- 
clesice,  v.  2,  about  and  after  p.  60.  A  third 
source  for  the  student  is  at  the  end  of  the 
so-called  Antiplionaire   de   Saint  Gregoire, 

*  [Quilsima  est]  "unisonum  quia  not  habet  arsim  et 
thesim"  \  i.e.  neither  rise  nor  fall]  "nec,  per  consequens, 
intervallum  vel  distanciam,  sed  est  vox  tremula  :  sicut 
est  Sonus  flatus  tibiae  vel  cornu,  et  designatur  per  neu- 
mam  quae  vocatur  Quilisma  '  (B.  Engelbertus,  per  Ger- 
bert,  De  Cantu,  v.  2,  p.  60). 

f  "  Hae  Antiphonae,  licet  a  final!  incipiant,  tamen, 
quia  per  Quilismata,  quae  nos  gradatas  neumas  dicimus, 
magis  gutturis."  (Bemonis  Augiensis  Tonarius,  Gerb. 
Scrip.  V.  2,  p.  80.) 


which  he  should  bear  in  mind  to  be  only  a 
facsimile  of  a  manuscript  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury. The  names  of  the  neumes  transformed 
into  notes  will  be  found  in  Walter  Odington's 
treatise  (p.  213).  and  in  some  other  treatises 
in  M.  de  Coussemaker's  collection. 

Notazione  musicale  (It.)  The  system 
of  musical  notation. 

Note.  A  sign  of  a  sound  made  of  various 
shapes  to  denote  relative  duration.  Hence, 
the  term  is  used  generally  for  the  sounds  of 
which  notes  are  signs,  as  when  we  say  of  a 
singer  that  his  high  notes  are  good,  or  that 
a  player  plays  wrong  notes.  [Nota.] 

Note  (Fr.)  A  note,  as,  note  dilsee,  a 
sharpened  note;  note  d'agrement,  a  grace  note, 
note  of  transition  ;  note  de  passage,  a  passing- 
note  ;  note  sensible,  the  leading  note  or  sub- 
tonic  :  notes  de  goUt,  (Fr.)  notes  of  embellish- 
ment. 

Notturno  (It.)  Originally,  a  kind  of 
serenade  ;  now  a  piece  of  music  of  a  gentle 
and  quiet  character. 

Notula  (Lat.)  The  notes  used  in  writing 
ligatures.  [Ligature.] 

Noursingh.  An  Indian  horn  or  trumpet, 
formed  of  a  straight  metallic  tube.  It  is 
supported  in  a  horizontal  position  by  means 
of  a  long  stick. 

Novemole.  [Nonuplet.] 

Nuances  (Fr.)  Shades  of  musical  ex- 
pression. 

Nuovo,  di  (It.)  Again. 

Nut.  The  fixed  bridge  formed  by  a  slight 
prominence  or  ridge  at  the  upper  end  o(  the 
strings  of  instruments  of  the  violin  and  guitar 
family. 


(316) 


O  OBOE. 


O. 


O.  A  circle,  formerly  the  sign  of  Tempus 
perfectum,  as  the  incomplete  circle  C  was  of 
Tempus  imperfectum.  [See  Tempus,  Modus 
and  Prolatio.] 

O  (It.)  Or,  as  fiaiito  o  violine,  flute  or 
violin. 

Oaten-pipe.  The  simplest  form  of  a  reed 
pipe,  a  straw  with  a  strip  cut  to  form  the  reed, 
at  the  end  closed  by  the  knot. 

Ob.    Abb  :  of  Oboe,  also  of  obbligato. 

Obbligato.  An  instrumental  part  or 
ac-jompaniment  of  such  importance  that  it 
cannot  be  dispensed  with. 

Ober  {Ger.)  Over  or  upper,  as,  Ober- 
pianital,  or  Oberwe  -k.  the  upper  manual ; 
OberstiniDie,  a.nd  Obertheil,  upper  part. 

Oblige  (Fr.)  [Obbligato.] 

Oblique  motion.  When  one  part  moves 
and  the  other  remains  stationary.  [Motion.] 

Oboe.  One  of  the  most  ancient,  as  also 
one  of  the  most  charming  instruments  of 
music.  In  some  of  the  Egyptian  pipes  in 
the  British  Museum  were  found  pieces  of 
thin  wood  or  straw  inserted  into  the  tubes  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  suggest  at  once  the 
similarity  between  them  and  the  oboe.  In  all 
probability  the  Greeks  used  instruments  of 
this  class,  although  they  called  them  by  the 
general  name  of  "flute."  That  the  reeds 
used  were  very  small,  and  of  more  perishable 
material  than  the  tubes  into  which  they  were 
inserted,  is  quite  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
fact  that  we  have  not  discovered  a  pipe  with 
a  ^ed  fixed  in  it  ready  for  use, among  Greek 
antiquities.  Moreover,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  musicians  do  and  always  did  carry  their 
reeds  and  moothpieces  about, separated  from 
the  instrument.  The  word  yXwaaoKOfiov  proves 
that  Greek  players  were  not  exceptions  to 
this  rule.  Almost  all  European  nations  have 
some  form  or  other  of  the  oboe  in  use,  though 
the  different  kinds  vary  much  in  their  merits 
as  musical  instruments,  some  being  in  the 
simplest  form  of  a  reed-pipe  played  by 
mountaineers,  as  the  chalumeau  (from  calamus, 
a  reed),  which  is  still  played  by  the  peasantry 
in  the  Tyrol,  and  the  piffero  pastorale  of  the 
Italians,  a  similar  instrument  to  the  chalumeau, 
z&Wed  Schal  ney  by  the  Germans,  and  formerly 


shalm  or  shawm  in  England.  The  immediate 
forerunner  of  the  modern  oboe  was  the  bom- 
bardino,  or  little  bombardo,  called    by  the 
Italians  bombardo  piccolo,  a  kind  of  chalumeau. 
The  date  of  the  introduction  of  the  oboe  is 
about  1720,  but  from  the  mention  in  Bach's 
i  Passion-music  of  two  kinds  of  oboe,  the  oboe 
d'amore  and  oboe  da  caccia,  it  is  evident 
that  well-known  varieties  were  in  use  in  his 
:  time.    The  oboe  d'amore,  which  was  also 
called  oboe  luonga,  produced  a  delicate  and 
i  sweet  tone,  while  the  oboe  da  caccia  corres- 
ponded to  the  tenoroon  oboe,  or  corno  inglese. 
The  latter,  though  not  in  common  use,  is 
occasionally  introduced   into  the  scores  of 
I  modern    operas,    as    in    Halevy's  Je-mess, 
Meyerbeer's  Huguenots,  &c. 

The  oboe  now  in  use  owes  its  large  com- 
pass, like  many    other   wind  instruments, 
to  the  overblowing  of  the  player,  which  brings 
into  existence  a  set  of  overtones.    The  over- 
I  tones  of  the  oboe  are  similar  to  those  of  an 
!  open  pipe,  that  is,  they  are  represented  by 
;  the  numbers  i,  2,  3,  4,  &c.,  while  on  the 
i  other   hand,    the   overtones  of  a  clarinet 
i  correspond  to  those  of  a  stopped  pipe  as  re- 
:  presented  by  1, 3, 5,  7,  &c.  The  notes  lying  just 
between  the  sounds  produced  by  the  natural 
length  of  the  pipe  (as   shortened    also  by 
j  finger-holes  and  keys),  and  those  produced 
by  an  altered   pressure  of  wind    from  tha 
player's  mouth,  always  present  difficulties  of 
execution  when  required   to   be  played  in 
rapid  succession.    The  clarinet  has  a  single 
reed  ;  the  oboe,  a  double  one.    The  extreme 
compass  of  the  oboe  now  in  use    is  two 
octaves  and  one  fifth,  namely  : 


with  the  intermediate  semitones,  subject  to 
certain  limitations  in  their  use.  Some  in- 
struments have  the  low  B7 


but  it  is  not  yet  commonly  met  with.  The 
compass  given  above  should  be  very  much 


(  317  ) 


OBOE  OPEN  DIAPASON. 


curtailed  for  general  use,  the  four  or  five 
lower  notes  being  weak  and  thin,  the  two  or 
three  upper  notes  harsh  and  shrill.  The 
latter,  however,  are  not  objectionable  in 
Jortissimo  passages  in  tutti  parts.  The 
following  shakes,  lying  between  intervals 
played  with  difficulty,  are  given  by  Berlioz 
(Instrumentation)  as  difficult : 

J- 


The  following  are  impossible  (and  all  tonal 
or  semitonal  shakes  above  this) : 


The  oboe  is  more  effective,  because  more 
easily  played,  in  simple  keys,  than  in  keys 
with  many  sharps  or  flats ;  and  in  simple 
passages,  than  such  as  are  complicated  or 
rapid.  As  an  instrument  of  a  pastoral  cha- 
racter it  can  be  cheerful  or  plaintive  ;  it  pos- 
sesses also  in  its  peculiar  quality  of  tone,  the 
wail  of  grief  or  agitation,  but  it  has  also  the 
power  of  soothing  and  calming  the  mind 
after  disturbing  influences. 

Oboe.  An  organ  stop  consisting  of  reed 
pipes  slightly  conical  and  surmounted  by  a 
bell  and  cap,  of  8ft.  pitch.  The  tone  is  thin 
and  soft.  An  orcliestral  oboe  is  an  organ 
stop  intended  as  a  more  perfect  imitation  of 
the  orchestral  instrument  than  that  ordinarily 
made. 

Oboe  da  caccia.  The  "hunting"  oboe, 
•a  large  kind  of  oboe.  [Oboe.] 

Oboe  d'amore.  The  oboe  "  of  love."  A 
small  oboe.  [Oboe.] 

Oboist.    A  player  on  the  oboe. 

Oboista  {It.)    An  oboist 

Ocarine  [It.)  A  series  of  seven  musical 
instruments  made  of  terra  cotta  pierced  with 
small  holes,  invented  by  a  company  of  per- 
formers calling  themselves  the  Mountaineers 
of  the  Apennines.  With  these  instruments, 
which  are  of  a  soft  and  sweet,  yet  "travelling" 
quality  of  tone,  operatic  melodies  with  simply 
harmonised  accompaniments  were  given. 

Octave,  (i)  The  interval  of  an  eighth. 
It  may  be  major,  minor,  or  augmented,  e.g.  : 

Maj.  Minor.  Aug. 


It  was  the  diapason  of  the  Greek  system. 
(2)  The  first  note  of  the  harmonic  scale.  (3)  An 
organ  stop  of  4ft.  pitch  on  the  manuals,  or 


8ft.  on  the  pedals.  (4)  The  eight  days  follow- 
ing a  great  festival  of  the  Church. 

Octiphonium.  [Ottetto.] 

Octochord.  An  instrument  with  eight 
strings. 

Octuor.  [Ottetto.] 

Octuplet.  A  group  of  eight  notes  which 
are  to  be  played  in  the  time  of  six. 

Odeon.  uhtiov  (Gk.)  A  building  in  which 
odes  or  other  compositions  could  be  performed 
for  public  approval  or  private  rivalry. 

Odeum  {Lat.)  [Odeon.] 

CEuvre  (Fr.).  Opus  or  work,  as,  ceuvre 
premiere,  Opus  i ;  chef  d'ceuvre,  a  masterpiece. 

Ofifen  {Ger.)  Open  ;  as,  Offenfldte,  open 
flute.  [Flute.] 

Offertoire  {Fr.)  Offertorio  {It.)  OfTer- 
torium  {Lat.)  [Offertory.] 

Offertory,  (i)  The  collection  of  alms 
during  the  celebration  of  Holy  Communion. 
(2)  A  piece  of  music  performed  during  the 
Offertory. 

Oficleida  (/<.)  [Ophicleide.] 

Ohne  {Ger.)  as,  olnie  Fed.  without  Pedals. 
Ohne  Begleitungen,  without  accompaniments. 

Oioueae.  The  vrAveis  of  "World  without 
end.  Amen,"  an  imitation  of  the  Evovae,  ths 
vowels  of  "  seculorum  amen,"  used  to  desig- 
nate the  ending  of  .i  mode.  [Evovae.] 

Oliphant.  The  name  of  an  obsolete 
species  of  Horn,  so-called  because  it  was 
made  of  ivory  (olifaunt,  olivant,  olyfaunce, 
being  old  forms  of  the  word  elephant).  Three 
specimens  of  this  instrument  are  in  Ken- 
sington Museum,  two  of  the  eleventh  century, 
one  of  the  fifteenth. 

Ombi.  A  harp  used  by  negroes  in  Western 
Africa,  the  strings  of  which  are  made  of 
fibrous  root  or  creepers.  It  bears  a  strong 
resemblance  to  the  Oriental  harp. 

Omnes,  omnia  {Lat.)    Chorus  or  Tutti. 

Omquad.  The  name  of  the  refrain  of 
some  old  Danish  ballads,  called  the  "  Kampe 
Viser." 

Onagon.    A  Chippawa  drum. 

Ondeggiamento,  ondeggiante  (/^)  W^i'th 
an  undulating,  or  quivering  sound  ;  making 
a  tremolo. 

Onduliren  {Ger.)  To  make  a  tremolo, 
or  produce  an  undulating  tone. 

Ondul6  {Fr.)  Undulating.  [Ondeggia- 
mento.] 

'Ood  or  Oud.  An  Egyptian  instrument  of 
a  similar  character  to  the  guitar,  q.  v. '  It  is 
flat  on  the  upper  surface  and  convex  at  the 
back.  The  neck  is  like  that  of  the  guita.r  but 
without  frets,  and  there  are  seven  pairs  of 
strings,  each  pair  tuned  in  unison.  The 
player  uses  a  plectrum  formed  of  a  strip  of 
vulture's  quill.  [Lute.] 

Open  Diapason.  The  name  in  England 
of  the  chief  open  foundation   stop  of  an 


(  318  ) 


OPEN  HARMONY^OPERA. 


organ,  called  by  Germans  "  Principal "  or 
"Prestant,"  and  by  French  "Principal,"  or  if 
in  front,  "  Montre."  On  the  manuals  it  is  of 
metal,  on  the  pedal  organ  of  metal  or  wood. 
The  metal  pipes  of  this  stop  are  cylindrical, 
and  of  the  best  material.  A  great  number  of 
foreign  organs,  and  a  few  in  England,  contain 
open  diapasons  made  of  pure  tin  (Organ, 
§  13).  It  is,  however,  more  commonly  made 
of  spotted  metal,  or  of  an  equal  mixture  of 
tin  and  lead.  If  two  or  more  open  diapasons 
are  allotted  to  one  row  of  keys,  they  are  made 
of  different  scales,  in  order  that  they  may  not 
destroy  each  other.  One  is  then  sometimes 
called  large,  another  small.  This  stop  is  of 
lit.  length  on  the  manuals,  and  i6ft.  on  the 
pedals,  unless  stated  to  the  contrary  on  the 
register. 

Open  Harmony.  Chords  formed  by  as 
equidistant  a  disposition  of  the  parts  as  pos- 
sible, e.g.  : 


Open  Notes.  Of  stringed  instruments, 
— the  notes  of  the  open  strings  {q.  v.)  Of 
wind  instruments,  such  as  the  horn,  trumpet, 
&c.,  the  series  of  natural  harmonies  which 
can  be  produced  by  the  lip  of  the  performer 
without  the  assistance  of  a  slide,  key,  or 
piston. 

Open  Pipe.  A  pipe  open  at  the  top,  as 
opposed  to  one  closed  at  the  top.  The  pitch 
of  a  closed  pipe  is  approximately  one  octave 
lower  than  that  of  an  open  pipe  of  the  same 
length.    [Organ,  §  14.] 

Open  Score.  When  each  part  has  a 
separate  Hne  assigned  to  it,  music  is  said  to 
be  in  open  score.  When  more  than  one  part 
is  written  in  each  line,  in  close  or  short  score. 

Open  Strings.  Strings  producing  the 
sounds  assigned  to  them  according  to  the 
"  accordatura,"  or  system  of  tuning  belonging 
to  the  particular  instrument.  Strings  are 
said  to  be  stopped  when  their  pitch  is  altered 
by  the  pressure  of  the  finger. 

Opera  {It.)    A  dramatic  entertainment,  in 
which  music  forms  an  essential  and  not  merely 
an  accessory  part.    Rousseau  declares  that 
Opera  does  not  mean  so  much  a  musical  work, 
as  a  musical,  poetical,  and  spectacular  work 
all  at  once,  and  the  same  definition  is  insisted 
upon  by  Wagner.    This,  scarcely  the  exact  or 
true  meaning  of  the  term  even  now,  was  still 
less  true  in  the  days  in  which  it  was  first  I 
written,  as  many  works  well  known  at  the 
time,  Rousseau's  among  the  number,  do  not  ' 
answer  this  description.    The  various  titles  ' 
given  to  works  included  in  the  general  term  ' 


Opera,  also  argue  against  Rousseau's  defini- 
tion, for  if  opera  meant  all  he  declares  it  does, 
there  would  scarcely  be  any  need  to  speak 
of  operas  as  scenica,  tragica,  sacra,  regia, 
coiiiica,  eseiiiplare,  regia  ed  esemplare,  etc. 
Algarotti  calls  his  work  on  the  opera  "  Saggio 
sopra  rOpera  in  musica,"  a  title  he  could 
scarcely  have  given  with  propriety  if  the 
word  Opera  implied  even  music,  much  less  if 
it  included  all  the  terms  used  by  Rousseau. 
The  opera,  as  we  now  understand  it,  is 
composed  of  solos,  recitatives,  duets,  trios, 
quartetts  or  other  pieces  for  single  voices  ; 
choruses  and  finales ;  accompanied  throughout 
with  instruments  variously  combined  to  pro- 
duce certain  desired  effects.  Overtures  or 
introductions  precede  the  whole  work  or  its 
several  acts  in  nearly  every  case.  The  dra- 
matic effect  is  aided  by  the  accessories  of 
costumes  and  scenery,  but  they  are  not  abso- 
lutely indispensable  portions  of  an  Opera. 
The  libretto  or  book  of  words,  rarely  possesses 
any  claim  to  literary  merit,  but  serves  as  a 
mere  framework  for  the  purposes  of  the  com- 
poser. 

Recitative  is  a  species  of  musical  decla- 
mation, not  necessarily  in  rhythmical  form, 
but  so  arranged  or  designed  as  to  assimilate 
musical  sounds  as  near  as  possible  to  ordinary 
speech. 

In  many  of  the  German  and  French  operas 
of  a  lighter  character,  spoken  dialogue  is  in- 
troduced in  the  place  of  recitative,  and  the 
same  practice  is  often  observed  in  English 
opera,  so  called. 

There  are  many  varieties  of  opera,  but  the 
chief  are  :  the  grand  opera  or  opera  seria,  the 
romantic  opera,  or  opera  dratmnatica ;  and  the 
comic  opera,  or  opera  hiiffa.  There  are  of 
course  many  works  which  partake  of  more 
than  one  of  the  styles  indicated  by  the  above 
divisions,  but  as  a  rule,  these  three  classes 
are  sufficiently  distinct. 

The  opera  is  of  Italian  origin,  and  of  com- 
paratively modern  date,  and  is  the  immediate 
successor  of  the  miracle-plays  with  music, 
as  the  Oratorio  is  of  the  ancient  mysteries. 
The   consideration    of  the    important  part 
played  by  music  in  the  performance  of  the 
ancient  Greek  drama,  has  given  probability  to 
the  idea  of  a  high  antiquity  for  opera;  and 
Menestrier  (c.   1670)  whose  ingenuity  has 
made  him  a  favourite  authority  in  musical 
history,  considers  the  song  of  Solomon  as 
the  earliest  opera  extant.    The  first  compo- 
sition   in    any   way    resembling   the  lyric 
opera  of  later  date,  is  said  to  be  a  work  by 
I  Adam  de  la  Hale,  called  "  Le  gieus  de  Robin 
et  de  Marian,"  produced  some  time  in  the  13th 
I  century.    But  as  few  trustworthy  particulars 
'  have  descended  to  us,  there  is  nothing  but  the 
'  mere  statement  to  rely  upon.  The  title  of  this 


(  319  ) 


OPERA. 


early  opera  implies,  however,  that  it  had 
some  degree  of  connection  with  the  ancient 
secular  plays  sometimes  performed  as  a  relief 
to  the  mysteries.  The  deeds  or  "  gests  "  of 
"  Uobin  Hood  and  Maid  Marian,"  form  the 
subject  of  more  than  one  early  play.  Sir 
John  Hawkins,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Science 
and  Practice  of  Music,"  declares  that  "  the 
invention  of  the  musical  drama  or  opera  is 
due  to  Emilio  del  Cavaliere,  who  in  the  year 
1590  exhibited  in  the  palace  of  the  Grand 
Duke  of  Florence,  //  Satiro  and  La  Dispera- 


employed.  As  the  study  of  music  progressed, 
and  the  capabilities  of  the  instruments  form- 
ing the  orchestra  came  to  be  better  understood, 
the  lyric  drama  began  to  assume  its  present 
character.  Of  the  vast  number  of  Italian 
operas  produced  up  to  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  only  one,  Cimarosa's  Matrimonio 
Segreto,  retains  its  place  upon  the  stage. 
Though  not  absolutely  the  founder  of  the 
modern  Italian  school,  Cherubini  may  be  said 
to  have  inaugurated  it.  After  the  production 
of  his  first  operas  at  Milan,  he  settled  in 


zione  di  Fileno,  two  dramas  of  the  pastoral  i  France,  leaving  the  direction  of  the  opera  to 


kind  set  to  music."  Others  state  that  Ottavio 
Rinuccini  is  the  inventor,  and  that  the  first 
opera  (performed  privately)  was  called  Da/ne, 
and  that  this  was  followed  by  the  production  of 
Eurydice,  in  the  year  1600,  the  music  to  both 
works  being  furnished  by  Jacopo  Peri,  one  of 
the  inventors  of  recitative.  But  there  is  evi- 
dence to  show  that  a  musical  drama  byClaudio 
Merulo  was  performed  in' 1574  at  Venice, 
when  Henry  III.  passed  on  his  way  from 
Poland  to  France  to  claim  the  crown.  Claudio 
Monteverde,  a  member  of  a  society  called  the 
Florentine  Academy,  who  also  set  to  music 
Rinuccini'sDa/we,  introduced  an  improvement 
by  giving  great  importance  to  the  accom- 
paniments. One  of  Monteverde's  operas, 
L'Or/eo,  was  the  first  of  the  kind  printed  with 
the  music.  The  dramatis  persoiice  and  the 
mstruments  used  in  performance  are  worth 
quoting. 


Personaggi. 


Stromenti. 


La  Musica  Prologo   Duoi  Gravicembani  (Cla- 

vicembali.) 

Orfeo   Duoi     Contrabassi  de 

Viola. 

Eurydice    Dieci  Vide  di  Brazzo. 

Choro  di  Ninfe  e  Pastori    Un  Arpa  doppio 

Speranza    Duoi  Violini  piccoli  alia 

Francese. 

Caronte   Duoi  Chittaroni 

Choro  di  spiriti  inferni    Duoi  organi  di  legno. 

Proserpina    Tre  bassi  di  gamba 

Plutone   Quattro  tromboni. 

Apollo    Un  Regale. 

Choro   di    pastori  che 

fecero   la  Moresca    Duoi  Cornetti. 

nelfine    Un  Flautina  alia  Vigesima 

seconda. 
Un  Clarino  con  tre  trombe 
sordine. 


There  was  scarcely  any  difference  between 
the  church  music  of  the  period  and  the 
operas,  inasmuch  as  both  were  in  the  same 
conventional  forms,  and  with  little  attempt 
at  religious  or  dramatic  expression.  The 
choruses  in  the  early  operas  were  written 
in  what  is  called  the  Madrigal  style,  and  were 
seldom  essential  parts  of  the  work  ;  there  were 
instrumental  preludes  to  each  of  the  acts,  and 
the  artifice  of  accompanying  a  certain  voice 
with  a  special  instrument  was  occasionally 

(  ) 


the  illustrious  Rossini.  The  versatility  of 
Rossini's  genius  is  well  shown  in  those  of  his 
operas  that  keep  their  places  upon  the  lyric 
stage,  for  although  Semirainide,  II  Barbiere, 
Otello,  La  Gazza  Ladra,  and  Guillaume  Tell, 
contain  much  that  is  bad  and  unworthy,  among 
some  noble  thoughts  nobly  expressed,  yet 
each  opera  is  distinct  in  style  and  treatment. 
As  a  melodist  Bellini  ranks  next  in  order 
of  merit,  as  he  does  in  point  of  time,  and  his 
operas  Norma,  I  Puritani,  and  La  Sonnambula 
give  greater  pleasure  through  the  beauty 
of  their  melodies,  than  they  do  by  their  dra- 
matic force.  The  same  power  of  melody  is  the 
chief  attraction  in  Donizetti's  operas,  but  this 
last  named  composer  has  shown  in  Lucrezia 
Borgia,  La  Favorita,  and  in  Lticia  di  Lammer- 
moor,  that  he  was  also  gifted  with  the  spirit 
of  conveymg  dramatic  expression,  though 
scarcely  in  so  great  a  degree  as  his  successor 
Verdi.  Rossini  who  found  Italian  opera  weak 
from  inanity,  by  the  efforts  of  his  genius, 
made  it  strong  and  powerful,  but  the  charm  of 
melody  with  which  he  graced  the  revived  form 
had  greater  fascinations  for  his  followers  ihan 
dramatic  vigour,  the  real  life  and  soul  of 
opera.  Italian  opera  has  quietly  subsided 
into  the  lifeless  state  in  which  it  was  found  by 
Rossini,  for  there  is  no  representative  com- 
poser worthy  or  willing  to  develop  and  per- 
petuate that  which  is  considered  as  the  true 
Italian  school,  the  characteristics  of  which 
are  weaUh  of  melody,  sentiment  without 
pathos,  and  little  regard  for  instrumental  effect. 
Rossini,  by  the  infusion  of  a  foreign  element, 
departed  in  some  degree  from  the  standard 
models,  for  until  his  time  German  music  was 
held  in  the  greatest  contempt  in  Italy,  but  he 
laid  the  foundation  for  a  taste  among  his 
countrymen  for  the  despised  music  by  quietly 
introducing  in  his  works  many  of  the  charac- 
teristics held  to  be  essentially  Teutonic,  and 
at  variance  with  the  established  orthodox  style 
of  operatic  music.  Verdi,  the  next  great 
composer  after  Rossini,  shows  in  his  com- 
positions the  result  of  the  grafting  of  German 
ideas  upon  an  Italian  stock. 

His  works,  while  possessing  many  points 
peculiar  to  Italian  music,  really  belong  to 


OPERA. 


the  German  school  of  art,  as  much  because  of 
the  freedom  displayed  in  the  instrumentation, 
as  the  evident  and  often  successful  attempt  to 
impart  the  expression  of  passion  by  means  of 
pure  declamation.  Therefore,  as  Verdi  is 
accepted  as  the  modern  exponent  of  Italian 
opera,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  Italian  opera 
proper  has  almost  ceased  to  exist. 

The  introduction  of  the  opera  into  France  is 
said  to  have  been  the  work  of  Lully,  but  it  is 
stated  upon  better  authority,  that  the  credit 
rests  with  Cardinal  Mazarin  ;  for  there  exists 
the  record  of  the  performance  in  Paris  of  an 
opera  in  Italian  in  1645,  ^  ^i"^^  when  Lully 
was  only  in  his  twelfth  year.  It  is  also  affirmed 
that  the  first  opera  performed  in  Paris  was 
the  composition  of  an  Italian,  named  Baltza- 
rini,  also  called  Beaujoyeux,  who  came  to 
France  iif  the  year  1580,  and  was  afterwards 
made  valet  de  chambre  to  the  queen  of  Louis 
XIII.  In  the  year  1669  the  Abbe  Perrin 
obtained  a  patent  from  Louis  XIV.  to  estab- 
lish an  academy  of  music,  the  former  privilege 
granted  by  Charles  IX.  to  Antoine  le  Baif  j 
having  become  valueless.  Under  the  rule 
of  the  Abbe  the  first  opera  in  French  delighted 
the  ears  of  the  Parisians.  Notwithstanding  1 
the  popularity  of  Lully  and  his  successors,  and  ' 
the  influence  of  court  patronage — which  may 
be  said,  in  passing,  to  be  not  always  of  the 
best  advantage  to  art — the  French  have  failed 
to  establish  a  school  of  grand  opera  peculiar 
to  themselves,  and  it  was  not  until  the  time 
of  Auber  that  they  were  able  to  claim  any 
individuality  in  opera  at  all.  [ 

The  support  of  the  French  court  dying  with  ! 
Louis  XIV.,  opera  in  France  suffered  many 
vicissitudes,  until  new  life  was  infused  into 
operatic  taste  at  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  from  which  time  opera  has  been 
steadily  encouraged,  many  of  the  best  works 
of  modern  time  having  been  first  produced 
in  Paris. 

The  encouragement  given  to  the  production 
of  grand  opera  in  Paris,  does  not  establish  a 
right  for  the  French  to  lay  claim  to  the  works 
so  brought  out  as  belonging  to  their  school  of 
art,  a  mistake  which  they  and  others  seem 
inclined  to  make. 

The  greatest  triumphs  of  musical  art  in 
France  were  first  gained  by  Gluck,  and  there 
is  no  doubt  but  that  such  individuality  as  the 
French  composers  have  been  able  to  gain  for 
themselves,  is  due  to  the  example  set  by  him. 
This  individuality,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  Gretry,  Mehul, 
Boieldieu,  Halevy,  Auber,  and  Gounod,  which 
upon  examination  will  be  found  to  be  of  a 
composite  character,  as  much  Italian  as 
German,  and  more  Italian  and  German  than 
French. 

The  history  of  attempts  to  establish  a  school 


of  national  opera  in  England  would  be  a  mere 
record  of  rash  and  unfortunate  speculations. 
The  example  set  by  Purcell  has  never  been 
successfully  followed,  and  while  he  has  been 
proudly  pointed  to  as  the  founder  of  the 
English  school  of  opera,  two  centuries  have 
passed,  and  scholars  are  still  wanting  to  the 
school. 

Purcell's  operas,  judged  by  the  ordinary 
standard,  and  not  by  the  three-fold  character- 
istics demanded  in  our  own  days,  have 
especial  claims  to  consideration.  The  happy 
union  of  words  and  music  in  them  was  far  in 
advance  of  anything  that  had  been  produced 
before.  The  delicacy  of  expression  with 
which  his  compositions  abound  has  not  been 
surpassed  by  any  subsequent  English  opera 
composer.  His  occasional  "  barbarisms,"  as 
they  have  been  called,  may  be  considered  as 
"  unavoidable  compliances  with  the  false 
taste  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived." 

After  Purcell's  death  there  was  no  attempt 
made  to  continue  English  opera.  Works  in 
Italian  alone  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
public,  until  burlesqued  and  driven  out 
of  fashion  by  the  "  Beggars'  Opera."  The 
"  Beggars'  Opera,"  which  keeps  a  certain 
place  upon  the  stage,  is  a  mere  pasticcio  of 
old  tunes,  popular  for  that  reason,  but  value- 
less as  a  representative  of  English  opera. 
With  the  exception  of  "  Artaxerxes,"  by 
Dr.  Arne,  the  majority  of  the  operas  of  the 
last  century  were  composed  of  old  fragments 
by  various  writers,  borrowed  either  with  or 
without  acknowledgment. 

The  pioneer  of  modern  English  opera  was 
Sir  Henry  Bishop,  who  deserves  to  be  honour- 
ably named,  some  of  his  concerted  works  being 
remarkable  for  originality  and  vigour,  and 
others  for  beauty  of  melody  and  form,  so  that 
the  ungrateful  neglect  into  which  his  music  has 
fallen  is  inexplicable.  It  is  true  that  he  quoted 
thoughts  from  other  writers,  when  he  found 
those  ideas  better  suited  to  his  purpose  than 
his  own  inventions,  but  it  has  yet  to  be  deter- 
mined how  far  in  music  such  a  license  is 
damaging  to  general  originality.  In  literature 
quotations  are  frequently  considered  to 
enhance  the  force  of  the  subject  treated  of, 
and  the  writer  is  praised  as  the  possessor  of 
extensive  knowledge,  as  a  scholar  and  as  a 
man  of  taste  ;  but  in  music,  as  there  are  no 
means  to  make  extracts  distinguishable,  all 
such  introductions  are  stigmatised  by  the 
ugly  name  of  plagiarisms.  Bishop's  writings 
were  received  with  great  favour  in  their  day, 
and  are  not  without  value  as  contributions  to 
art.  Considering  this,  and  noting  the  success 
attained  by  the  productions  of  Balfe,  Wallace. 
Macfarren,  and  others,  in  recent  times,  some 
hope  is  inspired  that  an  English  opera  is 
possible  in  the  future,  more  especially  when 


(  321  ) 


X 


OPERA. 


it  is  called  to  mind  how  immense  are  the  dis- 
advantages under  which  Englishmen  labour 
in  their  endeavours  to  obtain  a  just  re- 
cognition ot  their  unquestionable  musical 
merit. 

The  first  important  step  necessary  towards 
the  founding  of  a  good  and  permanent  school 
of  English  operatic  music,  must  be  the  dis- 
covery of  a  poet-musician  or  musician-poet, 
one  who  has  perfect  command  over  and  fami- 
liar acquaintance  with  his  language,  an  exact 
sense  of  the  requirements  of  the  musician,  and 
the  power  of  writing  sensible,  effective  and 
useful  combinations  of  words  in  vigorous  and 
telling  English. 

Italian  opera  was  introduced  into  England 
in  1706,  when  Arsinoe  was  performed  at 
Drury  Lane  theatre,  but  to  English  words. 
The  first  opera  performed  in  Italian  was 
Almahide,  by  a  company  of  Italian  singers 
(ridiculed  by  Addison  in  the  Spectator  when 
still  smarting  under  the  failure  of  his  Rosa- 
mund) ;  this  was  succeeded  by  others,  and 
ended  in  the  establishment  of  Italian  opera  in 
England.  Handel  did  much  towards  securing 
this  end,  and  was  himself  the  composer  of 
44  operas,  all  of  which  are  now  forgotten. 
The  operas  of  the  period  were  not  of  the 
complicated  character  of  the  modern  opera, 
but  consisted  of  a  few  songs,  with  or  without 
recitative,  and  but  slight  instrumental  accom- 
paniments, the  harpsichord  supplying  all 
deficiencies.  For  the  later  progress  of  Italian 
opera  in  England  see  History  of  the  Opera 
(1862)  by  Sutherland  Edwards,  Memoirs  of 
the  Musical  Drama  (1851)  by  George 
Hogarth,  and  Eber's  Seven  years  of  the  King's 
theatre. 

For  some  years  past  there  have  been  two 
companies  performing  Italian  opera  in  Lon- 
don, and  it  is  not  an  uncommon  occurrence 
to  find  excellent  representations  in  the  more 
important  provincial  towns.  In  addition  to 
a  large  staff  of  principal  singers  of  both  sexes, 
an  opera  company  consists  of  from  60  to 
80  chorus  singers,  male  and  female,  about 
10  first  violin  players  and  10  seconds,  8  violas, 
8  violoncellos,  8  double  basses,  2  flutes,  2 
hautboys,  2  bassoons,  2  clarinets,  4  horns, 
2  trumpets  or  cornets,  3  trombones,  i  pair  of 
kettle-drums,  i  great  drum  and  cymbals, 
with  a  military  band  occasionally  appearing 
in  the  costume  supposed  to  be  proper 
upon  the  stage,  a  conductor,  a  prompter, 
maestro  al  piano,  and  chorus  master.  When 
the  score  requires  the  use  of  the  cor  anglais, 
bass  clarinet,  and  other  rarely  used  instru- 
ments the  players  upon  mstruments  of  like 
character  in  the  orchestra  perform  on  those 
instruments.  The  works  are  produced  in  j 
Italian  in  London,  independently  of  the  . 
language  in  which  they  may  have  been  origi- 


nally written,  and  the  patronage  bestowed  is 
great  and  encouraging,  though  without  being 
subsidised  by  Government,  as  is  the  case  in 
most  foreign  cities.  The  opera  is  resorted 
to  less  now  as  a  matter  of  fashion,  than  as 
the  result  of  a  real  taste  for  this  species  ot 
entertainment.  Many  of  the  operas  are 
placed  upon  the  stage  in  the  most  magni- 
ficent style,  with  scenery  that  is  in  many 
instances  beautiful  as  artistic  work,  and  with 
costumes  and  other  accessories  remarkable  for 
their  historical  accuracy.  This  excellence  is 
not  confined  to  operas  produced  in  Paris  or 
London,  but  is  extended  to  other  continental 
cities,  so  that  without  admitting  the  definition 
of  Rousseau  as  a  necessity,  opera  is  frequently 
found  to  combine  the  several  characteristics 
spoken  of  by  him. 

It  is  in  Germany  that  the  highest  forms  of 
development  have  been  made,  the  expression 
of  passion,  the  perfection  of  instrumental 
accompaniments,  orchestral  colouring  and 
scientific  writing,  being  especially  due  to 
German  invention  and  influence. 

Gluck,  the  founder  of  the  French  school 
of  opera,  was  a  German,  and  as  already  inti- 
mated, to  a  fellow-countryman  of  his,  George 
Frederic  Handel,  the  establishment  of  Italian 
opera  as  an  entertainment  in  Engla'nd  is  due. 
That  which  Monteverde  began,  Gluck  revived, 
Mozart  continued,  and  subsequent  composers 
have  expanded  and  extended,  and  the  instru- 
mental accompaniments  to  an  opera  are 
becoming  equally  as  important  as  the  vocal 
portion,  in  illustrating  the  emotions  aroused 
by  the  story  upon  which  the  general  subject 
is  based.  In  Mozart's  operas,  Idomeneo, 
Le  Nozze  di  Figaro,  Zaiiberflote,  and  Don 
Giovanni,  the  construction  is  such  that, 
while  they  delight  the  educated  musician 
by  the  ingenuity  with  which  the  resources 
are  managed,  they  also  give  the  highest 
pleasure  to  the  unscientific  lover  of  music  ; 
and  by  this  means,  the  widest  and  most 
lasting  popularity  is  secured.  Following 
Mozart,  the  greatest  operas  are  Fidelio 
by  Beethoven,  Oberon,  EuryantJie,  and  Der 
Freischutz  by  Weber,  Faust  by  Spohr,  Les 
Huguenots,  Robert  le  Diable,  L'l^toile  du 
Nord,  and  Le  Prophete  by  Meyerbeer.  It 
was  Mozart's  music  that  dealt  the  first 
serious  blow  to  the  supremacy  of  Italian 
music  in  Europe — a  blow  which  it  has  not 
yet  recovered. 

The  further  extension  of  musical  expedients 
has  been  attempted  by  Wagner,  with  large 
and  g.'-owing  success.  In  his  early  operas, 
Rienzi  and  Der  Fliegende  Hollander,  Wagner 
has  few  of  the  advanced  thoughts  upon  which 
later  he  founded  his  claim  to  originality.  In 
his  volume  of  essays,  "  Oper  und  das  Drama," 
he  sets  forth  his  ideas  upon  the  composition 


(  ) 


OPERIST— ORATORIO. 


of  opera.  He  maintains  that  "  opera  consists 
cf  music,  poetry,  and  dramatic  effect,  and 
these  should  not  be  made  separate  objects, 
but  should  mutually  combine  and  aid  each 
other."  In  taking  credit  to  himself  for  having 
reformed  the  opera  by  effecting  this  com- 
bination for  the  first  time  he  is  wrong,  for 
the  same  union  was  attempted  by  Meyerbeer 
in  his  operas  ;  he  is  in  error  also  in  believ- 
ing that  the  contrivance  of  announcing  or 
accompanying  certain  characters  by  the  use 
of  special  instruments  is  his  own  idea,  for 
Monteverde,  and  nearly  all  the  early  opera 
composers,  with  very  limited  resources  at 
their  disposal,  had  adopted  the  like  plan. 
The  innovations  for  which  he  deserves  most 
credit  are  those  which  he  does  not  insist  upon 
as  novelties,  yet  for  which  his  name  will  be 
remembered  by  posterity  as  the  pioneer  of  a 
new  path.  The  first  is  in  not  marring  his 
situation  by  the  introduction  of  symmetrical 
and  wearisome  melodies,  and  the  second 
and  morey  important  is  the  restoration  of 
tonic  hajmoniefi  in  place  of  the  well  used 
and  almost  worn  out  dominant  harmo- 
nies. He  iWy  also  claim  credit  for  being 
possessed  of  the  faculty'  of  writing  his  own 
libretti.  The  words  of  his  later  operas  are 
adapted  to  a  ded^matory  style  of  recitative, 
without  what  is  knswn  as  "airs,"  and  accom- 
panied by  harmonies  and  instrumentation 
according  to  the  spirit  of  the  situation. 
Wagner's  eccentricities,  his  impatience  of  ad- 
verse opinions  among  others,  have  been,  and 
still  are,  the  self-imposed  bars  to  his  being 
j  accepted  as  the  founder  of  an  advanced 
;  school;  but  his  firm  stand  against  musical 
i  conventionalities  has  set  many  clever  musi- 
cians thinking  in  his  train,  with  a  result  that 
cannot  possibly  be  without  good  influence 
over  coming  generations. 

Operist  {Ger.)    An  opera  singer. 
Ophicleide.    A  keyed  serpent.    {6(pic  and 
cXet'c).    A  brass  instrument  of  large  compass 
I     and  great  power,  but  having  so  peculiar  a 
i     quality  of  tone  as  to  necessitate  careful  treat- 
ment by  a  composer.    There  are  two  sorts  of 
ophicleides,  alto  and  bass.    The  bass  instru- 
1     ment  has  a  compass  of  three  octaves  and  one 
i     note,  from 

!  to 

■=7- 

with  all  the  intermediate  semitones.  Bass 
ophicleides  in  B?  produce,  of  course,  sounds 
one  whole  tone  below  those  written,  and  those 
i     in  A>,  sounds  a  majorthird  below  those  written. 
I     The  ophicleide  is  capable  of  a  great  deal  of 
;     execution,  if  not  too  chromatic  and  too  low 
in  its  compass.    The  alto  ophicleide  has  a 
compass  similar  in  extent  to  that  of  the  bass  | 


instrument,  but  starting  from  a  note  one 
octave  higher,  that  is  from 


But  as  the  alto  ophicleide  is  in  F  or  Eb,  the 
real  sounds  produced  will  be  a  major  fifth  oi 
major  sixth  lower  than  the  notes  written. 
Three  or  four  of  the  lowest  notes  and  two  or 
three  of  the  highest  notes  should  be  avoided. 
This  instrument  is  not  so  satisfactory  as  its 
bass  fellow,  and  is  therefore  but  rarely  heard. 
The  quality  of  the  tone  is  not  unpleasant, 
but  it  does  not  combine  well  with  that  of 
other  members  of  the  orchestra.  This  un- 
pleasant prominence  of  character  tends  to 
limit  the  use  of  the  instrument. 

Opus  (Lat.)  A  work.  Composers  number 
their  works  for  purposes  of  distinction  and 
reference. 

Opusculum  (Lat.)    A  short  work. 

Oratorio  [Ital.)  A  composition  for  voices 
and  instruments  illustrating  some  subject 
taken  directly  from  scripture  or  paraphrased 
upon  some  theme  in  sacred  history.  The 
music  consists  of  symphonies  or  overtures, 
airs,  recitatives,  duets,  trios,  choruses,  &c., 
with  accompaniments  for  orchestra  or  organ. 

The  origin  and  growth  of  oratorio  is 
almost  coeval  with  that  of  opera,  both  being 
developments  of  the  early  forms  of  drama,  or, 
to  speak  more  clearly,  oratorio  may  be  said 
to  be  the  successor  of  the  mediaeval  Mystery 
play,  as  was  the  opera  of  the  Morality. 
In  both  cases  the  poetical  description  of  the 
subjects  chosen  is  accompanied  with  music, 
but  with  this  difference,  that  whereas  the 
opera  requires  also  scenery  and  dramatic 
action  in  its  representation,  oratorio  is  now 
performed  without  either. 

The  soldiers  and  pilgrims  of  the  first 
crusade,  in  their  attempts  to  delineate  drama- 
tically the  Passion  of  our  Lord,  and  other 
incidents  of  sacred  history,  together  with  the 
legends  of  the  deeds  and  endurance  of  saints 
and  martyrs,  imitated  the  practice  observed 
in  the  performance  of  secular  plays  by  the 
introduction  of  music  at  these  representa- 
tions. It  is  probable  that  more  than  one  of 
the  hymns  written  by  St.  Bernard  of  Morlaix 
and  others  living  about  the  time  were  contri- 
buted for  this  purpose,  and  that  the  audience 
joined  in  the  singing.  As  many  of  the 
first  oratorios  were  mystical  expositions  of 
doctrine  such  as  that  described  in  many 
of  the  early  hymns,  some  colour  is  given 
to  the  supposition  that  musical  exposi- 
tion and  teaching  in  the  form  known  as 
oratorio  may  be  as  old  as  the  time  of  the 
Crusades.  It  was  not  until  five  centuries 
later  that  it  was  made  a  recognised  and  dis- 


(  323  ) 


ORATORIO. 


tinct  medium  of  instruction  and  pleasure. 
St.  Philip  Neri,  in  the  endeavour  to  establish 
firmly  the  institution  he  had  founded  in  Rome, 
and  also  moved  by  a  desire  to  win  the  people 
to  the  observance  of  religious  duties,  relied 
upon  the  universal  love  for  music  to  gain  his 
object.  With  this  intention  he  engaged  Gio- 
vanni Animuccia,  a  Florentine,  as  his  Maestro 
di  Cappella,  who  during  his  connection  with  the 
oratory  produced  several  musical  pieces,  con- 
sisting of  motetts,  psalms,  and  songs  of  praise 
set  to  Latin  and  Italian  words,  known  by 
the  general  title  of  "  Laudi  Spirituali."  Ani- 
muccia published  his  first  collection  at  Rome 
in  1563.  The  character  of  these  compositions 
is  similar  to  that  known  as  the  madrigal 
style,  and  these  "  laudi "  have  been  taken 
as  the  origin  of  that  class  of  composition. 
Animuccia  was  afterwards  appointed  choir- 
master to  the  Vatican,  a  post  he  held  until  his 
death  in  1571,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
Palestrina. 

The  experiment  succeeded  so  well  that  not 
only  was  a  new  form  of  composition  origi- 
nated, but  what  was  probably  more  to  the 
purpose  of  the  founder,  the  congregation  of 
the  Fathers  of  the  Oratory  was  placed  upon 
so  firm  a  basis  that  it  exists  to  the  present 
day.  These  musical  performances  were 
divided  into  two  parts,' a  short  form  of  prayer 
preceding  the  first,  a  sermon  the  second,  the 
whole  being  concluded  with  religious  exer- 
cises. By  this  plan  those  who  came  for  the 
main  purpose  of  the  music  were  constrained  to 
take  part  in  the  devotional  observances,  and 
doubtless,  obtained  much  spiritual  advantage. 
If  in  the  performance  of  oratorio  at  the 
annual  festivals  in  some  of  our  English  cathe- 
drals the  same  or  a  similar  arrangement  were 
adopted,  much  of  the  scandal  now  accruing 
might  be  unquestionably  avoided  if  not  totally 
suppressed. 

By  degrees,  the  psalms  and  spiritual  songs 
gave  place  to  sacred  stories  or  events  in 
scripture  written  in  verse,  sometimes  in 
dialogue,  and  set  to  music.  The  subjects  most 
popular  in  early  times  were  —  The  Good 
Samaritan,  The  Prodigal  Son,  Tobit  with  the 
Aiigel,  The  Sacrifice  of  Abraham,  and  others, 
and  the  name  of  the  place  where  these  were 
first  heard  was  given  to  the  class  of  music 
performed.  The  first  work  in  any  way  cor- 
responding to  the  more  modern  form  of 
oratorio,  with  solos,  recitatives,  choruses,  and 
orchestral  accompaniments  was  called  La 
Rappresent'izione  di  Anima  e  di  Corpo,  com- 
posed by  Emilio  del  Cavaliere,  performed  in 
the  oratory  of  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria 
della  Vallicella  at  Rome  in  1600.  Ten  years 
previously  Cavaliere  had  produced  two  pas- 
toral dramas  at  Florence,  and  he  has,  there- 
fore, claim  to  the  honour  of  being  considered 


as  one  of  the  first  writers,  if  not  the  inventoi 
of  opera.  Cavaliere's  oratorio  was  represented 
in  action  on  a  stage  erected  in  the  church,  with 
scenery  and  costumes;  dances  were  also  intro- 
duced. The  recitatives  in  both  his  operas  or 
oratorios  were  furnished  by  Jacopo  Peri,  and  it 
was  supposed  that  in  the  introduction  of  recita- 
tive the  ancient  use  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans 

I  was  recovered.  In  the  preface  to  Cavaliere's 
oratorio  each  singer  is  required  "  to  have  a 

I  fine  voice,  perfectly  in  tune,  and  free  from  all 
defects  in  the  delivery  of  it,  with  a  pathetic 
expression,  the  power  of  swelling  and  dimin- 
ishing the  tones,"  and  is  enjoined  to  be 
"  particularly  attentive  to  the  articulation  and 
expression  of  the  words,  and  to  have  an  equal 
respect  for  the  composer  as  for  the  poet." 
The  instruments,  consisting  of  a  double  lyre, 
double  guitar,  a  harpsichord,  and  two  flutes, 
accompanied  this  oratorio  behind  the  scenes. 
The  choruses  served  as  the  music  for  the 
dancers,  and  madrigals  commenced  and  con- 
cluded the  performance.  The  violin  was  only 
sparingly  used  in  the  early  oratorios,  one  of 
the  first  writers  who  wrote  freely  for  that 
instrument  being  Domenico  Mazzochi,  and 
for  this  reason  his  name  deserves  mention 
among  the  early  composers  ;  beyond  this  fact 
there  is  nothing  remarkable  in  any  of  the 
works  produced  until  the  time  of  Stradella, 
1670,  for  the  only  noticeable  points  in  most 
of  these  compositions  are  the  curious  mixtures 
of  piety  and  profanity.  Stradella's  best  ora- 
torio was  on  the  subject  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  and,  judging  from  the  specimens 
printed  in  Martini's  "  Exemplare  di  contrap- 
punto  fugato,"  is  remarkable  for  beauty  and 
sublimity  ;  the  scoring  also  shows  some  pro- 
gress in  musical  thought,  but  the  work  is 
little  known,  as  it,  still  remains  in  manuscript. 
The  next  writer  of  importance  was  Carissimi ; 
his  compositions  are  marked  by  sweetness  of 
melody,  clever  modulations,  and  skilful  har- 
mony; his  most  noted  oratorios  are  the  Judg- 
ment of  Solomon,  and  Jephtha.  One  of  the 
choruses  in  the  latter  work,  "  Plorate  fiHae 
Israel,"  was  appropriated  by  Handel,  and  intro- 
duced into  Samson  to  the  words  "  Hear  Jacob's 
God."  The  chorus  "  Exululantes  filii  Ammon  " 
also  forms  the  conclusion  of  "  With  thunder 
armed  "  in  S(Tm50«.  "  Et  clangebant  tubae  " 
is  imitated  in  the  symphony  of  "  We  come  in 
bright  array  "  in  Judas  Maccabceus,  and  the 
recitative  in  Alexander  s  Feast,  "  He  chose 
a  mournful  muse  "  is  note  for  note  identical 
with  "  Heu  mihi,  filia  mea,"  from  Carissimi's 
Jephtha.  Many  other  instances  might  be 
cited  of  Handel's  obligations  to  this  musician, 
the  most  striking  and  important  being  that 
all  his  recitatives  were  formed  upon  the  im- 
proved model  furnished  by  Carissimi,  who,  io 
addition  to  other  advancements  in  musici 


(  324  ) 


ORATORIO. 


gave  great  importance  to  the  use  of  stringed 
instruments  in  his  accompaniments,  made 
the  basses  of  his  compositions  move  more 
freely  than  former  masters  permitted,  and 
first  recommended  the  introduction  of  the 
cantata  upon  the  stage.  He  died  in  1675 
at  a  great  age.  Dean  Aldrich,  who  was  an 
enthusiastic  admirer  of  his  works,  made  a 
large  collection  of  them,  which  he  placed 
in  the  library  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford, 
where  it  still  remains.  After  Carissimi, 
Scarlatti  deserves  the  next  place  of  honour, 
not  only  as  a  prolific,  but  as  a  thoughtful 
composer  ;  his  works  are  rarely  heard  now, 
except  when  some  of  the  choruses  with 
Handel's  name  attached  are  performed.  The 
device  of  accompanying  recitatives  with  a 
string  quartett  was  first  tried  by  Scarlatti, 
and  this  plan  was  followed  by  Leonardo  Leo, 
whose  contrapuntal  writing,  similar  in  cha- 
racter to  Handel's  in  sublimity  and  massive- 
ness,  forms  the  chief  beauty  of  his  oratorios 
and  sacred  pieces.  As  a  master  of  counter- 
point Caldara  is  worthy  of  mention,  while  as 
melodists  Hasse  and  Pergolesi  are  best 
known  ;  the  beauty  and  grace  of  melody  in 
these  two  composers  is  also  to  be  found  in  a 
certain  degree  in  the  writings  of  Jomelli,  who 
was  the  last  of  the  oratorio  writers  of  the 
Italian  school. 

Like  the  opera,  oratorio  arose  and  was 
nourished  in  Italy,  to  be  developed  to  its 
highest  form  by  German  writers,  and,  although 
it  was  permitted  to  be  used  in  the  offices  of 
the  Roman  church,  and  was  to  some  extent 
abused  by  Italian  writers,  yet  the  value  of 
oratorio  was  recognised  by  the  German 
reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who  en- 
couraged its  introduction  into  their  churches 
with  a  result  that  ultimately  led  to  its  most 
complete  forms.  It  was  formerly  the  custom 
in  the  German  Lutheran  church  to  have  ora- 
torios performed  with  instrumental  accom- 
paniments on  solemn  occasions ;  the  congre- 
gation was  encouraged  to  join  at  intervals  in 
the  chorales  or  Psalm  tunes  which  were 
introduced  for  this  purpose.  The  Passion, 
according  to  St.  Matthew,  by  John  Sebastian 
Bach,  is  an  excellent  example  of  this  kind  of 
work.  [Passion  music]  Bach,  one  of  the 
most  original,  versatile,  and  prolific  writers 
that  the  world  has  yet  seen,  was  born  at 
Eisenach  in  1685,  and  died  at  Leipsic  in  1750. 
The  study  of  his  music  has  influenced  the 
thoughts  and  writings  of  most  composers  of 
importance  since  his  time,  his  organ  com- 
positions have  created  a  new  school  of 
players,  and  the  comparatively  recent  know- 
ledge of  his  oratorios  and  vocal  music  has 
shown  the  extraordinary  power  and  value  of 
his  genius,  which,  unknown  or  not  under- 
stood in  his  own  time,  is  now  thoroughly 


appreciated.  It  is  quite  reasonable  to  assume 
that,  had  his  vocal  works  been  earlier 
known,  a  greater  advance  in  oratorio  music 
would  have  been  made  than  has  been  made. 
The  Passion  Music  alluded  to  above  is  written 
for  two  choirs  and  two  orchestras.  The 
choruses  and  chorales  are  exquisitely  har- 
monised, the  airs  are  remarkable  for  tender 
pathos  and  truth  of  expression,  and  the  reci- 
tatives are  notable  for  the  admirable  force 
with  which  the  meaning  and  intention  of  the 
text  is  conveyed.  Bach's  oratorios  were 
written  for  the  service  of  the  church,  and 
were  never  intended  for  any  other  purpose, 
the  introduction  of  the  oratorio  into  secular 
places  being  a  later  idea.  The  subjects  are 
partly  in  narrative  and  partly  deductions  from 
the  incidents,  after  the  manner  of  the  old 
Greek  chorus.  This  is  the  true  form  of  ora- 
torio as  adapted  to  worship ;  but  as  the 
oratorio  was  disused  as  an  aid  to  devotion, 
and  employed  in  the  theatre  and  concert 
room,  the  narrative  form  was  the  one  most 
favoured  for  the  purpose,  and  it  is  in  this  form 
that  the  majority  of  Handel's  oratorios  are 
written. 

Handel,  who  is  allowed  to  be  the  repre- 
sentative composer  of  oratorio,  produced  his 
first  work.  La  Hesnrrezione,  while  he  resided 
in  Italy,  before  he  was  twenty  years  of  age. 
Fifteen  years  later,  while  he  was  organist  to 
the  Duke  of  Chandos,  Esther,  the  first  oratorio 
written  by  him  in  England,  was  brought 
forward  privately  ;  it  was,  however,  not  until 
1732  that  it  was  produced  in  public,  having 
been  laid  aside  for  twelve  years.  In  the  ad- 
vertisement announcing  this  performance  it 

i  was  considered  necessary  to  give  the  follow- 
ing explanation  of  the  plan,  as  oratorios  were 

I  then  a  novelty  in  England  :  "  By  His 
Majesty's  command,  at  the  King's  Theatre  in 
the  Haymarket,  on  Tuesday,  the  2nd  May, 
will  be  performed  the  sacred  story  of  Esther, 
an  oratorio  in  English,  composed  by  Mr. 
Handel,  and  to  be  performed  by  a  great 
number  of  voices  and  instruments.  N.B. 
There  will  be  no  acting  on  the  stage,  but  the 
house  will  be  fitted  up  in  a  decent  manner  for 

!  the  audience."     This  explanation  was  pro- 

1  bably  made  in  deference  to  the  objection 
popularly  entertained  at  the  time  against  any 
performance  savouring  of  Popery  and  pro- 
fanity, and  was  needful  because  of  the  preva- 
lent prejudice  against  the  dramatic  perform- 
ance of  sacred  subjects.  After  the  production 
of  Esther  Handel  was  engaged  in  the  pro- 
duction of  operas  and  other  secular  works,  and 
in  the  establishment  of  his  short-lived  academy 
of  music — this  entailed  a  loss  of  health  and 
of  much  money.  After  the  advanced  age 
of  53,  and  in  defiance  of  prejudice  and 
failure,  he  gave  to  the  world  those  immortal 


(  325  ) 


ORATORIO. 


productions  with  which  his  name  is  now 
familiarly  associated.  The  majority  of  these 
works  were  performed  at  the  "  theatre  in  the 
Haymarket,"  Deborah  being  first  given  in 
1733,  Athaliah  in  1734,  Israel  in  Egypt  in 
1738,  The  Messiah  in  1741,  Samson  in  1742, 
Judas  Maccabaus  in  1746,  Joshua  in  1747, 
Solomon  in  1749,  and  Jephtha  in  175 1.  The 
greatest  works  in  this  list  are  Israel  in  Egypt 
and  The  Messiah.  In  all  these,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  last-named,  Handel  availed 
himself  freely  of  the  license  of  appropriating 
other  men's  works  and  incorporating  them  in 
his  own.  It  has  been  said  that  he  has  always 
improved  and  invigorated  all  pieces  so  bor- 
rowed, but  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  the  mere 
adaptation  of  words  different  to  those  origi- 
nally set  can  be  considered  an  improvement. 
Notwithstanding  this  pillage  there  is  enough 
originality  in  Handel  to  constitute  him  a  great 
composer,  especially  when  it  is  considered 
that  the  work  by  which  he  is  most  popularly 
and  extensively  known.  The  Messiah,  is  for 
the  most  part  his  own.  It  is  in  broad 
choral  writing  that  Handel's  great  strength 
exists,  for  he  only  sparingly  employed  instru- 
mental effects,  for  the  orchestra  was  only 
imperfectly  developed  in  his  time,  and  he 
generally  employed  his  instruments  more  for 
the  sake  of  supporting  the  voices  than  for  any 
peculiar  effects  of  colouring  to  be  obtained 
from  their  use.  There  are  some  exceptions  to 
this  plan, but  they  are  very  few;  the  scantiness 
of  Handel's  effects,  and  the  more  extensive 
means  employed  for  the  performance  of  his 
works,  gave  rise  to  the  additional  parts  which 
have  been  made  for  instruments  either  only 
partly  known  in  his  time,  or  of  subsequent 
invention.  The  first  of  these  additional 
accompaniments  was  furnished  by  Mozart  to 
The  Messiah;  Mendelssohn, Macfarren,  Perry, 
Costa,  and  Sullivan  have  supplied  parts  to  the 
other  of  the  more  frequently  performed  works 
with  more  or  less  success. 

The  example  set  by  Handel  was  followed 
by  such  writers  as  Stanley,  Dr.  Arne,  Dr. 
"VVorgan,  Dr.  Arnold,  but  little  encouragement 
was  offered  to  their  efforts,  so  that  no  new 
oratorio  of  importance  was  heard  in  London 
until  Hajdn's  Creation  was  performed. 

Haydn  was  the  author  of  but  few  oratorios, 
The  Return  of  Tobias,  The  Seasons,  The 
Seven  Last  Words,  and  The  Creation,  being 
all  his  compositions  that  can  be  in  any  way 
classed  under  this  head.  The  Seven  Last 
Words  is  more  in  accordance  with  the 
character  of  the  Lutheran  oratorios,  being 
intended  to  follow  as  many  short  sermons  on 
the  last  words  of  our  Lord,  The  Seasons  is 
somewhat  Fecular  in  character ;  and  the 
same  sweetness  of  melody  prevalent  in  this 
is  found  in  Haydn's  best  known^  work,  The 


j  Creation,  produced   in    1798.     The  special 

I  qualities  of  this  oratorio,  besides  those  already 
alluded  to,  are  found  in  the  brightness  of  the 
choruses  and  the  interest  of  the  instrumenta- 
tion. In  general  design  The  Creation  is 
inadequate  to  the  subject  treated  of,  and 
while  the  ear  is  pleased  by  the  sparkling  and 
varied  treatment,  the  heart  is  never  moved 
by  emotions  which  the  grandeur  of  the  theme 
should  have  inspired. 

Beethoven's  The  Mount  of  Olives  is  a 
drama  rather  than  an  oratorio,  full  of  sublime 
and  noble  thoughts,  but  ineffective  without 
the  aid  of  scenery  and  accessories. 

Spohr  s  oratorios.  The  Crucifixion,  The  Last 
Judgment,  and  the  Fall  of  Babylon,  contain 

I  many  grand  and  surprising  thoughts,  much 
beauty  of  melody  and  clever  harmonies;  the 
restless  modulations  employed  by  him  cease 
to  excite  wonder  after  a  time,  and  so,  to  a 
certain  extent,  their  end  is  defeated.  In  the 
peculiarity  of  enharmonic  changes  on  a  domi- 
nant harmony,  Spohr  so  far  exhausted  the 
possible  combinations,  that  composers  in 
imitating  his  style  simply  reproduce  his 
thoughts.  The  most  successful  composer  in 
this  manner  of  modern  date  was  Mendelssohn, 
and  his  Elijah  and  St.  Paul  served  to  revive 
the  drooping  taste  for  oratorio.  Elijah  was 
produced  at  Birmingham  in  1846,  and  St. 
Paul  ten  years  previously  at  Dusseldorf,  and 
both  works  have  since  held  high  rank  as  well 
in  the  estimation  as  in  the  affections  of 
musicians.  Of  the  two,  5/.  Paul  more  com- 
pletely fulfils  the  conditions  of  oratorio  proper, 
in  the  happy  arrangement  of  its  narrative 
and  didactic  portions.  The  production  of  this 
form  is  due  to  the  assiduous  study  of  the 
works  of  its  great  perfecter,  John  Sebastian 
Bach,  and  for  this  reason,  and  for  its  intrinsic 
merit,  St.  Paul  is  held  to  be  Mendelssohn's 
best  oratorio.  Elijah  is  more  dramatic  in 
constitution,  and  if  the  prejudice  should  ever 

:  be  sufficiently  overcome  to  permit  of  its  per- 

I  formance  on  the  stage,  with  proper  scenery 
and  action,  it  will  attain  even  greater  impor- 
tance than  that  it  at  present  enjoys. 

Of  the  more  recent  contributions  to  oratorio 
music,  there  are  few  worthy  to  be  particular- 
ised, as  they  are  for  most  part  feeble  filterings 

t  of  an  almost  exhausted  st;  eam. 

Oratorio  has  ever  been  more  patronised  in 
England  than  on  the  Continent,  but  until  the 
establishment  of  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society 
in  1832  the  opportunity  for  hearing  it  was  of 
rare  occurrence,  being  confined  almost  to 
the  annual  meetings  of  the  three  choirs  of 
Gloucester,  Hereford,  and  Worcester  in  the 
provinces,  and  to  the  Lenten  performances 
in  London.  The  example  set  by  this  Society 
has  been  imitated  with  success,  not  only  in 
London,  but  in  the  country,  and  oratorio  per- 


(  326  ) 


ORCHESIS  ORCHESTRA. 


formances  are  now  frequent,  and  upon  a  scale 
of  grandeur,  magnificence,  precision,  and 
perfection  hitherto  unattained  and  completely 
unknown  elsewhere. 

Orchesis  {Gk.  opxwie).  Orchestik  (Ger.) 
The  art  of  rhythmical  dancing  as  it  existed 
in  the  Greek  Theatre. 

Orchester  (Ger.)  Orchestra. 
Orchestra  (Gk.)  (i)  The  opxriarpa  or 
"dancing-place"  in  the  Greek  theatre  was 
that  circular  space,  immediately  below  the 
lowest  seats  of  the  semicircular  part  or  koIXov, 
which  was  given  up  to  the  chorus.  The  level 
of  the  orchestra  was  twelve  feet  below  that  of 
the  lowest  seat,  and  twelve  feet  below  that  of 
the  proscenium  (irpotTKi^vioQ),  but  between  the 
orchestra  and  the  proscenium  was  a  platform 
six  feet  higher  than  the  orchestra,  called  the 
thymele  (dv^tXt)).  If,  therefore,  the  part- 
circle  formed  by  the  front  of  the  lowest  row 
of  seats  were  supposed  to  be  completed,  it 
would  be  found  that  the  orchestra  would  con- 
tain an  area  about  one-third  of  the  circle  in 
that  part  farthest  from  the  stage.  (2)  The 
place  where  the  band,  or  band  and  chorus, 
are  placed  in  modern  concert-rooms,  thea- 
tres, &c.  (3)  The  collection  of  instruments  of 
varied  compass  and  quality  of  tone  which 
constitutes  a  full  band.  There  are  no  orches- 
tral scores  earlier  than  the  latter  part  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  so  all  statements  as  to 
concerted  instrumental  music  before  that  time 
ar"  wholly  conjectural. 

" !  my  of  the  early  poets  speak  of  harmony 
in  a  manner  that  shows  that  their  construc- 
tion of  the  term  was  the  same  as  our  own. 
It  is  well  known  that  harmony  was  not  a 
sudden   discovery,  but  the  result  of  slow 
growth,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
one  who  could  sing  part-music  according  to  a 
recognised  system,  and  also  play  upon  an 
instrument,  would  be  led  to  select  one  as 
much  in  accordance  with  the  compass  of  his 
own  voice  as  possible,  and  so  would  play  the 
part  he  was  accustomed  to  sifig.     Accidental  | 
circumstances  might  suggest  combinations  j 
which  were  afterwards  made  permanent,  and  j 
from  small  beginnings  the  adjustment  of  tone 
considered  necessary  in  a  modern  orchestra  | 
might  be  gradually  arrived  at. 

One  of  the  first  authentic  attempts  to  gain 
special  effects  may  be  traced  in  the  disposition 
of  the  instruments  accompanying  the  first 
operas.  The  score  of  Monteverde's  Or/eo 
performed  in  1608,  contains  indications  of  a 
purpose  in  the  employment  of  what  appears 
in  the  present  as  a  somewhat  strange  arrange- 
ment of  accompanying  instruments.  Orpheus 
sings  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  basses, 
Apollo  to  the  organ,  Pluto  to  the  trombones, 
Eurydice  to  the  violas,  a  id  Charon  to  the 
lutes  or  guitars.    The  us<;  of  particular  in- 


struments to  accompany  the  music  sung  by 
special  characters  was  revived  by  Hoffman 
in  his  opera  Undine,  and  introduced  by 
Wagner  as  a  new  invention  ;  but  the  idea 
belongs  to  Monteverde,  as  the  directions  in 
the  score  quoted  above  prove.  Information 
regarding  this  branch  of  musical  history  is  to 
be  obtained  only  by  reference  to  scores  of 
various  dates,  by  which  it  will  be  seen  that 
composers,  for  a  long  time  subsequent  to 
Monteverde,  did  not  follow  out  the  hints  he 
had  given.  They  made  some  omissions  in 
the  number  and  arrangement  of  the  instru- 
ments, and  in  most  cases  simply  contented 
themselves  with  violins,  and  sometimes  added 
an  organ  for  the  accompaniment  of  everything 
but  recitative,  for  which  the  harpsichord  or  lute 
was  employed.  The  lute  was  used  at  the  opera- 
house  so  late  as  1790,  the  harpsichord  much 
longer ;  the  musician  who  sat  at  the  latter 
instrument  was  called  the  conductor,  and  it 
was  his  business  to  give  the  time  of  the 
several  pieces  to  the  leader  of  the  band.  It 
is  only  within  the  present  century  that  an 
independent  time-beater,  one  not  playing  an 
instrument,  has  been  fully  recognised,  and 
his  position  in  the  orchestra  established.  The 
story  of  Dr.  Philip  Hayes  standing  up  to 
beat  time  for  a  band  which  Cramer  was 
leading,  and  the  refusal  of  the  latter  to  play 
until  "  de  fat  man  was  sit  down,"  shows  that 
the  practice  of  "  conducting  "  was  not  general 
at  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century. 

In  addition  to  violins,  wind  instruments 
were  used,  sparingly  at  first,  but  afterwards 
with  great  liberality.  In  Handel's  time  the 
proportion  of  treble  reed  wind  instruments 
to  the  violins  were  as  two  to  three,  that  is  to 
say,  for  every  six  fiddles  four  oboes  were 
employed.  This  is  a  matter  which  should 
not  be  lost  sight  of  in  calculating  Handel's 
orchestral  effects,  for  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe,  however  strange  the  combination 
might  be  to  modern  ears,  that  a  restoration 
of  the  proportions  of  the  orchestra  for  which 
Handel  wrote  would  place  his  music  in  a  far 
different  light  from  that  in  which  it  is  viewed 
at  present,  not  that  it  would  lose,  but  perhaps 
would  rather  gain  in  grandeur.  It  can 
scarcely  be  said  that  Handel  did  much 
towards  developing  the  resources  of  the 
orchestra  ;  he  seemed  to  be  mainly  content 
with  treating  it  as  an  accompanying  body, 
for  even  in  his  concertos,  he  was  contented 
with  the  performance  of  a  phrase  by  the  full 
body,  which  had  been  given  out  by  a  single 
instrument  to  a  part.  In  a  few  cases  he 
seems  to  have  made  a  happy  choice  of  an 
accompanying  instrument,  but  even  then  it 
is  considered  so  doubtful  as  to  v/hether  he 
meant  what  is  called  an  "  orchestral  erfect  ' 
or  not,  that  many  composers,  following  the 


(  327  ) 


ORDINARIO  ORGAN. 


example  of  Mozart,  consider  themselves  jus- 
tified in  adding  instrumental  parts  to  Handel's 
scores,  not  always  with  the  laudable  desire 
of  exhibiting  an  improved  knowledge  of  in- 
strumental quality,  not  always  with  correct 
taste  or  judgment.  Mozart  himself  declared 
to  Attwood  that  his  sole  reason  for  adding 
parts  to  the  scores  of  Handel's  works  was  to 
make  his  countrymen  think  as  highly  of  the 
compositions  as  he  himself  did;  so  that  all 
the  stories  about  his  undertaking  the  task 
at  the  request  of  a  noble  patron,  against  his 
own  inclination,  are  pure  inventions.  Mozart's 
additions  to  the  Messiah  are  specimens  of 
noble  orchestral  colouring,  and  give  so  much 
beauty  to  the  score  that  a  performance  of  the 
work  without  them  would  seem  tame  and 
uninteresting  to  ears  that  have  grown  accus- 
tomed to  them. 

The  composer  in  whose  works  the  first 
consistent  and  concentrated  efforts  in  the 
direction  of  improvement  of  the  orchestra  are 
to  be  traced  is  Gluck.  All  his  biographers 
agree  in  declaring  that  his  sole  aim  in 
orchestral  writing  was  "expression."  He 
disregarded  the  usages  of  fashion  and  custom, 
and  thought  for  himself,  and  like  every  in- 
dependent thinker  founded  a  school  of  his 
own,  to  become  in  time  the  conventionality 
of  a  future  age. 

In  the  introduction  of  new  instruments  by 
which  fres'i  combinations  and  effects  can 
be  obtained,  a  difficulty  will  be  always  present, 
in  that  skilful  players  are  not  readily  found, 
and  musicians  do  not  care  to  study  an  instru- 
ment that  is  rarely  employed,  and  therefore 
of  little  profit  to  them  professionally.  This 
is  the  one  reason  why  trumpet  playing  is 
comparatively  a  lost  art.  There  is  no  remedy 
against  this  drawback,  and  therefore  many 
instruments  of  unquestionable  value  in  an 
orchestra  are  neglected  and  disused. 

Meyerbeer  did  much  towards  obtaining  a 
recognition  for  certain  disregarded  instru- 
ments, and  although  he  was  fortunate  enough 
to  find  players  with  sufficient  enthusiasm  or 
interest  in  the  matter  to  take  them  up  and  1 
study  them,  he  could  not  secure  a  succession,  | 
and,  consequently,  in  the  performance  of  his 
operas,  such  passages  as  are  written  in  the 
score  for  obsolete  instruments  have  to  be 
performed  by  those  in  general  use. 

The  introduction  of  new  effects  is  always  a 
work  of  time,  and  the  development  of  some 
degree  of  daring.  LuUy  wrote  parts  for  drums 
to  some  of  his  choruses  to  strengthen  the 
deep  tones ;  Beethoven  wrote  solos  for  the 
same  instrument.  The  prominence  given  by 
a  composer  to  a  certain  instrument  is  to  be 
accounted  for  in  more  than  one  way.  He 
may  have  had  a  special  training  in  that 
particular  instrument,  a  partiality  for  its  tone, 


or  he  may  have  in  his  orchestra  players  of 
exceptional  ability.  Thus  Weber  writes  so 
wonderfully  for  the  horns,  because  he  was  a 
player;  Spohr  for  the  violin,  an  instrument 
on  which  he  was  a  master  ;  Spontini  loved 
the  tone  of  the  trombone,  and  wrote  often  for 
it ;  Handel  had  Valentine  Snow  to  play  his 
trumpet  parts,  and  Snow  had  a  special  gift 
for  trumpet  playing;  and  many  other  instances 
may  be  quoted  if  it  were' needful. 

Haydn  has  been  considered  the  father  of 
modern  orchestral  writing  ;  and  in  the  utili- 
zation of  accepted  materials  his  genius  as 
a  composer  is  best  shown.  I-.  >:harm  of 
orchestral  shading  Mozart's  arc  perfect  studies ; 
while  for  nobility  of  effect  Beethoven  has 
never  been  surpassed. 

The  tendency  of  the  present  order  of  writers 
for  the  orchestra  is  to  seek  to  obtain  a  ficti- 
tious grandeur  by  the  liberal  use  of  "Janit- 
scharen-musik,"  cymbals,  bells,  big  drum,  &c. 
This  is  all  very  well  when  it  is  desirable  to 
conceal  the  defective  playing  of  the  strings 
and  wind,  but  when  an  orchestra  comprises 
performers  of  excellent  skill,  having  familiar 
knowledge  of  the  capabilities  of  their  several 
instruments,  such  noise  is  not  only  needless, 
but  offers  a  great  temptation  to  carelessnes.s 
in  playing  on  the  more  delicate  instruments. 

Ordinario  (It.)  Ordinary,  as  a  tempo  ordi- 
nario,  in  the  usual  time,  or,  at  a  moderate  pace, 
j     Orecchia  musicale  (7^.)     An  ear  for 
music,  or  musical  ear. 

Oreille  musicale  (Fr.)  [Orecchia.] 
Organ  (from  the  Gk.  opyavov).  This  word 
originally  signified  an  implement,  instrument, 
or  piece  of  mechanism  for  any  purpose.  Hence, 
it  came  to  be  applied  to  any  musical  instru- 
ment, and  later  still  to  the  compound  wind- 
instrument  now  known  as  the  organ,  which, 
no  doubt,  grew  out  of  the  ugab  of  the  Hebrews 
and  the  syrinx  of  the  Greeks  [Pan's-pipes), 
when  combined  with  the  wind-chest,  as  natu- 
rally suggested  by  the  leathern  reservoir  of 
the  bagpipe.  Only,  it  must  be  remembered, 
that  the  pipes  of  Pan  had,  each  separately,  to 
be  made  into  a  sort  of  fiUte  a  be-.,  having  a 
foot  to  convey  the  air  to  the  block  and  lips  ; 
also,  that  under  each  pipe  a  little  slide  had  to 
be  placed  in  order  to  prevent  all  the  pipes  from 
speaking  at  once.  This  early  slide,  which 
permitted  particular  pipes  to  speak  at  the  will 
of  the  performer,  has  now  developed  into  the 
pallet  and  the  key-action ;  and  we  now  apply 
the  word  slide  or  slider  only  to  that  strip  of 
wood  which,  passing  under  a  row  of  pipes 
from  right  to  left,  admits  the  air  to  a  particular 
row  of  pipes  or  stops.  Neither  of  these  two 
arrangements — the  ^ey-slide  and  sio/>-slide— - 
required  any  special  mechanical  skill,  and  it 
may  safely  be  said  that  they  were  used  at  a 
much  earlier  date  than  is  commonly  supposed. 


(  328  ) 


ORGAN. 


The  real  difficulty  of  ancient  organ-builders 
Aras  inequality  of  the  pressure  of  wind.  It  is 
leedless  to  observe  that  the  leathern  reservoir 
of  a  bagpipe  could  never  be  so  equally  pressed 
all  round  as  to  produce  an  uniform  current  of 
air.  Nor  could  the  simple  forms  of  bellows 
as  used  by  blacksmiths  to  this  day  produce 
an  equal  pressure,  because,  when  they  are 
being  filled,  the  air  is  under  too  great  com- 
pression, and  as  the  top  sinks  the  pressure 
becomes  less  and  less.  There  can  be  but 
little  doubt  that  the  so-called  hydraulic  organ 
owed  its  utility  and  consequent  fame  to  the 
fact,  that  in  it  water  was  used  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  counterbalance  the  hitherto 
variable  pressure.  The  ignorant,  no  doubt, 
thought  that  the  water  went  near  to,  or  even 
entered,  the  pipes,  but  this  was  palpably  not 
the  case.  Those  who  are  interested  in  the 
supposed  details  of  the  hydraulic  organ  will 
find  information  in  the  "Bible  Educator" 
(Parts  8  and  lo.  Vol.  II.),  in  Rimbault  and 
Hopkins  on  the  Organ,  and  in  Chappell's 
"  History  of  Music"  (p.  325).  The  ordinary 
organ  in  whicli  no  water  was  used  came  to 
be  called  the  piieiinidtic  or  wind-organ.  In 
order  to  keep  up  a  due  supply  of  wind,  while 
bellows  were  being  refilled,  organ  builders 
multiplied  their  number.  The  modern  inven- 
tions of  the  double-action  feeder,  &c.,  fully 
explained  further  on,  made  this  system  of 
blowing  unnecessary.  If  the  account  given 
of  the  Magrepha  {q.v.)  be  true,  it  must  have 
really  been  an  organ.  It  will  be  unnecessary 
to  trouble  t'le  reader  with  long  untrustworthy 
quotations  from  old  writers  in  explanation  of, 
or  in  praise  of,  the  wonders  of  organs.  It, will 
suffice  to  state  where  and  when  some  of  the 
oldest  known  instruments  were  built,  and 
note  the  progress  in  their  construction. 
Julian,  the  Apostate  (who  died  a.d.  363), 
mentions  an  organ  in  a  Greek  epigram,  but 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  doubtful 
whether  it  had  keys.  Aldhelm,  (who  died 
A.D.  709),  mentions  an  organ  which  had  gilt 
pipes.  An  organ  having  leaden  pipes  was 
placed  in  the  Church  of  S.  Corneille,  at  Com- 
piegne,  in  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century. 
The  story  of  St.  Dunstan's  organ  with  its 
brass  pipes  is  well  known.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  of  the  mediaeval  organs  was  that 
built  for  Winchester  Cathedral  at  the  close  of 
the  tenth  century.  According  to  the  account 
given  by  the  Monk  Wulston  it  had  thirteen 
pairs  of  bellows  and  four  hundred  pipes  dis- 
tributed so  that  forty  pipes  were  under  the 
control  of  each  key.  By  pressing  down  the 
key  belonging  to  any  one  set  of  pipes,  they 
all  sounded  together  after  the  manner  of  the 
mixture ;  the  separation  of  the  wind-chest  by 
means  of  slides  was  apparently  not  at- 
tempted in  this  case. 


The  large  pipes  of  every  key  of  the  oldest 
organs  stood  in  front ;  the  whole  instrument 
sounded  and  shrieked  in  a  harsh  and  loud 
manner.  The  key-board  had  11,  12,  even 
13  keys  in  diatonic  succession  without  semi- 
tones. It  was  impossible  to  get  anything 
else  than  a  choral  melody  for  one  voice  only, 
on  such  an  organ. 

By  degrees  the  keys  and  pipes  in  organs 
increased  in  number,  but  no  alteration  was 
made  in  the  register  of  the  pipe-work  ;  the 
chromatic  intervals,  too,  were  added.  The 
pedals  were  devised  in  1470  by  Bernhard 
the  German,  a  skilful  musician  at  Venice, 
and  so  quickly  came  into  fashion  that  in 
Germany  few  organs  were  built  without  them. 
Originally  they  had  only  eight  keys — tjB,  C, 
D,  E,  F,  G,  A,  t]B,  which  were  attached  to 
the  valves  of  the  pipes  with  cord.  As  time 
went  on  the  key-boards  of  the  manuals  be- 
came increased  to  three.  This  was  the  case 
in  the  large  organ  (built  in  1361)  at  Halber- 
stadt,  described  by  Praetorius  after  its  reno- 
vation in  1495,  in  "  Syntagma  Musicum  " 
(1619).  It  had  three  key-boards  and  pedals, 
the  latter,  however,  being  added  at  the  time 
the  organ  was  restored.  The  Praestant,  or 
row  of  pipes  standing  in  front  (the  Principal 
or  open  diapason),  was  separated  from  the 
other  portion  of  the  pipe-work,  which  was 
almost  detached,  and  was  called  Hintersatz. 
A  difference  of  tone  could  thus  at  least  be 
obtained  by  using  the  principal  alone,  or  by 
coupling  it  with  the  whole  hintersatz  and 
pedals.  The  highest  row  of  keys,  called 
"  Discant,"  had  a  compass  from  Bt)  C, 
C|  chromatic  to  G,  A,  and  served  for  the  full 
organ  principal  and  hintersatz  coupled. 
The  second  key-board  of  the  same  compass, 
and  also  called  Discant,  served  for  the  prin- 
cipal alone  without  the  hintersatz.  The 
third  row  of  keys  was  a  bass  key-board,  con- 
tained a  large  bass  principal  in  side-towers, 
with  a  compass  from  C  to  C,  and  was  used 
with  the  left  hand  as  principal  in  the  second 
row  of  keys.  The  pedals  extended  from  C 
to  B^. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  the  manner  of 
playing  these  old  organs  was  anything  like 
that  now-a-days :  the  breadth  of  a  key-board 
containing  nine  keys  extended  to  three- 
quarters  the  length  of  a  yard,  that  of  the 
single  key  amounted  to  three  inches  (Bedos 
de  Celles  speaks  of  organ  keys  even  from  five 
to  six  inches).  The  keys  were  of  a  peculiar 
shape,  e.g. : 

n  ^ 

The  valves  of  the  keys  and  the  whole  me- 
chanism being  clumsy,  playing  with  the  finger 


(  329  ) 


ORGAN  CONSTRUCTION. 


was  not  to  be  thought  of,  but  the  keys  were 
obliged  to  be  struck  with  the  clenched  fist, 
and  the  organist  was  often  called  pulsator 
organorum."  It  was  consequently  impossible 
to  play  chords  with  one  hand,  but  a  kind  of 
duet  or  trio  could  be  produced  with  the 
assistance  of  the  pedals.  The  early  organs 
were  often  a  tone  or  a  tone  and  a  half  above 
the  choral  pitch  [v.  Chcrton],  and  lower  than 
the  kammerton  by  about  a  tone. 

But  when  the  organ  had  once  attained  a 
certain  degree  of  perfection,  it  proceeded 
quickly  towards  further  improvement.  The 
keys  were  made  gradually  smaller,  so  that 
the  Fifth  had  a  width  of  a  span,  something 
similar  to  our  octave,  as  in  the  old  organ  at 
Braunschweig.  In  the  keys  of  the  organs 
in  the  monastery  at  Bamberg  (enlarged 
1493),  in  the  church  of  the  Barefooted  Friars 
at  Nuremberg  (1475),  in  the  cathedral  at 
Erfurt  (1483),  in  that  of  St.  Blasius  at 
Braunschweig  (1499),  the  width  of  the  span 
of  the  octave  amounted  only  to  about  one 
key  more  than  at  the  present  time,  but  the 
action  was  still  clumsy.  The  compass  of  the 
manuals,  mostly  beginning  at  B  flat,  had 
extended  to  EE  and  FF,  but  the  pedals  were 
still  limited  in  compass  from  A  or  B  flat  to  B 
flat  or  B  natural. 

But  the  most  considerable  stride  in  im- 
provement was  the  division  of  the  Hintersatz 
into  separate  registers,  which  could  now  be 
used  singly  through  the  invention  of  the 
spring-box.  Prastorius,  about  1619,  describes 
the  slide-box  as  being  quite  common,  and 
further  states  that  it  had  already  been  in  use 
for  two  hundred  years,  so  that  it  must  have 
been  invented  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  or 
the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  but 
was  a  long  time  gaining  recognition.  In  the 
beginning  of  1500  the  pipe-work  itself  had 
also  begun  to  be  perfected  in  different  ways. 
Hitherto  it  had  the  scale  of  the  principal 
throughout.  Pipes  began  to  be  covered 
probably  about  1530.  In  later  times  reed- 
pipes  and  pointed  flutes  came  into  vogue, 
and  by  degrees  bellows  of  very  thin  board 
were  put  in  the  place  of  the  old  bellows, 
which  were  constructed  in  folds,  and  the  port- 
able chamber-organ  [Regals],  since  grown 
out  of  use,  introduced.  About  the  year  1677, 
Christian  Former  (born  i6io)  invented  the 
anemometer. 

The  mistaken  zeal  of  the  Puritans  caused 
a  wanton  destruction  of  organs  and  the  dis- 
couragement of  organ-building,  so  that  when 
a  revival  of  interest  in  the  instrument  took 
place,  it  was  found  that  England  had  lost  her 
ancient  supremacy,  and  there  was  no  longer  a 
sufficient  number  of  builders  in  the  country. 
Foreign  organ-builders  were  invited  to  Eng- 
land, and  the  most  celebrated  of  these — Bern- 


hard  Schmidt  (generally  called  Father  Smith ) 
with  his  nephew  and  Renatus  Harris,  estal, 
lished  themselves  in  this  country.  Thei 
immediate  successors  were  Christophei 
Schroeder,  Snetzler,  and  Byfield.  These 
were  followed  by  Avery  and  Green,  and 
i  from  them  sprung  the  present  generation  of 
I  organ-builders,  whose  skill  and  ingenuity 
have  done  much  to  restore  the  ancient  su- 
premacy of  organ-building  in  England. 

Organ  Construction.  (§  1,)  A  complete 
organ  may  be  said  to  consist  of  five  parts : 
choir  organ,  great  organ,  swell  organ,  solo 
organ,  and  pedal  organ.  These  are  all,  how- 
ever, in  reality  constructed  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple, that  is  to  say,  the  manner  of  connec- 
tion between  the  keys  and  the  pallets,  which 
admit  a  current  of  air  to  the  pipes,  is  similar 
i  in  principle  in  all.  A  large  organ  there- 
i  fore  consists  of  a  number  of  small  organs 
differing  in  quality  of  tone,  and  so  arranged 
as  to  be  under  the  control  of  one  per- 
former. 

(§  2.)  Before  explaining  the  connection 
between  a  key  and  a  pipe,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  explain  the  construction  of  the  bellows,  a 
receptacle  which  encloses  atmospheric  air  and 
forces  it  through  passages  called  "  wind- 
trunks  "  to  the  sound-boards  over  which  the 
pipes  are  arranged.  The  construction  of 
modem  bellows,  termed  horizontal  to  distin- 
guish them  from  the  old  diagonal  bellows 
(q.v.),  and  for  the  invention  of  which  organists 
are  probably  indebted  to  an  Englishman, 
Samuel  Green,  who  is  known  to  have  furnished 
two  organs  with  them  in  1787  and  1788, 
may  be  best  explained  by  the  following 
figure : 


The  top  board  a  is  substantially  and  strongly 
made  of  pine,  ledgered  at  each  end,  or  in 
large  bellows  panelled ;  some  of  the  panels 
being  moveable  allow  easy  access  to  the 
interior  for  repairs.  The  middle  frame  b  is 
merely  a  surrounding  frame  of  wood  to  which 
is  attached  the  lower  edge  of  the  upper  ribs 
and  the  upper  edge  of  the  lower  ribs.  T  he 
middle  board  c  is  slightly  larger  than  the  top- 
board,  and  on  it  rests  a  strong  ridge  d  called 


(  330  ) 


ORGAN  CONSTRUCTION. 


the  trunk-band  or  lining,  to  which  the  wind  I 
trunks  can  be  at  any  point  joined,  as  at  e.  The 
bottom  board  /  is  the  bottom  of  the  feeder 
f  g  h,  and  is  sometimes  nearly  as  large  as  the 
top  board.  In  large  bellows  provision  is 
made  for  the  due  support  of  the  weight  of  the 
top  board  by  placing  posts  inside,  or  a  ridge 
of  wood  extending  the  whole  length  of  the 
middle  board,  of  such  a  height  that  when  a 
and  b  are  at  the  position  rest,  a  is  touching 
the  top  of  the  posts  or  ridge.  On  the  bottom 
of  the  middle  board  are  a  number  of  holes  for 
the  admission  of  air  from  the  feeder,  covered 
by  leather  valves  or  suckers,  which  fall  and 
prevent  the  exit  of  the  air  by  the  way  it  came. 
The  valves  ber'ng  hinged  at  one  end  only,  rise 
for  the  entry  of  the  air  from  the  feeder,  and 
then  fall  by  their  own  weight.  The  bottom 
of  the  feeder  /  is  supplied  with  a  similar  set 
of  suckers,  or  valves,  so  that  the  operation  of 
"  blowing  "  is  as  follows  :  To  the  end  of  /  are 
attached,  in  any  way  most  convenient,  the 
levers  connected  with  the  bellows  handle,  so 
that  by  its  stroke /  is  raised  towards  c.  The 
atmospheric  contents  of  the  feeder  are  then 
forced  through  the  interior  valves  t  t  t  and 
the  top  board  rises.  When  /  has  reached  its 
nearest  point  to  c,  and  begins  to  return  to  its 
position  in  the  figure,  the  leather  valves  fall 
over  the  openings  t  f  f,  and  the  air  is  forced 
by  the  heavy  top  board  and  its  incumbent 
weights  I  I  I  I  to  depart  by  the  only  way  open 
to  it,  namely,  by  the  wind  trunk  e.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  one  set  of  ribs  is  turned  inwards, 
the  other  outwards.  This  ingenious  tl^ough 
simple  arrangement,  which  was  first  sug- 
gested by  a  clock-maker  named  Cummins,  and 
immediately  adopted  by  Flight,  the  organ- 
builder,  entirely  removes  the  inequality  of 
pressure  spoken  of  in  the  article  on  "  diagonal 
bellows."  But  as  the  feeder /  is  descending, 
no  air  can  of  course  be  supplied  to  the  bel- 
lows. The  simplest  means  of  obtaining  a 
constant  supply  of  wind  is  to  have  two  feeders, 
or,  as  it  is  termed,  a  double-feeder,  which 
may,  according  to  circumstances,  be  placed 
either  under  the  side  or  end  of  the 
bellows. 

Fig.  2. 


As  one  feeder  a  is  descending,  the  other  b  is 
ascending.  A  like  result  is  produced  by  the 
use  of  the  cuckoo  feeder,  so-called  because  it 


is  constructed  on  the  same  principle  as  the 
little  bellows  of  the  cuckoo  toy. 


Fig.  3- 


1 

The  bottom  board  a  c  is  hinged  at  b,  so 
that  when  a  ascends,  c  descends,  both  a  and 
c  being,  of  course,  provided  with  the  ordinary 
valves.  The  under  lining  d  d  is  sometimes 
exactly  reversed  in  position,  being  attached  to 
the  middle  board  instead  of  the  bottom  board. 
Before  leaving  the  subject  of  bellows,  the 
counter-balances  must  be  explained.  Their 
object  is  to  make  both  sets  of  ribs  expand  or 
contract  equally,  and  prevent  the  swinging 
to  and  fro  of  the  top  of  the  bellows.  They 
consist  of  three  flat  pieces  of  iron,  and  are 
fixed  to  the  upper  board  at  .r  (Fig.  3),  the 
middle  board  at  y,  and  the  trunk  lining  at  2; 
and  being  moveable  at  every  joint  but  ,v  and 
2,  as  X  rises,  e  f  impart  a  proportionate  rise 
toy.  In  order  to  prevent  an  undue  rising  of 
the  bellows  when  more  wind  is  supplied  than 
used,  a  waste-pallet  is  placed  in  every  bellows. 
It  consists  of  a  valve  {g  Fig.  3)  pressed 
under  an  opening  in  the  top  board  by  a 
spring,  having  attached  to  its  under-side  a 
piece  of  cord  (dotted  line)  which  is  fixed  to 
the  bottom  board  h  i.  When  the  top  board 
rises  higher  than  the  length  of  the  cord,  the 
valve  is  of  course  pulled  downwards,  and  the 
superfluous  air  escapes.  If  any  part  of  the 
middle  board  is  not  over  a  feeder,  the  pallet 
may  be  placed  inside  the  middle  board,  and 
the  cord  fixed  to  the  top  board,  in  which  case 
the  pallet  will  be  pulled  up  when  the  top 
board,  by  its  rising,  pulls  the  cord. 

(§  3.)  But  notwithstanding  all  these  improve- 
ments in  feeders  and  bellows,'  it  was  found 
that  an  unsteadiness  of  wind  was  caused,  if 
many  of  the  larger  pipes  were  suddenly  made 
to  speak,  or  as  suddenly,  to  cease  speaking.  In 
the  former  case  so  large  a  supply  of  atmos- 
phere was  taken  from  the  wind  chest  that  tire 
air  remaining  expanded  by  its  own  elasticity; 
in  the  latter,  the  supply  of  air  did  not  cease 
with  the  demand.  Both  these  defects  are 
remedied  by  the  clever  invention  by  Mr. 
Bishop,  the  organ-builder,  of  the  concussion- 
bellows,  which  are  a  reservoir  hinged  at  one 
end  and  therefore  wedge-shaped,  which  is 
attached  to  the  side  of  the  wind-trunk,  with  a 
spring  tending  to  force  the  moveable  board 
towards  the  trunk. 


(  33^  ; 


ORGAN  CONSTRUCTION. 


Fig.  4. 


When  there  is  no  air  being  forced  through 
the  trunk  d,  a  reaches  its  nearest  point  to  b. 
When  the  trunk  is  filled  with  compressed  air 
the  spring  c  just  counterbalances  it.  When 
a  sudden  demand  is  made  upon  the  contents 
of  the  trunk  d  the  spring  forces  a  nearer  to  b  ; 
when  the  air  in  the  trunk  is  more  than  usually 
compressed,  the  spring  allows  a  to  recede 
from  b. 

(§  4.)  The  wind-trunk  is 
made  of  an  oblong  form,  and 
is  shaped  so  as  to  carry  the 
air  by  the  most  convenient 
route,  to  the  wind-chest, 
which  is  immediately  under  the  sound-board. 
It  will  be  perhaps  better  before  entering  into 
details  to  give  at  once  a  general  idea  of  the 
wind-chest  and  sound-board. 

Fig.  5. 


The  above  figure  (Fig.  5)  represents  a 
section  of  a  sound-board  and  wind-chest  viewed 
from  front,  a  is  the  wind-chest  into  which 
compressed  atmospheric  air  has  been  intro- 
duced either  through  the  side  or  bottom,  from 
the  end  of  the  wind-trunk  b.  The  palletsccc 
are  held  tightly  against  the  openings  d  d  d, 
leading  from  the  wind-chest  to  the  mouth  of 
the  pipes  by  springs  underneath  them,  thus: 

Fig.  6. 


The  spring  s  keeps  the  pallet  c  against  the 
opening  into  d.  The  wires  called  pull-downs 
{e  e  e  Fig.  5),  which  pass  through  small 
holes  in  the  bottom  of  the  wind-chest  and  are 
in  connection  with  the  key-board,  are  attached 
to  a  loop  of  wire  called  the  pallet-eye,  fastened 
to  the  moveable  end  of  the  pallet.  A  piece  of 
wire  is  placed  on  each  side  of  every  pallet  to 
steady  it  and  keep  it  in  the  perpendicular 
during  its  ascent  and  descent,  and  every 
pallet  is  covered  at  top  with  soft  leather,  to 
make  it  fit  closely  and  work  quietly.  When  e 
is  pulled  down  (Fig.  5)  the  pallet  c  descends, 
and  air  from  the  wind-chest  a  a  a  rushes 
through  d  into  the  pipe  over  it.  But  the 
slider /  is  a  narrow  strip  of  wood,  so  placed 
between  the  woodwork  g  and  h  that  it  may  be 
moved  backwards  and  forwards  from  right  to 
left,  and  is  pierced  with  holes  corresponding 
throughout  to  those  just  under  the  pipes.  If 
the  apertures  in  the  slider  are  under  the  pipes 
(as  represented  by  dotted  lines  in  Fig.  5),  the 
opening  of  a  pallet  will  make  a  pipe  speak  ; 
if,  however,  the  slider  has  been  moved  so 
that  the  apertures  do  not  correspond  (as 
shewn  in  Fig.  7  by  dotted  lines),  even  if 
the  pallet  be  opened  and  the  chest  full 
of  air  from  the  trunks,  no  sound  will  be  pro- 
duced. 

Fis.  7. 


When  the  apertures  in  the  slider  are  under 
those  below  the  pipe,  the  "  stop,"  the  handle 
of  which  controls  the  position  of  the  slider,  is 
said  to  be  out,  or  drawn.  When  the  apertures 
do  not  correspond,  the  stop  is  said  to  be  in. 
Thus  it  is  that  when  no  stops  are  drawn  no 
sound  is  produced,  even  although  the  wind- 
chest  be  full  of  air  from  the  wind-trunk. 
Looking  at  Fig.  5  again,  it  will  be  observed 
that  if  another  row  of  pipes  (or  a  "  stop  ")  were 
placed  immediately  behind  k,  I.  m,  with 
another  slider  under  them,  the  same  openings 
d  could  supply  both  sets  of  pipes,  subject  to 
the  control  of  the  sliders.  The  only  limit  to 
the  number  of  rows  of  pipes  will  therefore  be 
the  depth  of  the  air  passage  d  over  which  the 
pipes  stand.  But,  inasmuch  as  one  pallet 
under  the  control  of  one  key  will  admit  air  to 


{  332  ) 


ORGAN  CONSTRUCTION. 


all  the  pipes  placed  over  any  one  air-passage 
d,  it  is  evident  that  only  those  pipes  must  be 
placed  over  d  which  belong  to  one  particular 
note  on  the  key-board.  The  air  passage  d  is 
technically  termed  a  groove,  the  wood  which 
separates  one  groove  from  another  is  techni- 
cally termed  a  sound-board  bar.  Every  row 
of  keys  on  an  organ  will  therefore  have  in 
connection  with  it  a  sound-board,  having  as 
many  grooves  and  pallets  as  there  are  notes 
in  its  compass  ;  and  as  many  sliders  as  it  has 
stops.  Having  made  a  slight  digression  in 
order  to  give  a  general  idea  of  the  construc- 
tion of  this  important  part  of  the  instrument, 
it  is  now  time  to  enter  more  into  detail,  and 
first,  it  will  naturally  follow  that  large  pipes 
will  require  a  larger  groove  and  pallet  than 
those  that  are  smaller,  hence  the  grooves 
vary  in  size  throughout  the  whole  sound- 
board. 

(§  5.)  The  usual  arrangement  of  pipes  on  a 
sound-board  is  to  have  the  largest  on  the 
outside,  say  on  the  right  and  left  sides,  and 
then  to  proceed  by  degrees  to  the  smallest 
which  thus  come  nearest  to  the  middle  of  the 
sound-board.  But  the  arrangement  of  pipes 
must  be  spoken  of  again  hereafter  If  a 
greater  supply  of  wind  than  usual  is  required 
for  the  due  speaking  of  any  large  pipe,  two 
grooves  may  be  allotted  to  that  note.  These 
double-grooves,  as  they  are  termed,  are  said 
to  have  been  first  introduced  by  England,  the 
organ-builder.  By  reference  to  Fig.  6,  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  groove  d  runs  much  farther 
back  than  the  wind-chest  a,  a,  a.  This  is,  of 
course,  necessary  where  a  large  number  of 
stops  has  to  be  placed  over  it.  The  width 
and  depth  of  the  grooves  varies  according  to 
the  number  of  the  stops,  and  the  size  of  the 
pipes.  A  sound-board  is  made  by  taking  a 
strong  piece  of  wood  of  the  required  size, 
turning  it  over  and  then  glueing  the  sound- 
board bars  to  it,  placing  between  the  ends  of 
the  bars  pieces  of  wood  caWed  fillings  in,  the 
width  of  the  groove  ;  then  the  ends  of  the  bars 
and  the  fillings  in  which  form  the  front  and 
back  (called  the  cheeks)  are  planed  down  and 
covered  firmly  with  a  strong  piece  of  ma- 
hogany or  other  hard  wood.  Then  the  wind- 
chest,  pallets,  &c.,  cover  over  part  of  the 
grooves,  and  the  remainder  ( f,g.  Fig.  6),  the 
openings  of  which  have  hitherto  been  exposed 
to  view,  are  covered  by  parchment  or  leather. 
This,  of  course,  becomes  the  underside  of  the 
sound-board  when  it  is  turned  over  into  its 
proper  position.  The  wood  to  which  the 
grooves  are  glued  now  becomes  the  table,  and 
is  bored  to  admit  air  to  the  pipes.  On  the 
table  are  arranged  the  sliders,  over  the  sliders 
are  the  upper-boards,  into  the  holes  of  which 
the  ends  {noses)  of  the  pipe  enter,  above  the 
upper-boards  are  the  pipe-racks,  simple  frame- 


works of  wood  which  keep  the  pipes  in 
perpendicular  position. 


As  the  amount  of  room  which  an  organ 
occupies  is  generally  a  matter  of  some  im- 
portance, the  pipes  in  the  sound-board  are 
rarely   arranged   in   a   straight   line  thus, 


O  O 


but  are  placed  slightly  zig-zag,  thus : 

O    °    o     °     o    °  O 

but  as  the  grooves  run  in  the  direction  indi- 
cated by  the  plain  lines,  and  the  sliders  as 
indicated  by  the  dotted  lines,  it  is  evident  that 
such  an  arrangement  only  affects  the  piercing 
of  the  table,  slider,  and  upper  boards.  The 
sliders  might,  if  their  edges  touched  one 
another,  disturb  each  other's  position  when 
pulled  in  and  out ;  to  prevent  this,  between 
each  slider  and  that  next  to  it  is  placed  a 
bearer  or  immoveable  strip  of  wood,  which 
receives  the  weight  of  the  upper-boards,  and 
to  which  the  upper-boards  are  screwed.  There 
should  of  course  be  no  pressure  on  the  sliders, 
otherwise  their  free  movement  will  be  hindered. 

(§  6.)  Having  thus  given  some  account  of 
the  progress  of  the  wind  from  the  time  it 
enters  the  bellows  until  the  drawing  down  of 
the  pallet,  and  the  position  of  the  slider  has 
permitted  it  to  enter  into  the  pipes  and  make 
them  speak,  it  remains  to  show,  first,  by  what 
means  the  key  is  enabled  to  pull  down  the 
pallet;  next,  by  what  method  the  stop-handle 
or  register  acts  upon  the  slider.  But  before 
the  former  can  be  explained  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  say  a  few  words  as  to  the  arrangemen 
of  the  pipes  on  a  sound-board,  for  on  this  will 
depend  to  a  great  extent  the  kind  of  connec- 
tion between  key  and  pallet.  The  simplest 
arrangement  will  of  course  be  to  place  the 
smallest  pipe  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the 
sound-board  and  to  proceed  thence  by  grada- 
tion to  the  largest  pipe  on  the  left-hand 
side.  This  would  be  naturally  suggested 
by  the  order  in  which  the  keys  are  placed, 
the  highest  note,  produced  by  the  smallest 
pipe,  being  on  the  right ;  the  lowest  note,  pro- 
duced by  the  largest  pipe,  on  the  left.  This 
arrangement  is  known  as  Vogler's  system, 
because  that  learned  musician  and  organist 


(  333  ) 


ORGAN  CONSTRUCTIOTm. 


brought  it  prominently  before  the  public. 
But  it  has  some  great  disadvantages,  the 
chief  of  which  are  as  follows  :  first,  as  the 
lowest  notes  are  produced  by  the  largest  pipes, 
all  the  largest  pipes,  and  in  consequence  the 
greater  part  of  the  weight  of  an  organ,  rests 
on  one  side  of  the  sound-board  ;  secondly,  the 
largest  pipes  occupy  by  far  the  greatest  space, 
hence,  the  left-hand  side  of  a  sound-board 
must  be  proportionately  roomy  in  length  and 
depth  ;  thirdly,  one  end  only  of  the  wind-chest 
is  taxed  with  the  supply  of  all  the  big  pipes  ; 
lastly,  if  it  is  found  necessary  to  convey  wind 
from  the  grooves  to  ornamental  pipes  standing 
in  the  front,  the  distance  is  extremely  gr^at. 
In  order  to  explain  this  last  objection  it  must 
be  here  stated  that  if  a  pipe  does  not  stand  in 
its  proper  place  on  the  sound-board,  either 
because  there  is  not  room  for  it,  or  because  it 
is  placed  at  a  distance  in  the  front  of  the 
organ,  a  roughly  made  pipe  of  light  metal  is 
glued  at  one  end  into  the  proper  hole  and 
carried  by  any  course  most  convenient,  form- 
ing sometimes  the  most  fantastic  shapes,  to 
the  base  of  the  new  position  of  the  pipe,  the 
other  end  is  then  firmly  glued  into  a  small 
hollow  immediately  under  the  pipe.  There- 
fore, if  conveyances  (as  these  supplementary 
tubes  are  called)  are  very  long,  the  pipe  does 
not  speak  very  readily,  the  compressed  air 
when  the  pallet  is  opened,  having  to  travel 
from  the  place  where  the  pipe  ought  to  be,  to 
the  spot  where  it  may  happen  to  be.  The 
third  objection  above  stated  may  be  sur- 
mounted by  making  larger  wind-trunks  and 
wider  grooves.  But  even  if  there  be  no  case 
to  an  organ,  the  Vogler  system  has  its  dis- 
advantages, for  the  outline  formed  by  an  un- 
broken succession  of  pipes  from  i6ft.  to  a  few 
inches  in  length,  standing  side  by  side,  in  the 
short  space  of  a  sound-board,  can  hardly  be 
rendered  pleasing  to  the  eye.  The  second 
system  of  arranging  pipes  has  already  been 
alluded  to,  namely,  that  of  placing  the  largest 
pipes  alternately  on  the  outside,  proceeding 
by  degrees  until  the  smallest  are  in  the  centre, 
and  the  outline  formed  by  the  tops  of  the 
pipes  nearly  assumes  the  shape  of  a  slightly 
flattened  V.  The  third  system  is  the  reverse 
of  the  above,  the  large  pipes  being  placed  in 
the  middle  and  the  small  ones  at  the  sides, 
the  outline  of  the  pipes  will  be  therefore  not 
unlike  A. 

The  fourth  system  is  a  compromise  be- 
tween the  first  and  second,  most  of  the  pipes 
being  arranged  semitonally,  but  some  of  the 
larger  pipes  being  placed  on  either  side.  The 
outline  of  the  pipes  will,  therefore,  be  of  this 
kind.  These  four  are  the  chief  arrangements 
/I 


of  pipes  in  vogue,  but  of  course  exceptional 
positions  for  an  organ  necessitate  exceptional 
dispositions  of  the  pipes. 

(§  7.)  Before  explaining  the  means  which 
connect  keys  with  pallets,  it  must  be  pointed 
out  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  keyboards  or 
claviers,  one  of  which  is  played  by  the  hands, 
called  the  manual-clavier  or  manual;  the 
other  played  by  the  feet,  called  the  pedal- 
clavier  or  pedals.  The  long  keys  of  a  manual 
are  generally  made  of  lime-tree  wood  covered 
with  ivory,  and  the  short  keys  of  ebony,  or 
some  other  wood  stained  black.  Both  long 
and  short  keys  are  balanced  on  a  ledge  ot 
wood  called  the  pin-rail,  because  metal  pins, 
fixed  into  it  and  entering  into  punctures  in 
the  keys,  steady  them  perpendicularly  whilst 
allowing  them  to  move  on  them,  as  on  pivots. 
A  similar  rail  passes  immediately  under  the 
front  of  the  keys,  with  another  set  of  pins,  to 
produce  steadiness  of  movement,  only  these 
punctures  do  not  go  completely  through  the 
key  as  in  the  previous  case.  The  pieces  of 
wood  on  each  side  of  the  manual,  to  which 
the  pin-rails  are  firmly  fixed,  are  called  key- 
checks.  To  prevent  an  undue  rising  of  the 
key  when  the  finger  is  suddenly  removed,  a 
piece  of  board  covered  on  the  underside  with 
baize,  and  loaded  with  lead,  called  the 
tituinping-board,  lies  on  the  keys  transversely 
immediately  behind  the  part  which  is  used  by 
the  fingers.  The  pedal  keys  are  made  of  oak, 
mahogany,  or  any  hard  wood,  and  work  on 
centres  at  the  heel  end,  being  steadied  at  the 
toe  end.  A  spring  under  each  key  holds  it  in 
position  subject  to  the  pressure  of  the  foot. 

(§  8.)  On  pressing  down  a  manual  key,  the 
back  of  one  key  rises,  and  raises  a  sticker, 
a  thin  piece  of  wood,  round  or  square,  and 
of  length  varying  from  a  few  inches  to  a 
couple  of  feet,  provided  with  a  pin  of  wire 
firmly  fixed  in  the  upper  end,  which  passes  into 
the  end  of  the  back-fall,  a  horizontal  lever,  to 
which  is  attached  a  tracker,  a  strip  of  light 
wood  provided  with  a  tap  wire  and  leather 
button  at  the  end,  passing  through  the  back- 
fall, and  with  a  hook  of  copper  at  the  end 
connected  with  the  pull  down,  thus — 


If,  then,  the  arrangement  of  the  pipes  bo 
according  to  the  first  plan  given  (largest  on  the 


(334) 


ORGAN  CONSTRUCTION. 


left  hand  side,  smallest  on  the  right), the  back- 
falls are  arranged  thus,  on  the  back-fall  frame, 


so  that  the  end  of  the  back-fall  may  come 
under  the  pull-down.  This  kind  of  move- 
ment is,  from  its  appearance,  called  the  fcm- 
fniine  movement. 

But  if  the  pipes  are  arranged  according  to 
the  second  plan  given,  a  piece  of  mechanism 
called  the  roller-board  comes  between  the 
end  of  the  back-fall  and  the  puller  down.  It 
is  a  series  of  rollers  so  arranged  on  a  flat 
board  standing  upright,  that  whilst  one  end 
of  the  roller  is  under  the  pull-down,  to  which 
it  is  attached  by  a  second  tracker,  the  other  end 
is  over  the  corresponding  back-fall,  the  back- 
falls, in  this  case,  lying  parallel  to  each  other. 
Thus,  by  means  of  the  roller  board,  the  finger 
is  enabled  to  communicate  with  pipeson  either 
side  of  the  sound-board.  The  system  employed 
must,  however,  depend  greatly  on  the  position 
of  the  sound-board  with  relation  to  the  keys. 

Where  corners  intercept  action,  or  where  it 
is  necessary  to  carry  action  at  right  angles, 
either  horizontally  or  perpendicularly,  squares 
are  largely  used.  The  square  is  of  wood,  and 
of  this  shape,  :  — and  generally  in  two 
pieces,  dove-  l.^^^^^J  i  tailed,  so  that  no 
strain  may  «  cause  one  arm  to  snap 
off.   The  arms  ^  are  generally  about  3 

inches  in  length.  The  block  in  which  the 
squares  work  is  termed  the  square-frame.  Of 
course  the  length  of  stickers,  trackers,  and 
back-falls  must  entirely  depend  on  the  space 
to  be  occupied  byan  instrument,  or  the  position 
in  which  it  is  placed.  Long  stickers  or  trackers 
are  steadied  by  being  made  to  pass  through 
holes  in  a  flat  piece  of  wood  called  a  register. 

The  connection  between  pedal-keys  and 
pedal-pipes  does  not  differ  in  principle  from 
that  between  manual-keys  and  manual-pipes, 
but  from  the  usual  position  of  the  pedal  organ 
squares  have  frequently  to  be  used. 

(§  9.)  The  draw-stop  handle  acts  upon  the 
slider  by  means  of  a  series  of  levers,  the 
position  of  which  varies  greatly  in  different 
instruments.  The  most  common  system  is 
called  the  wooden-trundle  draw-stop  action. 


When  the  stop  is  pulled  out,  the  arms  a  a 
draw  the  trace  b  i'rom  right  to  left,  the  end 
of  the  trundle  c  being  attached  to  the  trace 
is  moved  in  a  similar  direction,  whilst  the 
other  end  of  the  trundle  d  moves  in  an 
opposite  direction,  and  draws  out  the  slider. 
When  metal  trundles  are  used,  this  action  is 
simplified.  Sliders  are  sometimes  made  to 
move  by  means  of  small  bellows  placed  under 
them,  which,  upon  being  filled  with  com- 
pressed air,  suddenly  expand,  and  as  they 
expand  draw  the  slider.  A  large  organ,  it 
will  be  now  understood,  is  practically  several 
distinct  instruments,  not  differing  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  their  construction  so  much  as  in 
quality  of  tone.  But  if  this  were  all,  the 
interior  of  an  organ  would  appear  very 
simple — there  are  still  to  be  considered  those 
contrivances  which  enable  a  performer  to  play 
upon  more  than  one  set  of  keys  simultaneously. 

(§  10.)  The  draw  stops  producing  combina- 
tions of  manuals  or  of  manuals  to  pedals  are 
termed  couplers.  Suppose  an  organ  to  consist 
of  four  manuals  and  pedals,  viz.:  solo  organ, 
swell  organ,  great  organ,  choir  organ,  and 
pedal  organ,  the  couplers  assigned  to  it  would 
probably  be  "Solo  to  Great,"  "Swell  to  Great," 
"  Swell  to  Choir,"  "  Choir  to  Great,"  "  Solo 
to  Pedals,"  "  Swell  to  Pedals,"  "  Great  to 
Pedals,"  "  Choir  to  Pedals."  To  these  are 
sometimes  added  couplers  combining  the  super- 
octave  or  sub-octave  of  the  swell  with  the  great, 
or  similar  intervals  of  the  swell  organ  on  itself. 

The  construction  of  unison  manual-couplers 
is  generally  of  the  following  kind.  A  rod 
passes  between  the  back  of  two  sets  of  manual 
keys,  which  is  pierced  with  a  series  of  holes 
in  which  are  placed  little  stickers  of  this  shape. 
The  length  of  the  sticker  is  the  distance 
between  the  two  sets  of  keys  to  be  com- 
bined, so  that  when  the  lower  one  is 
pressed  down  by  the  fin  ger  the  sticker  is 
pushed  up  by  the  back  of  the  key  and  raises 
the  back  of  the  key  lying  above  it.  When  not 
required  for  use  the  coupler-stop  leaves  the 
stickers  standing  in  a  hollow  purposely  made 
in  the  keys,  thus  : — 


a  representing  the  coupler  when  ready  for  use, 
or  "drawn,"  b  when  not  required,  and  c  the 
regulating  button.  The  tumbler  coupler  is 
now  almost  obsolete.  It  consisted  of  a  rod 
containing  stickers,  which  were  turned 
at  an  angle  when  not  required  for  use  thus  : 
—  but  it  will  be  seen  that  if  a 
.-.jp^  coupler   of    this    kind  is 

3^.  "  drawn  "  while  the  fingers 

'"  are  on  the  lower  row  ol 


(  335  ) 


ORGAN  CONSTRUCTION. 


keys,  the  fingers  will  have  to  withstand  a 
sudden  pressure.  This  evil  is  avoided  in 
the  modern  coupler.  Octave  couplers,  coup- 
ling the  octave  either  above  or  below,  are 
of  the  backfall  description.  As  the  pedal- 
keys  occupy  more  space  than  the  manual- 
keys  a  roller-board  is  used,  made  on  the  same 
principle  and,  practically  for  the  same  purpose 
as  that  already  described.  One  end  of  the 
roller  is  over  the  pedal-key  and  the  other  under 
the  manual-key  desired  to  be  affected.  A 
sticker  rests  on  the  end  of  the  backfall,  when 
the  pedal-coupler  is  "  out,"  but  is  thrown  out 
of  the  perpendicular  when  the  coupler-stop  is 
"  in."  A  coupler  attaching  the  great  to  the 
swell  organ,  termed  a  sforzando  coupler, 
capable  of  being  used  for  a  single  chord  if 
required,  is  formed  by  a  double  backfall  thus. 


End  of  great  orgaa 
key.  B  ■ 

so  that  when  a  rises  h  is  depressed  and  forces 
down  c  which  in  turn  raises  d. 

(§  II.)  To  enable  a  performer  to  make  rapid 
changes  of  stops,  short  iron  pedals  are  placed 
over  the  pedal-clavier,  called  composition- 
pedals  or  combination-pedals,  whose  office  it 
is  to  produce  certain  definite  arrangements  of 
the  registers  when  pressed  down  with  the  foot. 
A  single-action  composition  pedal  is  one  that 
draws  out  a  certain  number  of  stops,  but  does 
not  alter  the  arrangement  of  the  other  stops 
on  the  same  manual  during  the  operation.  A 
double-action  composition  pedal  is  one  that 
has  the  power  of  drawing  in  any  stops  not 
belonging  to  its  prescribed  combination  which 
may  happen  to  h&oxit;  for  example,  supposing 
the  trumpet  and  sesquialtera  on  the  great 
organ  are  drawn  out,  and  the  foot  is  then 
placed  on  the  composition  pedal  which  draws 
out  the  diapasons,  if  the  action  of  the  pedal  be 
single  the  trumpet  and  sesquialtera  will  remain 
out  as  the  diapasons  are  drawn  ;  if  the  action 
be</oM6/e,as  the  diapasons  arebeingdrawnout, 
the  trumpet  and  sesquialtera  will  be  drawn  in. 

Composition  pedals  act  by  leverage  either 
on  the  back  of  the  draw  stop  handles  or  on 
the  ends  of  the  sliders,  but  it  would  exceed 
the  due  limits  of  this  article  to  explain  even 
a  few  of  the  many  systems  of  connection 
between  composition  pedals  and  sliders  which 
are  in  use  among  organ  builders.  Pneumatic 
bellows  are  not  unfrequently  employed  for 
purposes  of  combining  registers,  and  are 
often  set  in  motion  by  small  pegs  or  nobs 
projecting  between  the  manuals,  instead  of 
iron  pedals.  In  cases  where  several  sound- 
boards are  attached  to  one  manual,  containing 


each  of  them  part  of  the  stops,  changes  of 
combination  are  sometimes  obtained  by 
pedals  or  pegs,  called  ventils,  which  admit 
the  wind  to,  or  cut  the  wind  off  from,  the 
separate  sound-boards. 

(§12.)  The  pneumatic  action  isacontrivan 
for  lightening  the  touch  of  manual  or  peci. 
keys  by  placing  near  each  key  a  small  bel- 
lows, having  two  openings  on  the  under  side, 
one  of  which  is  a  pallet  in  a  chest  of  com- 
pressed air,  the  other  a  waste-valve.  The 
following  diagrams  will  explain  this : — 


nff 


_ — ^ — 1 

 =  a  ^ 

1 

When  either  the  finger  or  foot  is  pressed 
upon  a  key  connected  with  k,  the  outer  end  ot 
the  back-fall  gg  is  pulled  down,  which  opens 
the  pallet  p.  The  compressed  air  in  a  then 
rushes  through  the  groove  bb  into  the  bellows 
cc,  which  rises  and  lifts  with  it  all  the  action 
attached  to  it  by  /.  As  the  top  of  the  bellows  cc 
rises,  it  lifts  up  the  throttle-valve  d  (regulated 
by  the  wire  m)  which  prevents  the  ingress  of 
any  more  compressed  air  by  bb.  But  the 
action  of  the  key  on  gg,  which  opened  the 
pallet  p  also  allowed  the  double-acting  waste- 
valve  e  to  close,  and  the  tape  /  hangs  loose. 
The  compressed  air,  therefore,  as  it  is  ad- 
mitted through  bb  cannot  escape,  but  on  the 
other  hand  when  the  key  releases  the  outer 
end  of  g,  and  lets  it  rise  up  again,  the  tape / 
becomes  tightened  and  opens  the  waste-valve, 
the  bellows  cc  then  drops  into  its  closed 
position. 

The  principle  of  this  invaluable  inven- 
tion was  introduced  by  Mr.  Hamilton  of 
Edinburgh,  or  Mr.  Barker.  The  latter  gentle- 
man succeeded  in  making  its  importance 
understood  by  some  leading  French  organ- 
builders,  by  whom  it  was  at  once  adopted, 
and  whence  it  found  its  way  back  to  this 
country.  English  organ-builders  have,  how- 
ever, altered  very  much  the  original  form  of 


(336) 


ORGAN  CONSTRUCTION. 


the  pneumatic  lever.  The  diagrams  given 
above  represent  the  lever  as  improved  by  the 
eminent  organ-builder,  Henry  Willis,  to 
whose  talent  organists  are  also  indebted  for 
the  compressed-air  action  instead  of  trackers, 
for  long  distances — a  simple  and  safe  com- 
munication between  two  sides  of  a  church. 
The  organ  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  which  is 
divided  into  three  portions  on  this  principle, 
the  Pedal-organ  being  under  one  of  the  arches 
of  the  chancel,  the  great  and  solo  organs  on 
the  north-side,  and  the  choir  and  swell  on  the 
south-side,  deserves  to  be  called  a  master- 
piece of  mechanical  skill. 

(§  13.)  Organ  pipes  are  divided,  with  refer- 
ence to  their  material,  into  metal  or  wood  ; 
with  reference  to  their  manner  of  producing 
tone,  into  reed  and  flue.  Of  the  metals  used  in 
making  organ  pipes  tin  is  the  best,  lead  the 
worst.  A  mixture  of  tin  and  lead  in  equal 
proportions  is  technically  termed  "  metal." 
An  excess  in  the  relative  quantity  of  lead 
renders  "  metal  "  of  proportionately  less 
value.  Zinc  is  used  sometimes  for  large 
pipes,  where  cheapness  is  an  object.  Anti- 
mony may  be  used,  but  not  in  too  great 
quantities,  its  brittleness  being  a  serious 
drawback  to  its  durability.  Spotted  metal  is 
so  called  because  of  the  mottled  appearance 
of  its  surface.  The  spots  are  considered  a 
guarantee  of  a  fairly  good  material,  as  they 
do  not  rise  unless  there  is  one  third  of  tin  in 
the  metal.  Metal  is  prepared  for  use  by 
being,  when  melted,  poured  into  a  wooden 
trough  with  a  slit  in  the  back,  and  passed 
rapidly  along  a  bench  faced  with  tick.  The 
thickness  of  the  sheet  of  metal  depends,  of 
coarse,  on  the  size  of  the  slit  in  the  trough. 
It  is  afterwards  planed  down  carefully  to  an 
uniform  surface. 

Deal,  pine,  and  cedar,  are  the  woods  most 
commonly  used  for  pipes  ;  more  rarely,  oak, 
mahogany,  maple,  &c. ;  the  harder  woods 
being  generally  chosen  for  pipes  to  be  used 
in  hot  countries. 

The  tone  of  a  flue-pipe  is  produced  by  the 
resonance  of  a  column  of  air,  which  is  set 
in  vibration  by  a  current  of  compressed  air 
forced  through  a  slit,  over  which  is  placed  a 
sharp  edge.  The  pitch  is  therefore  dependent 
on  the  length  of  the  pipe.  The  tone  of  a 
reed-pipe  is  produced  by  a  thin  strip  of  metal 
which  is  placed  over  the  entrance  of  a  tube, 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  compressed  air,  in 
trying  to  force  its  way  into  the  tube  sets  the 
strip  of  metal  into  vibration.  The  pitch  of 
the  reed-pipe  is,  therefore,  dependent  on  the 
number  of  vibrations  of  the  reed  (strip  of 
metal),  not  necessarily  on  the  length  of  the  tube. 

(§  14.)  Flue  pipes  are  of  two  kinds,  open  or 
closed.  The  tone  of  a  closed  pipe  is,  in  its 
pitch,  an  octave  below  that  of  an  open  pipe 


of  the  same  length,  the  cause  of  which  is, 
that  in  an  open  pipe  the  vibrating  column  of 
air  is  divided  by  a  node  (or  point  of  rest)  at  its 
centre,  whereas  in  a  closed  pipe  the  column 
of  air  is  undivided.  An  open  metal  flue  pipe 
consists  of  foot,  and  language,  and  body. 
The  foot  is  that  on  which  it  stands,  and  into 
which  the  compressed  air  enters. 


The  language  is  a  flat  piece  of  metal 
fastened  by  its  edge  to  the  top  of  the  foot, 
and  which  by  its  shape,  only  permits  the 
air  to  leave  the  foot  in  one  direction.  The 
whole  of  the  pipe  above  the  foot  and  lan- 
guage is  termed  the  body.  The  lower  edge 
of  the  body  is  indented  in  front  thus, 
the  indentation  is  called  the  leaf.  The 
lower  edge  of  the  leaf  forms  the  upper 
lip  and  the  corresponding  edge  of  the 
foot  which  is  also  indented  is  termed 

the  lower  lip.  The  space  between  the 
lips  is  termed  the  montli.  A  wooden 
flue-pipe  consists  of  a  foot,  cap,  block, 
and  body.  The  foot  is  a  hollow  wooden 
tube  on  which  the  pipe  stands,  and 
through  which  the  air  enters  into  it. 


The  air  on  entering  is  arrested  in  its  up- 
ward course  by  the  block. 


It,  therefore,  comes  out  towards  the  front 
through  the  throat,  as  the  opening  in  the 
block  is  termed,  and  passes  along  the  cap 
by  which  it  is  forced  through  the  small 
opening  between  the  top  of  the  cap 
r  W  (the  iinder-lip)  and  the  top  of  the  block, 
fejl^'  called  the  wind-way.    The  four  boards 
^^used  in  making  the  pipe  form  the  body. 
The  upper-lip  of  a  wooden  pipe  is  generally 
made  by  bevelling  off  that  part  of  the  body  of 
the  pipe  just  over  the  upper  edge  of  the  cap. 


(  337  ) 


ORGAN  CONSTRUCTION. 


but  the  mouths  are  sometimes  inverted  thus  ; 


Occasionally  also  the  blocl:  is  superseded  by 
a  wooden  "  language,"  similar  in  its  position 
and  office  to  that  in  a  metal  pipe,  thus  : 


The  block  is  sometimes  bevelled  off  on  its 
underside,  while  the  cap  remains  straight, 
thus: 


The  following  section  of  a  flue- 
pipe  will  probably  make  its  construc- 
tion clear: — t  is  the  foot  through 
which  air  enters;  c  the  space  between  r- 
the  block  and  cap;  d e  the  slit  through  d 
which  the  air  is  directed  to  strike 
against  the  lip,  a  b  ;  and  r  is  inside 
of  the  pipe,  which  acts  as  a  resonance- 
box. 


(§  15.)  A  reed-pipe  consists  of  a  boot,  block, 
reed,  tongue,  zuedge,  tuning  wire,  and  tube. 

The  bjot  is  a  metal  case  corresponding 
somewhat  in  its  office  to  the  foot  of  a  flue- 
pipe,  inasmucli  as  the  weight  of  the  pipe  rests 

fupon  it,  and  through  it  the  air  passes 
upwards.  The  block  is  a  round  piece 
of  metal  fitting  into  the  boot,  pierced 
in  two  places,  one  to  contain  the  reed, 
the  other  to  admit  the  tuning 
wire.  It  would  appear  thus  in 
section.  Into  the  larger  orifice 
the  reed  is  forced,  through  the 
smaller  the  tuning  wire  is  passed.  The  rim 
prevents  it  from  being  forced  into  the  boot 


by  the  superincumbent  weight  of  tube. 

The  reed  is  a  brass  tube  rather  wider  at 
the  bottom  than  the  top,  and  closed  at  the 


bottom,  having  a  narrow  orifice  over  which 
lies  the  tongue,  a  thin  elastic  piece  of  brass 
large  enough  to  cover  the  orifice  and  its  edges. 


It  is  kept  in  its  position  by  a  sn-all  wedge 
of  wood  which  is  forced  into  the  orifice  in  the 
block  with  the  reed.  The  lower  end  of  the 
tongue  is  therefore  perfectly  free.  The  tuning- 
wire  is  a  piece  of  common  wire  bent  in  such 
a  manner  that  a  flat  part  of  it  lies  across 
the  tongue.  By  moving  the  wire  from  the 
outside,  more  or  less  of  the  tongue  is 
allowed  to  vibrate,  and  thus  the  pitch 
is  regulated.  The  upper  end  stands 
just  in  front  of  the  tube  of  wood  or 
metal,  into  which  the  air  passes  when 
leaving  the  reed,  and  which  adds  so  ( 
materially  to  the  tone  of  a  reed-pipe. 
In  small  pipes  the  tube  is  generally  of 
metal,  but  in  large  pipes  often  of  wojd;  V""'/ 
it  is  conical  in  shape  if  a  full  tone  is 
required  ;  if  not,  circular  or  circul  1  with  a 
bell-top ;  and  is  either  soldered  to  the  top  of 
the  block,  as  is  the  case  in  small  pipes,  or  i.^ 
dropped  into  a  small  socket  on  the  top  of  the 
block.  Though,  as  before  stated, the  tube  is  not 
essential  for  the  regulation  of  the  pitch,  its 
length  and  shape  greatly  influence  the  quality 
of  sound  produced.  The  closed  reed  is  a  reed 
which  admits  a  much  smaller  quantity  of 
wind  than  the  open  or  common  reed. 

(§  16.)  The  free  or  common  harmonium 
reed  is  a  reed  the  tongue  of  which  does  not 
lie  over  the  edge  of  the  aperture,  but  is  able 
to  pass  freely  backwards  and  forwards.  Hence 
its  name  free,  in  opposition  to  the  kind  of 
reeds  above  described  which  are  termed  "  per- 
cussion reeds."  They  are  not  commonly 
used  in  organs,  but  are  more  often  met  with 
in  continental  than  in  English  organs. 

(§  17.)  The  swell  organ  is  the  successor  of 
the  old  echo  organ,  a  portion  of  a  few 
stops  enclosed  in  a  wooden  box  in  order  to 
produce  a  subdued  tone,  or  the  effect  of 
distance.  In  1712,  Abraham  Jordan  invented 
the  "  Nag's-head  swell,"  as  it  was  aftewards 
termed.  It  consisted  of  an  echo  organ, 
having,  instead  of  a  fixed  front,  a  moveable 
shutter  working  up  and  down  in  a  window 
sash.  A  pedal  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the 
performer  raised  and  closed  the  shutter  at 
will,  thus  producing  a  crescendo  and  ditni- 
nuendo.  But  the  mechanism  of  this  old 
"  swelling  organ  "  was  most  unsatisfactory. 
A  very  heavy  pressure  on  the  pedal  waa 


(  33S  ) 


ORGAN  CONSTRUCTION. 


required  before  the  shutter  would  stir,  but 
once  in  motion  it  would  often  run  up  to  its 
extreme  limit  against  the  wish  of  the  per- 
former, coming  down  to  its  closed  position 
again  when  the  pedal  was  released  with  a 
loud  "  bang."  After  half  a  century,  England, 
and  Avery,  and  afterwards  Green,  made  use 
of  the  Venetian  Swell,  which  consists  of  a 
series  of  shutters  from  six  to  ten  inches  in 
breadth,  and  from  a  half  to  two  and  a  half 
inches  in  thickness,  each  hung  on  an  axis 
one-third  from  the  top  of  its  breadth.  The 
edges  of  each  shutter  are  bevelled  away  at  an 
angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees,  so  that  each 
two  contiguous  boards  overlap  each  other, 
and  also  are  covered  with  felt  in  order  to  fit 
close,  shut  quietly,  and  shut  in  the  sound 
thoroughly.  The  inside  of  the  whole  box 
may  be  lined  with  thick  brown  paper,  glued 
on  to  the  v/ood-work ;  this  prevents  the 
escape  of  sound,  and  does  not  injure  the 
reverberation  when  the  shutters  are  open. 
The  Venetian  Swell  is  so  named  because  of 
the  similarity  of  the  appearance  of  the 
shutters  to  that  of  a  common  Venetian  blind. 
The  shutters  sometimes  are  placed  perpen- 
dicularly instead  of  horizontally,  and  occa- 
sionally open  at  the  sides  or  back,  as  well  as 
in  the  front. 

(§  i8.)  The  quality  of  tone,  and  to  some 
extent  the  pitch  of  pipes,  whether  they  are 
wood  or  metal,  reed  or  flue,  depends  upon 
their  shape  or  outline,  their  scale,  and  the 
pressure  of  the  wind  to  which  they  are  sub- 
ject. Metal  pipes  are  in  shape  either  cylin- 
drical, conical,  or  inverted-conical,  or  sur- 
mounted by  a  bell  whether  cylindrical  or 
conical.  Wood  pipes  are  four-sided,  the 
opposite  sides  being  equal  in  width,  or  pyra- 
midal, or  inverted-pyramidal. 

(§  19.)  By  Scale  is  meant  the  relation 
between  the  width  and  length  of  a  pipe.  If 
a  pipe  is  wide  in  proportion  to  its  length  it  is 
said  to  be  of  a  large  scale  ;  if  narrow  in  pro- 
portion to  its  length  of  a  small  scale.  Inas- 
much as  scale  affects  to  some  degree  the 
pitch  of  a  pipe,  it  necessitates  a  proportionate 
alteration  in  its  length,  thus  a  pipe  of  a  small 
scale  must  be  made  somewhat  longer  than  a 
pipe  of  a  large  scale  sounding  the  same  note. 

(§  20.)  The  amount  of  the  pressure  or  weight 
of  wind  is  regulated  by  the  weights  placed 
on  the  bellows.  It  is  found,  by  using  a  wind- 
gauge  or  Anemometer,  a  bent  glass 
tube,  which  is  fixed  into  a  socket, 
and  into  which  a  little  water  is 
poured.  On  placing  the  socket  on 
one  of  the  holes  in  the  upper  board 
of  a  sound-board,  and  admitting  the 
air  from  the  bellows,  the  water  is 
forced  up  the  tube,  and  the  difference  between 
the  level  of  the  two  surfaces  of  water  is 


g  a  wm 

01 


0 


measured  in  inches.  The  usual  weight  of 
wind  on  the  swell,  great,  and  choir  organs  of 
a  church  organ,  is  from  two  and  a  half  to 
three  inches,  the  pedal  organ  (where  a  sepa- 
rate bellows  makes  it  feasible)  receiving 
rather  a  higher  pressure.  The  fourth  manual 
or  solo  organ  is  nearly  always  voiced  to  a 
very  high  pressure,  as  very  fine  effects  are  in 
this  way  obtained  both  from  reed  and  flue 
pipes.  Organs  in  concert  rooms  and  public 
buildings  are  often  voiced  throughout  to  a 
higher  pressure  than  those  in  churches.  The 
average  amount  of  surface  weight  on  the  bel- 
lows required  to  produce  a  three-inch  wind  is 
nine  pounds  and  three  quarters  per  super- 
ficial foot. 

(§21.)  As  regards  the  disposition  of  the  vari- 
ous qualities  of  tone  between  the  manuals,— 
the  choir  organ,  being  as  its  name  implies, 
intended  for  the  accompaniment  of  voices, 
generally  receives  stops  of  a  delicate  and  sub- 
dued quality  of  tone,  such  as  the  Spitz- 
flote,  Gemshorn,  Viol  di  Gamba,  Dulciana, 
Keraulophon,  &c.  The  great  organ  being 
required  for  grand  effects,  has  allotted  to  it 
the  large  scale  Diapasons,  together  with  a 
complete  set  of  octave,  twelfth,  super-octave, 
mixture  stops,  and  a  proportionate  number  oif 
large  scale  reed-stops.  The  swell  organ  has 
a  larger  proportion  of  reeds  than  any  other 
manual,  chiefly  because  of  the  fine  effects  they 
produce  during  the  opening  and  closing  of 
the  shutters  of  the  swell  box.  The  reed-stops 
■ire  generally  placed  in  the  front  of  ths  swell 
sound-board,  just  inside  the  box,  not  only  be- 
cause in  that  position  the  effect  of  a.  crescendo 
is  increased,  but  also  because  they  are  more 
easily  within  the  reach  of  a  tuner.  The  Pedal 
Organ,  as  an  independent  organ,  cannot  be 
said  to  have  been  known  in  England  for  more 
than  the  last  half  century,  although  ap- 
parently always  a  constituent  part  of  a  good 
German  instrument.  The  deepest  tones  (32 
feet)  are  consigned  to  the  Pedal  Organ,  as 
also  a  large  number  of  16  feet  stops,  to  serve 
as  a  bass  to  the  manuals,  which  have  rarely 
more  than  one  or  two  of  that  pitch,  on  any 
separate  manual. 

(§  22.)  An  organ  is  tuned  by  means  of 
hollow  cones  and 
reed  -  knives.  The 
former  are  used  for 
tuning  metal  flue- 
pipes,  and  are  used 
in  this  manner.  If  a 
pipe  is  too  sharp, 
the  apex  of  the  cone 
is  inserted  into  the 
top  of  the  pipe,  and  the  cone  being  forced  in 
enlarges  the  orifice  and  flattens  the  pitch. 
If  a  pipe  is  too  flat,  a  cone  whose  base  is 
so  broad  that  it  will  admit  the  top  of  the  pipe, 


(  339  ) 


ORGANETTO  OTTETTO. 


is  placed  on  the  pipe  and  squeezed  down 
until  the  orifice  is  reduced  in  size,  and  the 
pitch  is  sufficiently  raised.  Cones  are  made 
of  metal  or  wood,  more  often  the  latter,  be- 
cause of  its  comparative  lightness.  Wooden 
flue-pipes  are  tuned,  if  stopped, 
moving  the  stopper  up  or  down  ; 
open,  by  a  piece  of  lead  placed 
the  back  of  the  top  of  the  pipe  for  the 
purpose. 

Large  open  wood  pipes  are 
tuned  by  cutting  off  part  of  the 
top  if  too  sharp,  and  by  raising 
a  piece  of  wood  screwed  for  the 
purpose  near  the  top  if  too  flat. 

The  largest  metal-pipes  have  generally  an 
opening  at  the  back  of  the  top,  which  can 
be  opened  or  closed  as  it  is  necessary  to 
make  them  flatter  or  sharper. 


Wooden 


Metal  pipes,  with  soldered  covers,  with  or 
without  chimneys,  are  tuned  by  altering  the 
position  of  the  ears,  which  are  made  specially 
long. 


(§  23.)  The  reed-knife  is  a  long  piece  of 
common  iron  or  steel  in  this  shape,  hence 
its  name. 


r 


The  tuning  wire  is  provided 
extremity  with  a  hook  or  projec 
tion  by  which  the  edge  of  the 
knife  is  able,  by  gentle  taps,  to 
gradually  raise  it.  The  wire  is 
pushed  in  by  being  struck  on  the 
top.  By  referring  to  the  account 
of  the  tuning  wire  given  in  §15, 
it  will  be  understood  that  raising 
the  wire  flattens  the  note,  de- 
pressing it  sharpens  it. 


at  its 
\  / 

\  I 
I 


upper 
\  / 


Orga  ietto  (It.)    A  little  organ. 

Organic  Music.  A  mediaeval  name  foj 
instrumental  music. 

Organo  {It.)  Organ.  Organo  pleno,  the 
full  organ. 

Organochordium.  An  instrument  having 
pipes  and  strings,  invented  by  Vogler. 

Organo  di  legno.  A  claque  bois.  [Xylo- 
phon.] 

Organophonic.  The  name  assumed  by 
a  band  of  Polish  performers,  who  imitated 
the  sounds  made  by  various  instruments  with 
their  mouths. 

Organo  portabile  (It.)  A  portative  organ. 
A  small  organ  capable  of  being  easily  carried 
about. 

Organ-point.  [Fugue.] 

Organum.  (i)  An  early  form  of  harmony, 
called  also  diaphony  [Descant.]  (2)  An 
organ. 

Organum  hydraulicum  {Lat.)  Hydraulic 
organ. 

Organum  pneumaticum  {Lat.)  The 
common  organ. 

Orgel  {Ger.)  [Organ.] 

Orgelgehause  (Ger.)    An  organ  case. 

Orgel-punkt(Ger.)  A  pedal  point.  [Fugue.] 

Orgue  {Fr.)    Organ  or  harmonium. 

Orgue  expressif  {Fr.)  Harmonium. 

Orgue  portatif  {Fr.)    A  portable  organ. 

Orificium  {Lat.)  The  mouth  of  an  organ- 
pipe. 

Original  position.  A  chord  is  said  to  be 
in  its  original  position  when  the  ground-note 
is  in  the  bass ;  in  other  words,  before  it  has 
undergone  inversion  :  or,  when  its  upper 
notes  are  in  the  order  3,  5,  8. 

Ornamenti  {It.)  Grace-notes  and  other 
embellishments. 

Ornatamente,  Ornato  {It.)  With  em- 
bellishments. 

Orpharion.  A  kind  of  lute,  having  wire 
strings.  [Lute.] 

Osservanza,  con  {It.)    With  exactness. 

Ossia  {It.)  Or  else,  as  ossia  piu  facile,  or 
else  in  this  more  easy  way. 

Ostinato  {It.)  Lit.  obstinate,  used  in  the 
sense  of  "  frequently  repeated,"  as  basso 
ostinato,  a  ground-bass,  q.v. 

Oton.  An  Indian  wind  instrument  pro- 
ducing only  a  single  sound,  employed  during 
the  dancmg  of  the  Bayaderes.  The  player 
holds  the  oton  in  his  left  hand  while  with  his 
right  he  beats  a  tambourine  fastened  to  his 
belt.  [Tabor.] 

Ottava  {It.)  An  octave,  as  ottava  alta  (to 
be  played),  an  octave  higher,  ottava  bassa,  an 
octave  lower. 

Ottavina  {It.)  The  little  or  higher  octave. 

Ottavino  flauto  {It.)  [Flute.] 

Ottemole.  [Octuplet.] 

Ottetto  {It.)  A  composition  in  eight  part* 


(340  J 


i 


OUiE  OXYBAPHON. 


Ouie  (Fr.)    The  hearing. 
Ouvert  (Fr.)    Open,  as  h  livre  ouvert,  at 
sight. 

Ouverture  {Fr.)  [Overture.] 

Overblow.  A  pipe  is  said  to  be  over- 
blown when  the  pressure  of  air  forces  it  to 
speak  an  over-tone,  instead  of  its  fundamental 
note. 

Overtura  di  ballo  {It.)  An  overture  in 
the  style  of  dance-music. 

Overture.  Overtura  (//.)  Ouverture 
{Fr.)  An  introductory  symphony  for  instru- 
ments. It  is  usual  to  say  that  there  are  four 
kinds  of  overtures,  two  in  the  ancient,  and 
two  in  the  modern  style.  This  may  be  true 
with  regard  to  the  limit  placed  upon  the 
ancient  overtures,  but  it  is  not  entirely  so 
with  respect  to  the  modern  ones,  for  they  are 
as  various  as  the  fancies  of  composers,  and 
defy  all  attempts  to  reduce  them  to  classi- 
fication. 

Old  overtures  may  be  arranged  into  two 
classes,  the  French  and  the  Italian,  or  to 
describe  them  by  the  names  of  their  reputed 
inventors  into  the  Lully  and  Scarlatti  over- 
tures. The  Lully  overture  usually  opened 
with  a  slow  and  stately  movement,  by  way  of 
introduction.  The  succeeding  theme  was 
treated  in  imitation  in  the  old  Canzona  style; 
if  divided  into  sections,  the  first  section  ended 
in  the  key  of  the  dominant  if  it  began  in  a 
major  key,  and  in  the  relative  major  if  it 
began  in  the  minor.  All  kinds  of  free  imitation 
were  allowed  in  the  next  section.  After  this 
a  "  grave  "  was  repeated,  and  a  minuet,  or 
some  lively  movement  concluded  the  overture. 
This  form  is  employed  by  Handel,  Bach, 
Keiser,  Telemann,  Hasse,  Graun,  and  other 
composers  of  the  early  part  of  the  i8th 
century,  with  more  or  less  alterations  accord- 
ing to  fancy.  When  Sonata  Form  began  to 
be  understood,  overtures  in  the  form  described 
above  were  more  rarely  written,  but  the  style 
was  not  wholly  disused  until  the  commence- 
ment of  the  present  century. 

The  Scarlatti  form  of  overture  consisted  of 
three  movements  or  sections;  the  first  and 
third  were  quick  or  lively,  and  the  second  was 
slow.  In  the  slow  movement,  a  change  of  pace, 
and  also  of  accent  or  rhythm  was  used,  and 


fewer  instruments  were  employed,  so  that  the 
scoring  might  afford  a  strong  contrast  to  the 
other  portions.  A  near  approach  to  the 
arrangement  of  the  Sonata  and  Symphony 
was  thus  made,  and  the  Italian  overture  or 
"  Sinfonia"  may  be  called  the  immediate 
precursor  of  the  symphony  as  it  now  stands. 

The  modern  overture  dates  from  the  latter 
part  of  the  i8th  century,  and  may  be  described 
in  a  few  words  as  a  composition  in  the  form 
of  the  first  movement  of  a  sonata,  concerto, 
or  symphony,  with  the  exception  that  the 
sections  are  not  always  marked  for  repetition. 
It  has  occasionally  a  short  introduction 
in  a  slow  tempo,  of  a  marked  and  stately 
character.  Its  principal  themes  are  often 
taken  from  the  work  it  precedes.  Some- 
times the  "free  fugue"  style  is  chosen,  and 
occasionally  the  sonata  and  fugue  form  are 
happily  united,  as  in  Mozart's  overture  "  Die 
Zauberflote." 

Many  modern  overtures  consist  almost  en- 
tirely of  a  series  of  clever  contrasts  indepen- 
dent of  form.  These  should  be  described  as 
medley  overtures,  though  the  medley  overture 
proper  includes  portions  of  the  chief  melodies 
in  an  opera.  One  of  the  most  effective  works  of 
this  class  is  the  overture  to  "  Guy  Mannering" 
by  Sir  H.  R.  Bishop.  The  invention  of  the 
medley  overture  is  attributed  to  Richard 
Charke,  the  son-in-law  of  Colley  Gibber. 

Overtures  not  connected  with,  or  part  of  a 
larger  work,  are  known  as  "  Concert  Over- 
tures I "  but  it  does  not  follow  that  overtures 
originally  written  as  preludes  to  a  special 
work,  may  not  be  treated  as  "  Concert"  pieces, 
even  if  the  work  to  which  they  were  attached 
has  ceased  to  be  known. 

Oxupycni  (Med.  Lat.  from  G^.  d|i)c,acute, 
and  TTuci'oc,  close.)  Church  Modes  having  a 
pycnon  or  semitone  high  in  the  tetrachord 
e.g.: 


Lydian.  _  Hypolydian. 


Oxybaphon  {Gk.)  o^vfyaipoy.  Lit.  a  vinegar 
jar.  Hence  (like  the  acetabulum)  an  earth- 
enware vessel  used  for  experiments  as  to 
sound. 


C  341 } 


P  PART-SONG. 


P. 


P.  Abbreviation  of  piano,  soft. 
Paduana,  Padouana.  [Pavan.] 
Paean,  ttcuuv.  The  ancient  choral  song 
addressed  to  Apollo,  named  after  its  burden, 
till  Tratdj'.  It  was  sung  sometimes  before 
battle,  and  sometimes  after  a  victory.  Donald- 
son thinks  it  probable  that  it  was  at  first 
accompanied  on  the  phorminx,  which,  how- 
ever, was  afterwards  superseded  by  the 
flute.  From  the  ancient  Pasan  sprang 
the  gymnopcedic,  pyrrhic,  and  hyporchematic 
dances. 

Paeon.  A  foot  consisting  of  one  long 
syllable  and  three  short.  The  position  of 
the  long  syllable  can  be  varied  in  four  ways, 
hence  the  Paeon  is  said  to  be  primus,  secundus, 
tertius,  or  quartus.  [Metre.] 

Pair  of  Organs.  The  word  pair  simply 
means  a  set,  and  it  is  used  in  this  sense 
in  the  expression  a  "  pair  of  stairs,"  or  a 
"  pair  of  scissors."  It  was  formerly  in  more 
general  use  than  now,  and  "  pair  of  cards," 
and  "  pair  of  beads,"  are  met  with  in  the  old 
poets.  A  "  pair  of  organs  "  means,  then,  an 
organ  having  a  complete  set  of  pipes. 

Palalaika.  [Balalaika.] 

Palco  {It.)    The  stage  of  a  theatre,  &c. 

Palilia.  The  rustic  dance  at  the  Festival 
of  Pales,  in  which  the  shepherds  leapt  round 
and  over  burning  straw.  It  may  have  been 
to  some  extent  the  origin  of  the  May-pole 
dance. 

Pallet.    [Organ,  §  4.] 

Palmula  [Lat.)    Manual  of  an  organ. 

Pambe.  A  small  Indian  drum. 

Pandean-pipes.  [Pan's-pipes.] 

Pandora.  [Bandore.] 

Pan's-pipes,  or  mouth-organ.  The 
earliest  form  of  a  compound  wind  instrument, 
undoubtedly  the  precursor  of  the  organ.  It 
was  the  avpiyl  of  the  Greeks,  _^5^M/a  of  the 
Romans,  and  probably  the  ugab  of  the 
Hebrews.  It  was  formed  of  seven,  eight,  or 
nine  short  hollow  reeds,  fixed  together  by 
wax,  and  cut  in  graduated  lengths,  so  as  to 
produce  a  musical  scale.  The  lower  ends  of 
the  reeds  were  closed  and  the  upper  open 
and  on  a  level,  so  that  the  mouth  could  easily 
pass  from  one  pipe  to  another. 

Pantaleone.  An  instrument  invented  by 
Hebenstreit  in  1705.  It  was  a  sort  of  dul- 
cimer, but  strung  with  catgut  and  metal 
strings  in  two  series. 


Pantalon  (Fr.)    One  of  the  movements  of 

a  quadrille. 

Parallelbewegung.    [Parallel  motion.] 

Parallelen  [Ger.)  Consecutives. 

Parallel  motion.  The  movement  of  two 
or  more  parts  at  fixed  intervals,  as  thirds, 
sixths.  Parallel  fifths  are  under  certain 
limitations  forbidden.  [Consecutives.] 

Paramese  {Gk.)  -rrapufxiirr}.  [Greek  music] 

Paranete  (G^.)  napaviirr).    [Greek  music] 

Parhypate  (Gk.)  vapvTraTri.  [Greek  music] 

Parlando,  Parlante  (//.)  In  a  declama- 
tory manner,  as  if  speaking. 

Parlante  (It.)  Lit.  speaking.  (1)  In  the 
style  of  a  recitative  ;  (2)  played  in  the  style 
of  vocal  recitation. 

Paroles  (Fr.)  Words ;  as,  Sans  p  t roles, 
without  words. 

Part,  (i)  So  much  of  a  piece  of  music,  or 
work,  as  is  performed  by  any  one  voice  or 
instrument ;  (2)  Division  of  a  work. 

Parte  {It.)  Part.  Parte  cantante,  vocal 
part.    Partie  {Fr.) 

Partial  tones.  Those  simple  sounds  which 
in  combination  form  an  ordinary  sound  and 
cause  its  special  quality  of  tone.  [Acoustics.] 

Partimenti  {It.)  Figured  basses,  used  as 
exercises. 

Partition  {Fr.)   Partitur  {Ger.)  [Score.] 
Partitura,  Partizione  (It.)  [Score.] 
Part-Music.  Music  in  two  or  more  parts, 
performed  by  more  than  one  person. 

Part-Song.  A  vocal  composition,  having 
a  striking  melody  harmonized  by  other  parts 
more  or  less  freely,  but  from  which  counter- 
point is  for  the  mo«t  part  excluded.  The 
Part-song  owes  its  origin  to  the  habit  preva- 
lent among  the  Germans  of  adding  simple 
harmonies  to  their  "  Volksgesange."  On 
the  model  of  these  harmonized  airs,  fresh 
compositions  have  from  time  to  time  been 
produced,  sometimes  with  a  little  more  elabo- 
ration in  their  construction  than  their  models, 
in  such  numbers,  that  there  is  now  an  exten- 
sive literature  of  this  kind  of  music.  Almost 
every  town  in  Germany  has  its  "  Singverein," 
"  Liedertafel,"  or  "  Mannergesangverein,"  all 
of  which  largely  encourage  this  special  class 
of  composition.  From  Germany  Part-songs 
have  been  imported  into  England,  and  oui 
native  composers  have  produced  a  large 
number,  many  of  which  are  of  great  merit. 
The  Part-song  holds  now  the  position  which 


(340 


PAS  PASSING  NOTE. 


the  glee  held  in  this  country  from  the  middle 
of  the  last  century  to  the  beginning  of  this, 
and  which  the  madrigal  held  from  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  to  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  simplest  form  of  Part 
song  is  that  in  which  the  same  music  [tntti) 
is  repeated  for  each  verse  of  the  words  ;  the 
most  elaborate  that  in  which  soli  parts  occur, 
or  a  separate  solo  accompanied  by  the  other 
parts,  either  pianissimo  or  con  boccha  chiusa. 
Part-songs  may  be  for  soprani,  contralti, 
tenori,  and  bassi,  or  for  men's  voices  only. 
In  the  latter  case,  the  upper  part  is  in 
Germany  sung  by  high  tenors,  but  in  Eng- 
land, where  the  alto  voice  is  still  cultivated 
by  alti,  the  score  includes  an  alto,  two  tenor 
parts,  and  a  bass  part,  instead  of  the  ordinary 
two  tenor  and  two  bass  parts  of  those  by 
German  authors.  A  Part-song  differs  from  a 
madrigal  in  its  exclusion  of  contrapuntal 
devices  ;  from  a  glee,  in  its  being  sung  by 
ma,ny  voices  instead  of  by  one  only  to  each 
part.  The  treatment  of  the  chords  and  the 
harmonical  progressions  sufficiently  stamp 
the  madrigalian  style,  while  the  peculiar 
melodiousness  of  the  inner  parts  of  a  glee, 
coupled  with  its  special  adaptability  for 
chamber  use,  mark  its  character  distinctly  ; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  the  Part-song  by  its 
strong  outlines  and  modern  harmonization 
can  easily  be  distinguished  from  a  glee. 

Pas  {Fr.)  A  dance,  as  pas  seul,  pas  dt 
deux,  a  dance  by  one  or  two  performers.  A 
step,  as  pas  redouble,  a  quick  step,  or  march. 

Paspy.  The  English  name  for  the  dance 
Passepied,  called  also  Passamezzo  by  the 
Italian  and  Paspie  by  the  Spanish  'writers. 
It  was  a  precursor  of  the  minuet,  some  of  the 
tunes  called  by  the  title  Paspy  resembling  the 
minuet  in  rhythm  and  measure.  Hawkins 
says  it  "  is  said  to  have  been  invented  in 
Bretagne,  and  it  is  in  effect  a  quick  minuet." 
The  old  English  writers  call  it  passa-measure, 
passy-measure,  passing-measure,  or  simply 
measure.  It  was  a  favourite  dance  in  the  time 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  from  the  fact  that  ex- 
amples exist  by  writers  as  late  as  Purcell  and 
Croft,  it  could  not  have  been  out  of  fashion  in 
their  time. 


PASPY.  H.  Purcell. 


r 

( 


w 


THE  ENGLISH  PASPY. 

Croft,  c.  1700. 


Passacaglio,  passacaglia  [It.) ;  Passe- 
caille,  passe-rue  {Fr.);  Passacalle  (Sp.);  Gas- 
senhawer  {Ger.)  A  dance  in  triple  measure, 
constructed  on  a  ground  bass.  Bach  has 
used  this  form  for  one  of  his  grandest  com- 
positions for  the  organ.  [Gassenhawer.] 
[Chaconne.] 

Passage,  (i)  A  phrase  of  music.  (2)  A 
figure.    (3)  A  run. 

Passage  (Fr.)  [Passage.] 

Passage-boards.  Boards  placed  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  an  organ,  on  which  the  tuner 
can  walk,  and  from  whence  he  can  reach 
pipes  or  mechanism. 

Passaggio  [It.)  A  passage  or  phrase,  as 
passaggio  cromatico,  a  chromatic  passage. 
Also  a  run,  or  rapid  succession  of  notes. 

Passa  mezzo  [It.)  [Paspy.] 

Passe-pied.  [Paspy.] 

Passing  discord.    [Passing  note.] 

Passing  note.  A  note  not  essential  tc 
harmonv,  forming  an   unprepared  discord, 

3  ) 


PASSIONATAMENTE  PASSION  MUSIC. 


which  IS  not  objectionable  because  it  is  a 
fragment  of  a  scale.  It  is  a  necessary  cha- 
racteristic of  a  passing-note,  that  it  should 
have  a  degree  of  the  scale  on  each  side  of  it. 
Passing-notes  having  degrees  of  a  diatonic 
scale  on  each  side  are  said  to  be  diatonic  ; 
those  having  degrees  of  a  chromatic  scale  on 
each  side,  are  said  to  be  chromatic. 

I    uJ   ^  "" 
Diatonic  passing  notes. 


Chromatic  passing  notes. 


Passing  notes  generally  occur  on  unac- 
cented parts  of  a  bar.  When  unessential 
notes  occur  on  accented  parts  of  a  bar,  they 
are  generally  called  auxiliary  notes,  e.g. : 

Passionatamente,  passionate,  pas- 
sionate, con  passione  {It.)  In  an  im- 
passioned manner. 

Passione  (7^.)  A  cantata  founded  on  the 
incidents  of  the  Passion,  or  on  the  seven  last 
words. 

Passion  Music.  Music  set  to  the  narra- 
tive of  our  Lord's  Passion  in  the  Gospels. 
Dramatic  representations  of  the  subject  date 
from  a  very  early  period,  there  being  still  ex- 
tant a  play  ascribed,  though  somewhat  doubt- 
fully, to  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Bishop  of  Antioch. 
It  is  in  4th  century  Greek,  and  is  entitled 
"  xpifTTik  nn(T-)^ijv."  This,  like  many  of  the 
religious  plays  of  a  subsequent  date,  was  de- 
signed only  to  be  spoken  as  in  ordinary 
dramatic  representations,  and  is  independent 
of  musical  aid.  For,  although  music  was 
occasionally  employed  to  add  to  the  attraction 
of  the  performance  of  these  Mysteries  or 
Miracle  plays  in  early  times,  it  was  only  in  a 
secondary  manner,  and  not  so  connected  with 
or  inseparable  from  the  action  as  in  still  later 
times,  or  in  the  form  now  known.  Passion 
plays  are  still  occasionally  performed  in 
remote  continental  places,  with  music  as  an 
accessory. 

The  dramatic  performance  of  the  Passion 
arose  in  imitation  of  the  ancient  custom,  still 
observed  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of 
dividing  the  recital  of  the  Gospel  of  the 
Passion  in  Holy  Week  between  two,  three, 
or  more  readers,  assigning  those  parts  which 
reproduce  the  words  of  the  people  (turbce)  to 


j  the  congregation  or  choir.  To  one  priest  was 
assigned  the  part  of  Jesus,  to  others  those  oi 
Pilate,  Judas,  the  High  Priest,  dec,  and  the 
connecting  portions  of  the  narrative  by  a 
narrator.  All  these  parts  were  recited  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  of  the  accentns  ecclesiasticxis, 
while  the  turbae  or  people's  part  was  delivered 
in  monotone. 

When  the  Passion  was  played  at  other 
times  than  during  the  course  of  the  service,  it 
is  supposed  that  the  words  were  spoken  with- 
out the  aid  of  music.  So  popular  did  these 
plays  become  that  as  early  as  1264  a  company 
of  monks  was  formed  for  the  express  purpose 
of  performing  the  "  Sufferings  of  Christ.  " 
Bayle,  Burney,  and  others  give  a  series  o<" 
dates  of  several  notable  mediaeval  perform- 
ances of  the  Passion,  for  example,  at  Padua 
in  1243,  at  Friuli  in  1298,  at  Civita  Vecchia  in 
the  same  year,  at  Paris  before  Philip  le  Bel, 
and  our  own  Edward  H.  in  13 13,  at  St.  Maur 
near  Paris  in  1404,  at  Constance  during  the 
Council  in  1417,  by  the  English  fathers,  at 
Paris,  on  the  entrance  of  the  Kings  of  England 
and  France  into  that  capital  in  1420,  in  the 
same  city  in  1424,  in  1431  on  the  occasion  of 
the  entry  of  Henry  VI.  of  England,  as  King 
of  France,  and  at  Poitiers  with  great  magnifi- 
cence in  i486.  In  the  Imperial  library  at  Paris 
is  preserved  a  copy  of  "  Le  Mysttre  de  la 
Passion  Jesus  Christ,"  printed  cn  vellum  by 
Antoine  Verard,  1490,  in  which  a  MS.  note 
describes  the  performance  of  this  play  at  Metz 
and  at  Veximiel,  with  some  curious  details  re- 
specting the  representation  at  the  latter  place. 
In  Rymer's  "  View  of  Tragedy,"  there  is  a 
quotation  from  the  Register  of  the  Parliament  ' 
at  Paris  in  which  the  Procureur  General  du 
Roi  lays  a  complaint  against  four  laymen 
for  having  undertaken  to  perform  Christ's 
Passion  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  "  with  a 
company  of  illiterate  and  incompetent  men  ; 
that  they  had  moreover  introduced  apocry- 
phal matters,  and  interlarded  their  plays  with 
drolls  and  farces,  so  as  to  spin  out  the  play 
and  make  it  last  six  or  seven  months  ;  that 
they  had  played  for  lucre,  and  made  their 
performance  so  attractive  that  nobody  went 
to  church,  charity  grew  cold,  and  immoral 
excesses  were  occasioned."  Their  proceedings 
were  stopped  during  the  King's  pleasure,  and 
they  were  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of  Sco 
livres  out  of  their  profits. 

The    reformation   witnessed,  among  the 
many  important  changes  to  which  it  gave 
rise,  the  modification  of  the  representation  | 
of  the  Passion.    Luther  encouraged  the  con-  I 
j  tinuance  of  the  practice,  and  a  development  I* 
I  of  the  ancient  custom  by  which  the  several  , 
I  incidents  told  in  the  gospels  were  recited  by  I 
!  different  individuals,  gave  opportunities  to 
I  the  composers  of  the  period  to  set  music  of 


(  344  ) 


PASSY-MEASURE  PATIMENTO. 


their  own  to  the  story,  in  the  place  of  the  j 
traditional  church  tones,  and  by  this  means  i 
the  story  was  told,  not  only  at  the  times  com- 
manded by  tlie  ritual  of  the  church,  but  at 
other  periods,  in  other  places,  and  on  other 
occasions.  One  of  the  first  versions  of  the 
text  of  these  improvements  was  printed  at 
Wittenberg  in  1573,  with  the  music  for  the 
recitative  and  the  choruses  for  the  turbse  in 
four-part  harmony.  The  author  of  this  in- 
teresting specimen  of  composition  is  unknown, 
though  some  writers  attribute  it  to  Antonio 
Scandell.  Fifteen  years  later,  namely,  in 
1588,  Bartholomgeus  Giise,  or  Gese,  produced 
a  more  elaborate  composition,  in  which  the 
expressions  uttered  by  the  priests,  people, 
or  disciples,  were  called  by  the  general  name 
"  Turbae."  These  were  set  in  harmony  or 
plain-song  and  sung  in  chorus.  The  words 
of  our' Lord,  of  Peter,  Pilate,  Judas,  the  High 
Priest,  &c.,  were  usually  sung  by  separate 
solo  voices  ;  but  in  the  work  of  Bartholo- 
maeus  Gese,  a  different  practice  is  resorted 
to.  The  words  of  the  maid-servant  are  set 
for  two  voices,  those  of  Peter  and  Pilate  for 
three,  those  of  the  Saviour  for  four.  In  this 
work,  the  words  of  Holy  Scripture  alone  are 
used  as  the  text. 

There  was  little  attempt  to  vary  the  old  plain- 
song  in  the  early  settings  of  the  Passion, 
until  Heinrich  Schiitz,  or  as  he  sometimes 
styled  himself  in  accordance  with  the  fanciful 
custom  of  his  time,  Henricus  Sagittarius, 
introduced  a  new  feature  into  the  Passion 
music;  that  of  the  reflective  chorus,  as  sup- 
posed to  be  sung  by  the  "  Christian  com- 
munity,"— and  while  the  greater  part  of  his 
harmonies  are  based  upon  the  old  church 
modes,  there  is  a  noteworthy  attempt  in  his 
recitatives  to  free  himself  from  the  acceiitus 
ecclesiasticHS,  and  to  make  them  more  in- 
dependent. The  design  thus  suggested  was 
carried  out  by  Johann  Sebastiani,  who  was 
organist  and  Kapellmeister  at  Brandenburgh, 
in  1672,  to  whom  also  the  introduction  of 
orchestral,  in  the  place  of  an  organ  accom- 
paniment, is  due.  A  still  further  deviation 
from  the  ancient  plan  was  made  by  Reinhard 
Keiser  at  the  beginning  of  the  18th  century. 
Taking,  instead  of  the  gospel  narratives  of 
the  Passion,  original  poems  on  the  subject 
as  his  libretto,  he  made  his  "  Passion 
Music "  of  like  character  with  his  many 
operas.  In  one  of  these  works,  "  Der 
Blutige  und  Sterbende  Jesus,"  the  libretto  by 
Menantes.  he  employs  the  term  "  soliloquia  " 
to  describe  the  reflective  or  interjaculatory 
passages  set  in  "  arioso  recitative,"  so  fre- 
quently employed  later  by  John  Sebastian 
Bach. 

The  words  of  Reinhard  Reiser's  "  Passion" 
were  written  by  Brocjies.  a  Hamburg  poet, 


who  added  to  the  Bible  narrative,  soliloquia, 
or  reflections  for  the  "  Daughter  of  Sion," 
and  "  The  Believing  Soul."  Telemann, 
Mattheson,  and  Handel  set  Brockes'  poem 
to  music,  and  traces  of  the  influence  of  the 
poem  are  to  be  found  in  Bach's  Matthew 
"  Passion."  A  statement  is  made  by  Rietz  that 
in  the  MS.  score  in  Bach's  handwriting  certain 
solos,  and  solos  with  chorus,  are  marked  as 
though  they  were  to  be  sung  by  the  Daughter 
of  Zion,  or  Zion,  or  the  Faithful.  As  there 
are  several  pieces  in  both  the  existing  works 
on  the  Passion  by  Bach  (the  St.  Matthew  and 
the  St.  John),  similar,  if  not  identical  with 
Brockes'  soliloquia,  there  is  a  reasonable 
ground  for  believing  the  statement  of  Rietz. 
The  credit  of  the  introduction  of  the  chorale 
has  been  assigned  to  Bach,  but  although  he 
employed  it  freely,  Telemann,  Mattheson,  and 
Handel,  also  used  chorales  in  their  works 
on  the  Passion.  The  earlier  writers,  Gese, 
Schiitz,  Keiser,  and  Sebastiani  did  not  use 
the  chorale  as  Bach  probably  did,  with  the 
design  of  enlisting  the  voices  as  well  as  the 
sympathies  of  the  congregation.  Bach 
selected  from  among  a  wealthy  store  of  well 
known  hymn-tunes  those  which  had  the 
greatest  influence  over  the  minds  of  German 
worshippers,  tunes  set  to  various  words  in- 
separably associated  with  the  sentiments, 
affections,  life,  and  citizenship  of  the  people. 

Passy-measure  {Old  Eng.)  A  corruption 
of  the  word  passu  mezzo.  [Paspy.] 

Pastete  {Ger.)  [Pasticcio.] 

Pasticcio  [It.)  Lit.  a  pie,  or  pasty. 
Pastiche  (Fr,),  Pastete  [Gey.)  An  opera, 
cantata,  or  other  work,  the  separate  numbers 
of  which  are  gleaned  from  the  compositions 
of  various  authors,  or  from  several  discon- 
nected works  of  one  author. 

Pastiche  (Fr.)  [Pasticcio.] 

Pastoral,  (i)  A  simple  melody  in  six- 
eight  time  in  a  rustic  style.  (2)  A  cantata, 
the  words  of  which  are  founded  on  pastoral 
incidents.  (3)  A  complete  S3'mphony,  wherein 
a  series  of  pastoral  scenes  is  depicted  by 
sound-painting,  without  the  aid  of  words. 

Pastorale  (It.)  [Pastoral.] 

Pastorella  {It.)    A  short  pastoral. 

Pastorelle  {Fr.)  [Pastorella.] 

Pastorita.  A  shepherd's  pipe.  Fistula 
pastoricia  {Lat.)  An  organ  stop,  the  Nacht- 
horn. 

Pastourelle  {Fr.)  One  of  the  movements 
of  a  quadrille. 

Pateticamente,  Patetico  {It.)  In  a 
pathetic  manner. 

Pathetique,  Pathetiquement  {Fr.)  In 
a  pathetic  manner. 

Patimento  {It.)  Suffering,  as  con  espres- 
sione  di  patimento,  with  an  expression  of 
suffering. 


(  345  ^ 


PAUKEN  PAVAN. 


Pauken  (Ger.)  [Kettle-drums.] 
Pausa  (Lat.)  A  sign  for  silence.  A  rest. 
Ancient  authors  allowed  four  kinds  of  rests  : 
the  long  res.t  being  a  perpendicular  stroke 
drawn  from  a  line  to  the  second  line  below ; 
the  breve  rest,  a  similar  stroke  from  line  to 
line ;  the  semibreve  rest,  a  stroke  com- 
mencing from  any  line,  and  descending  half 
way  between  the  lines  ;  the  minim  rest,  the 
reverse  of  the  semibreve,  that  is,  a  stroke 
ascending  half  way  between  the  two  lines; 
the  semiminima  rest  (crochet),  a  line  equal 
to  half  the  distance  between  the  lines,  but 
bent  to  the  left.  These  are,  of  course,  practi- 
cally the  same  as  modern  rests,  but  the  way 
in  which  they  were  written  was  far  from 
preventing  confusion.  There  were  also  varie- 
ties of  form  or  position  to  indicate  rests  in 
triple  or  common  time. 

Pausa  {It.)  A  rest  or  pause.  Pausa 
generale,  a  rest  or  pause  for  all  the  per- 
formers. 

Pause  {Fr.)  (i)  A  rest  or  pause  ;  (2)  a 
bar's  rest. 

Pavan.  A  dance  tune  of  a  stately  cha- 
racter, deriving  its  title  from  Padua,  where  it 
is  said  to  have  been  invented.  Others  find 
the  origin  of  the  word  in  "  Pavo,"  a  peacock, 
because  it  was  danced  with  "  such  circum- 
stance of  dignity  and  stateliness." 

Morley's  "  Introduction  to  Practicall  Mu- 
sicke,"  speaks  of  it  in  these  terms  : — 

The  next  in  grauitee  and  goodness  vnto 
this  is  called  a  pauan,  a  kinde  of  staide 
musicke,  ordained  for  graue  dauncing,  and 
most  commonly  made  of  three  straines, 
whereof  euerie  strain  is  plaid  or  song  twice. 
A  straine  they  make  to  contain  8,  12,  or  16, 
semi-briefs,  as  they  list,  yet  fewer  than  eight 
I  haue  not  seen  in  any  pauan. 

"After  ever}' pauan  we  vsualy  set  a  galliard. 
The  Italians  make  their  galliards  (which  they 
tearm  salta  relly )  plain,  and  frame  ditties 
to  them,  which  in  their  mascaradoes  they  sing 
and  dance." 

By  this  it  would  appear  that  the  galliard  and 
the  pavan,  when  played  upon  the  virginals, 
harpsichord,  or  spinet,  formed  a  primitive  sort 
of  suite  or  sonata. 

That  the  pavan  was  not  used  entirely  for 
the  dance  may  be  gathered  from  the  title  of  a 
work  published  bj'John  Dowland,"Lachrymae 
or  Seaven  Teares,  figured  in  Seaven  pas- 
sionate Pavans,  with  divers  other  Pavans, 
Galliards,  and  Almands." 

The  pavan,  when  in  duple  time,  is  not 
unfrequently  spoken  of  as  a  "  quadron  or 
quodran  pavan."  The  "  saltarello  "  or  "  salta 
relly,"  as  Morley  calls  it,  was  in  triple  measure. 
VVhf:n  the  pavan  was  played  faster  it  was 
called  a  passamezzo. 


PAVAN, TRANSLATED  FROM  TARLATURE  IN  WOLF 
MECKEL'S  "LAUTTEN  BUCH,"  1562. 


C346) 


PAVANA  PERDENDO. 


Pavana  (//.)  [Pavan.] 

Pavane  {Fr.)  [Pavan.] 

Paventato,  Paventoso  (7^.)  With  an 
expression  of  fear. 

Pavilion  (Fr.)  The  bell  of  a  horn,  or 
other  instrument  of  a  like  kind.  Flilte  a 
Pavilion  (Fr.)  an  organ  stop,  the  pipes  of  ; 
which  are  surmounted  by  a  bell.  Pavilion 
chinois,  an  instrument  consisting  of  little 
bells  attached  to  a  staff. 

Pectis.  A  Greek  instrument  of  the  lut^ 
or  dulcimer  kind. 

Ped :  Abb.  (i)  of  pedal.  In  pianoforte 
music  a  direction  to  press  down  the  pedal 
which  raises  the  dampers.  (2)  Of  pedals. 
In  organ  music  a  direction  that  the  lowest 
part  is  to  be  played  by  the  feet. 

Pedal.  Any  projecting  piece  of  metal  or 
wood  which  is  to  be  pressed  down  by  the 
foot,  (i)  On  the  pianoforte  there  are  usually 
two  pedals,  one  of  which  enables  the  per- 
former to  play  only  on  one  string  {una  corda) ; 
the  other,  to  remove  the  dampers  [sordini). 
(2)  On  the  organ  there  are  combination 
pedals,  which  alter  the  arrangement  of  the 
registers,  and  a  pedal  clavier  or  keyboard,  on 
which  the  feet  play.  (3)  On  the  harp  there 
are  pedals,  each  of  which  has  the  power  of 
flattening,  sharpening,  or  making  natural, 
one  note  throughout  the  whole  compass  of 
the  instrument. 

Pedal-claviatur  [Ger.)  The  pedal  key- 
board of  an  organ. 

Pedal  coupler.  An  accessory  stop  of  an 
organ,  by  means  of  which  the  pedal  keys  are 
enabled  to  draw  down  the  keys  of  a  manual. 

Pedale  (It.)    (i)  A  pedal  key  of  an  organ. 

(2)  A  pedal  note,  or  pedal  point.  [Fugue.] 

(3)  The  pedal  of  a  pianoforte,  which  raises 
the  dampers. 

Pedalflugel  {Ger.)  A  pianoforte,  to 
which  a  set  of  pedal  keys  is  attached. 

Pedaliera  {It.)  The  pedal  keys  of  an  organ. 

Pedalron.    A  set  of  pedals  acting  upon  j 
strings,  producing  notes  of  a  deep  pitch,  so  ! 
constructed  as  to  be  capable  of  being  used 
with  a  pianoforte. 

Pedal-pipes.  The  name  given  to  the  one 
stop  which  was  often,  in  former  times,  in 
this  country  the  sole  representative  of  an 
independent  pedal  organ.  It  generally  con- 
sisted of  open  wooden  pipes  of  a  large  scale. 

Pedal  Sound-board.  The  sound-board 
containing  the  pipes  belonging  to  the  pedal 
organ. 

Pedicula,  Scabella,  or  Scabilla  {Lat.) 
|"icpou7r£4a.  |  [Croupeza.] 
Pedarii,  Podarii,  and  Pedicularii.  The 
I    beaters  of  time  in  the  performance  of  Greek 
(    music.    It  was  done  with  the  foot,  which 
was  furnished  with  wooden  or  iron  sandals 
for  the  purpose.  [Croupeza.] 


Peg  of  an  Instrument.  A  small  round 
piece  of  wood  or  metal,  placed  in  a  hole,  01 
two  holes,  so  as  to  be  capable  of  being  turned 
round,  and  pierced  to  receive  that  end  of  a 
string  or  wire  which  is  not  fixed.  It  is  pre- 
vented from  slipping  round  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  tension  of  the  string  or  wire, 
either  by  being  made  slightly  tapering  in 
form,  and  then  forced  into  its  hole  as  in  a 
violin  ;  or  by  being  made  with  serrated  edges, 
as  in  a  pianoforte.  The  outer  end  of  the  peg 
expands  into  a  broad  flat  surface  which  can 
be  easily  turned  round  between  the  thumb 
and  forefinger,  or  has  a  four-sided  head  on 
to  which  a  key  can  be  fixed. 

Penillion  singing.  A  Welsh  custom  of 
singing  improvised  verses  on  a  given  theme 
to  a  melody  either  well-known  or  then  and 
there  learnt  from  the  harper  who  accompanies 
the  Penillion.  There  is  a  similar  custom 
among  the  Hungarian  gipsies  called  the 
"  Verbunges."    [Dutch  concert.] 

Penorcon.  An  obsolete  instrument  of 
the  guitar  family,  somewhat  broader  and 
shorter  than  the  Pandora,  with  a  very  broad 
neck  over  which  passed  nine  brass  strings, 
which  were  played  upon  by  the  fingers. 

Pentatone.  An  interval  of  five  whole 
tones,  an  augmented  sixth. 

Pentatonic  scale.  The  name  given  by 
Carl  Engel  to  the  ancient  musical  scale 
which  is  easiest  described,  as  that  formed  by 
the  black  keys  of  the  pianoforte.  It  consists 
of  the  1st,  2nd,  3rd,  5th,  and  6th  degrees  of  a 
modern  diatonic  scale,  e.g. : 


Per  {Lat.),  by,  as  per  dimimitionem,  by 
diminution  ;  per  inversionem,  by  inversion. 

Per  {It.),  by  or  for ;  as,  per  il  violino,  for 
the  violin. 

Percussion.  An  ingenious  contrivance 
whereby  a  hammer  strikes  the  tongue  of  a 
reed  and  sets  it  in  motion  simultaneously 
with  the  admission  of  air  from  the  windchest, 
thus  securing  the  rapid  speech  of  the  reed. 
Were  it  not  for  the  percussion,  the  reed  would 
be  only  gradually  set  in  motion  by  the  ad- 
mission of  the  current  of  air,  and  the  sound 
would  not  instantly  follow  the  striking  of  the 
key.  It  is  commonly  used  in  harmoniums, 
but  has  also  been  applied  to  the  largest  reeds 
of  an  organ. 

Percussion  of  a  discord.  The  striking  o: 
a  discord,  which  takes  place  after  its  prepara- 
tion, and  which  is  followed  by  its  resolution. 

Percussione  {It.)  The  striking  of  a 
chord. 

Perd.  Perden.    Abbreviations  of 
Perdendo,  Perdendosi  {It.)  Losing  time 
and  power,  implying  both  dim.  and  rail. 


(  347  ) 


PERFECT  PIANO  DROIT. 


Perfect.  Complete,  (i)  Perfect  cadence, 
an  authentic  or  plagal  cadence.  [Cadence.] 
(2)  Perfect  concord,  a  common  chord  in  its 
original  position.  (3)  Perfect  consonance, 
the  consonance  produced  by  the  intervals 
fourth,  fifth,  or  octave.  (4)  Perfect  in- 
terval, one  of  the  divisions  of  intervals. 
[Interval.]  (5)  Perfect  time.  An  old  name 
for  triple  time. 

Perfetto  (It.)    Perfect  (of  intervals,  &c.) 

Perijourdine.  A  song-dance,  a  ballad, 
named  after  the  district  in  which  it  was  used. 

CHANSON  A  DANSER  DE  SARLAT  EN  PERIGORD. 


Period,  Periode  {Fr.),  Periodo  {It, 
complete  musical  sentence.  [Form.] 

Periodenbau  (Ger.)  The  construction  of 
musical  periods. 

Periodic  Vibration.    [Acoustics,  §  9.] 
Period  of  Vibration.    [Acoustics,  §  3.] 
Perle  (Fr.)  Lit.,  pearled.    Cadence  per  e, 
a  brilliant  cadence.    A  pearly  touch  is  an  ex- 
pression of  our  own  for  a  delicate  and  bright 
touch  in  playing  the  pianoforte. 

Perpetual  canon.  A  canon  so  constructed 
that  it  may  be  repeated  constantly  without 
a  break  in  the  time  or  rhythm.  [Canon.] 

Per  recte  et  retro.  A  species  of  imita- 
tion in  which  the  antecedent  is  repeated  at 
the  unison,  reading  the  notes  backwards. 
The  following  chant  by  Dr.  Crotch  is  a  sim- 
ple example.  The  numbers  over  the  bars 
will  show  the  retrogressive  movement. 

5  6 


Pesante  {It.)  With  weight,  or  importance. 
Impressively. 

Petite  flute  {Fr.)  Kleine  Flbte  {Ger.) 
Piccolo.  [Flute.] 

Petite  mesure  a  deux  terns  {Fr.)  Two- 
four  time. 

Petteia(G*.)  AtermofGreek"Melopoeia." 
Perhaps  the  same  as  extensio,  the  holding  out 
of  a  sound,  or  its  frequent  repetition  to 
different  words  or  syllables. 

Petto  {It.)  The  chest.  Voce  di  petto,  the 
chest  voice. 

Peu  a  peu  {Fr.)  Little  by  little,  gradually. 

Pezzi  {It.)  Pieces,  as  pezzi  concertatiti, 
concert  pieces  or  concerti ;  pezzi  di  bravura, 
pieces  for  the  display  of  rapid  execution  and 
manual  dexterity. 

P.f.,  abb.  of  (i)  Pianoforte.  (2)  Piano, 
forte,  soft  then  loud.    (3)  Piii  forte,  louder. 

Pfeife  {Ger.)    Pipe,  fife,  little  flute. 

Pfeifenwerk  {Ger.)  The  pipe  work  (of 
an  organ),  including  both  reed  and  flue  pipes. 

Phantasie  {Ger.)  [Fantasia.] 

Phantasy,  pi.  Phantasies  {Old  Eng.) 
[Fancy.] 

Phonascus  {Lat.,  from  Gk.  (puvaaKo^).  A 
master  who  trained  the  voices  of  those  who 
were  preparing  themselves  for  orators,  singers, 
&c. 

Phonometer.  An  instrument  for  asc;  : 
taining  the  number  of  vibrations  of  a  giv.  .1 
sound. 

Phorminx  {Gh.),  (popfjuy^.  The  ancient 
lyre  or  cithara,  which  had  probably  not  more 
than  seven  strings.  [Lyre.] 

Phrasing.  The  proper  rendering  of  music 
with  reference  to  its  melodic  form.  A  per- 
former who  brings  into  due  prominence  the 
grouping  of  sounds  into  figures,  sentences, 
&c.,  is  said  to  phrase  well.  Formerly  the 
phrasing  of  music  was  left  to  be  discovered 
by  the  intelligence  and  taste  of  the  performer. 
Modern  writers  use  various  signs  as  indica- 
tions of  their  wishes,  such  as,  the  slur,  sf, 
&c.  [Expression.] 

Piacere,  a  {It.)  At  pleasure  (the  time 
be  modified  at  the  performer's  pleasure). 

Piacevole,  Piacevolezza  con,  Piace- 
volmente  {It.)  In  a  playful  or  light  style. 
Pleasantly. 

Piacimento  {It.)  [Piacere.] 

Piangendo,  Piangevole,  Piangevol- 
mente  (7^.)  As  if  weeping.  In  a  plaintive 
manner. 

Pianette  {Fr.)    A  small  pianoforte. 
Pianino  {It.)  [Pianette.] 
Pianissimo  {It.)    As  softly  as  possible, 
abbd.  pp. 

Piano  {It.)    Softly,  abbd.  p. 
Piano  a  queue  {Fr.)  A  grand  pianoforte. 
Piano  carre  {Fr.)    A  square  pianoforte. 
Piano  droit  {Fr.)    An  upright  pianoforte. 


(  348 


PIANOFORTE. 


Pianoforte,  Forte-piano  {It.)  Ham- 
merclavier,  Fliigel  (Ger.)  (i)  A  stringed 
instrument  with  a  key-board.  The  name  so/t- 
lond  was  given  to  it  because  the  gradations  of 
sound  are  under  the  control  of  the  performer. 

(2)  It  is  a  development  of  the  harpsichord, 
which  in  itself  was  an  improvement  upon  the 
clarichord  and  spinet,  but  it  differs  from  each 
in  the  manner  in  which  the  tone  is  produced 
and  the  strings  set  in  vibration.  In  the  earlier 
instruments  this  was  effected  by  the  scratch- 
ing of  quills  or  hard  leather,  acting  as  plectra. 
In  the  pianoforte  the  strings  are  struck  by 
means  of  hammers.  The  dulcimer  is  un- 
doubtedly the  origin  of  the  pianoforte;  in  fact, 
the  pianoforte  is  nothing  but  a  keyed  dulcimer. 
The  possession  of"  keys  "  and  other  mechanism 
often  assisted  the  makers  in  finding  titles  for 
the  early  instruments.  Thus  we  find  key- 
board instruments  called  clavicytherinm,  or 
kej-ed  cithara  ;  clavichord,  or  string  struck  by 
means  of  a  key  ;  virginclls  or  virginal,  from 
the  rods  attached  to  the  keys  ;  spinet,  from 
the  quills  which  struck  the  strings,  and  clavi- 
cymbalum,  from  cembalo  one  of  the  Italian 
titles  for  a  dulcimer. 

(3)  The  clavicytherinm,  clavierharpe,  cla- 
viercither  {Ger.)  is  supposed  to  be  the  oldest 
of  the  stringed  instruments  with  a  key-board. 
It  was  at  one  time  arranged  in  an  upright  posi- 
tion, but  was  afterwards  placed  in  a  horizontal 
position  similar  to  the  grand  pianoforte  of  the 
present  day.  The  earliest  representation  of 
the  instrument  is  to  be  found  in  the  "  Musur- 
gia  seu  praxis  musics"  of  Luscinius,  Stras- 
bourg, 1536;  but  the  picture,  as  well  as  the 
accompanying  description,  is  very  vague,  and 
it  is  therefore  difficult  to  gain  a  correct  idea 
of  its  construction.  According  to  the  picture 
and  description,  the  clavicytherinm  must  have 
been  an  oblong  box  with  a  lid,  having  a  num- 
ber of  catgut  strings  arranged  in  triangular 
form.  When  the  keys  were  pressed  the  strings 
were  set  in  vibration  by  plectra  of  hard  leather. 

(4)  The  clavichord,  clavicordo  {It.), Clavier 
{Ger.)  had  strings  of  wire  instead  of  gut.  In 
other  respects  it  was  at  first  identical  with 
the  clavicytherium.  The  "action  was  simply 
a  brass  wedge  or  tangent,  which  was  placed 
vertically  at  a  point  where  it  could  be  struck 
or  pressed  against  its  proper  string;  this 
wedge  could  be  held  against  the  string  as 
long  as  required  by  the  firm  pressure  of  the 
finger.  It  thus  formed  the  wrest-pin  for  the 
string,  which  vibrated  only  while  the  key  was 
held  down."  The  shorter  length  of  the  string 
had  a  cloth  or  list  damper  which  checked  the 
vibration  of  the  whole  length  of  the  string 
when  the  finger  was  raised  from  the  key, 
allowing  the  tangent  to  return  to  its  place. 
The  tangents  struck  and  "  stopped "  the 
strings  like  a  violin  player's  finger,  so  that 


more  than  one  sound  could  be  produced  from 
the  same  string.  Forkel  says  that  "  Bnch 
delighted  in  the  instrument  as  he  considered 
it  best  for  study,  and,  in  general,  for  private 
musical  entertainment.  He  found  it  most 
convenient  for  the  expression  of  his  thoughts, 
and  he  did  not  consider  it  possible  to  produce 
such  a  variety  in  the  gradations  of  tone  from 
any  harpsichord  or  pianoforte  as  from  the 
clavichord." 

The  names  clarichord,  manichord  and 
monochord  were  also  applied  to  the  clavichord. 

The  clavicymbalum,  mentioned  above, 
differed  from  the  clavicytherium  and  clari- 
chord in  having  strings  of  steel  wire,  which 
were  set  in  vibration  by  means  of  quill  plectra. 

The  clavichord  is  frequently  mentioned  by 
writers  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies in  such  a  manner  as  to  show  that  the 
instrument  was  in  general  use  at  that  period. 

Clavichords  were  made  in  Germany  as  late 
as  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
last  maker  of  any  note,  according  to  Dr. 
Rimbault,  was  Kramer  of  Gottingen,  "  some 
of  whose  instruments  may  still  occasionally 
be  met  with  in  the  old  baronial  residences 
with  which  that  romantic  country  abounds." 

(5)  The  virginal,  or  spinet,  used  a  long 
time  during  the  same  period,  gradually  super- 
seded the  clavichord  in  England  and  else- 
where. It  was  an  improvement  upon  the 
clavicytherium,  having  brass  instead  of  gut- 
strings.  The  plectrum  was  of  quill,  attached 
to  the  tongue  of  a  piece  of  wood  called  "  a 
jack."  When  the  key  was  struck  the  jack 
rose  up,  forced  the  quill  past  the  string,  and 
set  it  in  vibration.  The  quill  remained  above 
the  string  so  long  as  the  key  was  held  down. 
As  soon  as  the  finger  was  moved  from  the 
key,  the  jack  returned  to  its  place,  when  a 
small  cloth  damper  on  its  top  checked  the 
vibrations  of  the  string. 


VIRGINAL  AND 
HARPSICHORD  JACK. 


In  "  Musick's  hand-maid,  new  lessons  and 
instructions  for  the  virginals  or  harpsichord," 


(  349  ) 


PIANOFORTE. 


c.  1660,  it  is  said,  that  "  the  virginals,  accord-  I 
ing  to  the  ancient  standard,  were  made  to  | 
contain  29  keys  (with  the  half  notes  48  keys),  ! 
but  of  later  times  they  add  to  that  number 
both  above  and  below."  It  was  usually  placed 
upon  a  table  or  stand  when  performed  upon. 
The  instrument  was  a  favourite  one  in  the 
time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  continued  to 
be  popular  until  the  commencement  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

The  virginals  or  spinets  were  sometimes 
highly  ornamented  with  inlaid  work  of  different 
woods,  and  sometimes  with  mother-of-pearl 
and  precious  stones.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  these  ornaments  did  not  improve  the 
tone. 

A  "  PAIR  OF  VIRGINALS." 


(6)  The  Spinet,  absorbing  the  title  of  the 
Virginal,  the  instrument  next  in  historical 
order,  differed  from  the  older  Virginals  in  that 
it  was  always  of  a  triangular  shape. 


SPINET,  OR  COUCHED  HARP. 


It  had  the  wires  carried  over  a  bent  bridge, 
which  modified  their  sounds.  Like  the  Vir- 
ginal it  was  furnished  with  one  string  to  each 
note,  which  string  was  set  in  vibration  by 
means  of  the  jack  before  described. 

The  following  is  a  diagram  of  the  Spinet 
or  Clavichord  action. 


K  key,  J  Jack,  and  S  String. 


(7)  The  Harpsichord,  or  horizontal  Harp, 
had  sometimes  two  rows  of  quills  and  jacks, 
and  there  was  a  contrivance  by  means  of 
which  one  set  of  jacks  could  be  moved  '"'it  of 
reach  of  the  strings  if  the  player  desired  a 
soft  effect.  If  power  was  required  the  me- 
chanism was  moved  so  that  both  rows  of 
jacks  could  act  upon  the  string  at  once. 
Additional  rows  of  jacks  and  additional  key- 
boards were  added  to  the  Harpsichord  until 
it  became  a  very  intricate  piece  of  mechanism. 
The  effects  produced  were  pleasing  but  very 
weak.  Some  Harpsichords  had  three  and 
even  four  strings  to  each  note,  so  arranged 
that,  upon  using  certain  "  stops,"  the  octave 
above  or  below  the  strings  could  be  sounded. 
It  was  difficult  to  keep  such  an  instrument  in 
tune.  The  quills  in  a  well  used  instrument 
required  constant  renewal ;  and,  as  the  process 
of  "quilling"  took  some  hours,  tortoiseshell. 
ivory,  and  leather  plectra  were  sometime:-, 
substituted  for  quills,  but  not  with  any  per- 
manent success. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  Harpsi- 
chord may  be  imagined  from  the  subjoined 
drawing  of  Handel's  Harpsichord,  presented 
by  Messrs.  Broadwood  and  Sons  to  the  South 
Kensington  Museum. 

Handel's  harpsichord. 


The  action  of  the  Harpsichord  may  be  seen 
upon  reference  to  the  following  diagram. 


13 


K  Key,  J  Jack,  S  String. 

Harpsichord  makers  made  many  attempts  to 
improve  their  mechanism  so  that  the  per- 
former might  gain   expression  in  playing. 


(  350  ) 


PIANOFORTE. 


Fetis,  in  his  "  Sketch  of  the  History  of  the 
Pianoforte,"  says  that  "  Harpsichords  were 
constructed  with  more  than  twenty  different 
modifications,  to  imitate  the  sound  of  the 
harp,  the  lute,  the  mandoline,  the  bassoon, 
the  flageolet,  the  oboe,  the  violin,  and  other 
instruments.  In  order  to  produce  these 
different  effects  new  rows  of  jacks  were 
added,  which  were  furnished  with  various 
materials  for  dampers  ;  and  yet,  with  all  the 
complications  of  stops,  springs,  extra  rows  of 
keys,  and  Venetian  swells  over  the  strings, 
the  grand  secret — the  real  shading  of  the 
piano  and  forte — was  still  wanting." 

Godfrey  Silbermann  of  Freyburg,  about  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  made  several 
improvements  in  the  harpsichord,  by  lighten- 
ing the  touch,  and  extending  the  keyboard. 
He  also  advanced  one  step  towards  the  inven- 
tion of  the  pianoforte  by  constructing  his 
clavecin  d'ajnour  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
tangent,  which  he  restored,  struck  the  string 
in  the  middle,  leaving  each  half  to  vibrate 
freely. 

The  compass  of  the  harpsichord,  oiiginally 
only  three  octaves,  was  gradually  extended  to 
five.  Many  of  the  Italian  and  Dutch  harpsi- 
chords were  ornamented  with  elaborate  paint- 
ings inside  the  lids,  often  the  work  of  famous 
artists. 

The  most  famous  of  the  harpsichord  makers 
of  England  in  the  last  century  were  Kirkman, 
Schudi,  and  Broadwood. 

(8)  It  is  difficult  to  determine  now  who  was 
the  original  inventor  of  the  pianoforte,  as  it 
appears,  by  the  evidence  brought  forward,  to 
have  been  conceived  by  three  persons,  very 
nearly,  if  not  actually  at  one  and  the  same 
time  :  a  German  organist  named  Schroter, 
a  French  harpsichord  maker  named  Marius, 
and  an  Italian  named  Bartolomeo  Cristofali. 
In  17 17  Schroter,  when  only  eighteen  years 
of  age,  constructed  the  model  of  a  "Clavier," 
with  hammers  upon  which  one  could  play 
loudly  or  softly,  which  model  was  exhibited 
at  the  Court  of  Dresden,  and  received  the 
approval  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony.  His 
invention  was  copied  by  Silbermann  of 
Strasbourg,  Stein  of  Augsburg,  and  Spatt  of 
Dresden,  without  acknowledgment  or  profit 
to  the  author.  Silbermann  submitted  two  of 
his  instruments  to  the  judgment  of  Bach,  who 
praised  the  mechanism,  but  found  fault  with 
the  tone.  Silbermann  ultimately  conquered 
this  defect,  and  produced  an  instrument  which  I 
Bach  pronounced  faultless. 

Marius  is  said  to  have  "  submitted  two 
clavecins  a  maillets  to  the  examination  of  the 
Academie  des  Sciences,  in  February,  1716." 
The  mechanism  was  very  imperfect ;  a  piece 
of  wood  covered  with  sheepskin  fastened  at 
the  end  of  each  key  formed  the  hammers. 


Cristofali's  invention  was  earlier  by  five 
years.  It  was  made  known  in  171 1,  and 
there  is  little  doubt,  from  the  description  of 
the  instrument  existing,  that,  of  the  above- 
named  makers,  Cristolali  has  the  strongest 
claim  to  the  invention  of  the  pianoforte. 
The  description,  which  is  too  long  to  quote 
here,  is  printed  in  Rimbault's  "  History  of  the 
Pianoforte."  It  was  originally  inserted  in  the 
"  Giornale  de  Litterati  d'ltalia,"  Venezia, 
171 1,  and  its  title  runs  thus  :  "  Nuova  inven- 
zione  d'un  gravicembalo,  col  piano  e  forte  ; 
aggiunte  alcune  considerazioni  sopra  gli 
strumenti  musicali."  By  this  account  it  is 
shown  that  Cristofali  made  improvements  in 
every  part  of  the  instrument.  The  invention 
is  also  claimed  for  Father  Wood,  an  English 
monk  at  Rome,  who  made  a  pianoforte  in 
171 1,  and  sold  it  to  Samuel  Crisp,  who  re-sold 
it  to  Fulke  Greville.  It  admitted  of  much 
greater  expression  than  the  existing  harpsi- 
chords, but  it  was  incapable  of  rapid  execution. 
This  particular  instrument  became  very  cele- 
brated, and  was  known  as  "  Mr.  Greville's 
pianoforte." 

In  1760  some  German  makers  settled  in 
London,  and  gave  an  impetus  to  the  new 
instrument.  A  succession  of  improvements 
were  made  from  time  to  time  by  such  makers 
as  Broadwood,  Erard,  Stodart,  Clementi, 
Collard,  Wornum,  Hopkinson,  Brinsmead  and 
others,  and  the  instrument  has  arrived  at  a 
wonderful  degree  of  perfection,  chiefly  through 
the  labours  and  thoughtfulness  of  Englishmen. 

The  compass  of  the  instrument,  originally 
five  octaves,  has  been  gradually  increased 
to  seven.  The  mechanism,  however  varied 
it  may  be  by  the  several  makers,  is  as 
ingenious  as  it  is  effective. 

(9)  There  are  four  chief  parts  of  a  piano- 
forte :  the  back  or  framework,  the  sounding- 
board,  the  mechanism  or  action,  and  the  case. 
The  construction  of  the  framework  is  of  great 
importance,  for  as  it  has  to  bear  the  enormous 
tension  of  the  strings,  a  tension  amounting, 
in  a  full-sized  grand  piano,  to  sixteen  tons,  it 
is  necessary  that  it  should  be  strong  and 
durable.  The  method  of  "  framing,"  though 
varied  in  details  by  several  makers,  is  upon 
the  same  broad  plan.  "  The  strings  are 
fastened  to  pins  upon  a  wrought  iron  string- 
plate,  which  is  curved  to  follow  the  hollow 
side  of  the  instrument.  From  this  plate,  and 
fastened  to  it,  metallic  bars  or  tubes  are 
I  extended  parallel  to  and  above  the  strings, 
their  ends  being  so  connected  with  the  string- 
plate  at  one  end,  and  the  wrest-plank  at 
the  other,  as  to  take  upon  themselves  the 
whole  tension  of  the  strings.  At  the  same 
time  the  string-plate,  being  screwed  down 
firmly  upon  the  wooden  bracings  or  framing 
below,  the  whole  forms  one  combined  trussing 


(  351  ) 


PIANOFORTE. 


to  which  both  wood  and  iron  contribute  to 
the  strength.  The  reason  for  the  use  of  so 
great  a  quantity  of  metal  in  the  grand  piano 
is,  that  the  wood  framing  under  the  strings 
is  necessarily  severed  completely  across  the 
opening  through  which  the  hammers  rise  to 
strike  the  under  part  of  the  strings."  The 
bracing  or  "  back-making"  is  simpler  in  up- 
right pianofortes.  There  is  no  opening  through 
the  framing  for  the  hammers  to  pass,  and 
there  is  less  strain  to  be  resisted.  The 
"  sounding-board,"  usually  made  from  the 
best  Swiss  fir,  is  carefully  selected  and  pre- 
pared, and  its  edges  attached  to  the  framing 
so  as  to  leave  the  central  part  to  vibrate  freely 
under  the  strings  when  they  are  struck. 

The  "mechanism"  or  "action,"  that  is, 
the  keys,  hammers,  and  dampers,  when 
inserted  in  the  instrument,  leaves  it  ready  for 
the  finisher  and  tuner. 

There  are  differences  of  detail  in  the  action 
as  constructed  by  diff'erent  makers.  Some 
are  more  complicated  than  others,  but  all  are 
upon  the  same  broad  plan,  only  modified  in 
shape  and  arrangement.  The  following 
diagram  will  show  the  action  in  use  as  early 
as  1777,  called  the  horizontal  or  common 
grand. 

COMMON  ACTION  TO  GRAND  PIANOFORTES. 


K  Key,  H  Hammer,  E  Escapement,  J  Jack,  D  Damper, 
S  String. 


In  the  "  first  patent  for  pianofortes,"  the 
above  is  the  drawing  as  given  in  the  specifi- 
cation, but  no  claim  is  made  by  any  one 
maker  to  its  invention. 

VIENNA  PIANOFORTE  ACTION. 

D 


K  Key,  H  Hammer,  D  Damper,  J  Jack,  S  String. 

The  invention  of  the  Vienna  action  is 
generally  attributed  to  an  organ  builder  of 
Augsburg.  Its  principle  of  action  was 
adopted  by  almost  all  the  makers  in  Germany. 

(lo)Thefirstpianofortes  had  the  mechanism 
so  arranged  that  the  hammers  were  raised 
from  below  by  buttons  attached  to  upright 
wires  fixed  at  the  back  ends  of  the  keys.  The 


motion  given  to  the  hammers  when  the  keys 
were  pressed  caused  them  to  strike  the  strings, 
after  which  they  immediately  fell  back  on 
to  their  buttons,  leaving  the  struck  strings 
free  to  vibrate.  This  was  called  the  "single 
action."  As  the  hammer,  when  resting  on 
the  button  with  the  key  pressed  down,  was 
necessarily  at  a  little  distance  from  the  string, 
the  effectual  working  of  this  action  required 
that  a  certain  impetus  should  be  communi- 
cated to  the  hammer  to  enable  it  to  touch  the 
string.  Hence  it  was  next  to  impossible  to 
play  very  piano.  This  defect  was  remedied 
by  the  inventio'n  of  the  "  Hopper,"  a  jointed 
upright  piece  attached  to  the  back  end  of  the 
key  in  place  of  the  wire  and  button.  To 
prevent  the  hammer  rebounding  on  the  string, 
a  projection  called  the  "  check"  was  fixed  on 
to  the  end  of  the  key.  This  caught  the  edge  of 
the  hammer  as  it  fell,  and  prevented  it  from 
rising.  In  this  mechanism  it  was  impossible 
to  repeat  a  note  until  time  had  been  allowed 
for  the  full  rise  of  the  key.  This  was  remedied 
in  "  repeating  or  repetition  actions,"  which 
hold  up  the  hammers  while  the  key  is  returning. 

The  upright  action  was  invented  for  the 
purpose  of  constructing  pianofortes  whose 
mechanism  might  be  confined  within  a  limited 
space.  By  means  of  this  invention  a  piano- 
forte can  be  made  which  will  occupy  a  space 
about  a  fourth  of  the  depth  of  the  "  grand." 
The  names  given  to  such  instruments  are 
many  and  sometimes  fanciful,  though  most  of 
them  indicate  the  object  for  which  they  were 
contrived.  Many  of  these  upright  actions 
are  very  ingeniously  arranged,  as  the  following 
diagrams  will  show. 

BROADWOOD's  UPRIGHT  ACTION. — PLAIN  COTTAGE. 


K  Key,  H  Hammer,  D  Damper,  S  String. 


(  ) 


PIANOFORTE  SCORE  PICCOLO  FLUTE. 


broadwood's  upright  check  action. 


K  Key,  H  Hammer,  D  Damper,  S  String. 


brdadwood's  grand  action. 


K  Key,  H  Hammer,  S  String. 


The  following  is  a  diagram  of  Erard's 
action : — 

PATENT  REPETITION  ACTION  FOR  HORIZONTAL 
PIANOFORTES. 


K  Key,  H  Hammer,  D  Damper,  S  String. 


(ii)  The  strings  of  the  pianoforte  are  of 
varying  thickness  and  strength.  The  bass 
strings  are  covered  with  a  fine  copper  wire  to 
give  depth  of  tone  without  any  very  great  in- 
crease of  diameter.  When  the  loud  pedal  is 
used  it  raises  the  dampers,  when  the  soft  pedal 
is  pressed  down  it  either  shifts  the  hammers 
sideways  so  as  to  allow  them  to  strike  one  or 
two  strings  at  a  time,  or  else  the  strings  are 
covered  with  a  strip  of  cloth  which  deadens 
the  sound. 


(12)  Pianofortes  have  been  ncimed  (i)  from 
their  shape  or  supposed  restmblance  to  well 
known  objects.  Thus,  tlie  grand  pianoforte 
has  been  caWedSchwcinskopf  from  its  likeness 
to  the  profile  of  a  pig's  head,  and  Fliigel, he-  , 
cause  it  is  like  a  bird's  wing.  Upright  pianos 
have  been  called  giraffes  from  their  tall  appear- 
ance, and  horizontal  ones  have  been  called 
couched  harp,  or  square  pianoforte  ;  the  latter 
should  more  correctly  be  oblong;  (2)  the 
number  of  strings  used  for  each  note  for  a 
considerable  part  of  the  compass  also  serves 
to  describe  pianos  of  some  sort,  as  bi-chord, 
tri-chord,  &c.  ;  (3)  the  purpose  for  which 
pianos  have  been  made,  whether  for  the 
cottage,  boudoir,  drawing-room,  or  concert- 
room,  and  (4)  the  size,  as  piccolo,  semi-grand, 
and  full  grand. 

Pianoforte  score.  A  score  of  a  vocal  or 
instrumental  composition,  under  which  is 
written  in  two  lines  a  condensed  form  of  the 
harmonies  for  the  use  of  a  pianoforte. 

Pianograph.  An  ingenious  machine, 
which  on  being  attached  to  a  pianoforte,  in- 
scribed what  is  played.  Invented  by  M. 
Guerin. 

Piatti  (It.)  [Cymbals.] 
Pibroch.     The   wild,   irregular  martial 
music  of  the  Scottish  Highlanders  played  on 
the  bagpipe.    The  term  is  also  figuratively 
employed  for  the  instrument  itself. 

"  Cast  your  plaids,  draw  your  blades 
Forward  each  man  set ; 
Pibroch  of  Donuil  Dhu 
Knell  for  the  onset." — Scott. 

The  pibroch  style  of  music  is  irregular  in 
rhythm,  and,  according  to  Sir  'Walter  Scott, 
those  learned  in  the  matter  affect  to  discover 
in  it  a  well-composed  representation  of  the 
sounds  of  a  march,  attack,  flight,  pursuit, 
and  all  the  conflict  of  a  "  heady  fi^ht."  The 
pibrocli  has  so  peculiar  a  connection  with  the 
bagpipe  that  it  could  scarcely  have  preceded 
the  use  of  that  instrument,  therefore,  the 
pibroch  called  the  "  Battle  of  Harlaw,"  and 
supposed  to  have  been  written  at  the  time  of 
the  struggle  [1411],  is  probably  of  later  date, 
as  the  old  chroniclers  and  the  ballad  de- 
scriptive of  the  scene  mention  only  trumpets 
and  horns  as  being  there  used.  [Bag- 
pipe.] 

Picciolo  {It.)  Small ;  as,  violino  picciolo, 
a  small-sized  fiddle. 

Piccolo.  An  organ  stop  of  2  ft.  length — 
the  pipes  are  of  wood,  the  tone  bright  and 
piercing. 

Piccolo  flute,  or  piccolo.  A  small  flute, 
having  the  same  compass  as  the  ordinary 
orchestral  flute,  but  whose  sounds  are  one 


(  353  ) 


PICCO  PIPE  PITCH. 


octave  higher  than  the  notes  as  they  are 
written.  Its  compass  may  be  said  to  be 
from 


or  even  one  note  higher,  but  the  lowest 
octave  is  so  weak  as  to  be  far  more  effective 
when  played  by  the  higher  octave  of  the 
common  flute,  and  the  upper  notes  are  so 
shrill  as  to  be  only  available  in  fortissimo 
tutti  passages,  or  for  peculiar  and  striking 
effects.  Both  Gluck  and  Beethoven  use  it 
in  representing  a  storm,  the  former  in  his 
"  Iphigenia  in  Tauris,"  the  latter  in  his 
"  Pastoral  Symphony."  Spontini  combines 
the  short  piercing  scream  of  the  piccolo  with 
the  crash  of  cymbals  in  his  "Danai'des."  The 
tendency  of  modern  orchestral  writers  is  to 
use  the  piccolo  too  often,  and  in  inappro- 
priate passages.  It  should  be  reserved  for 
rare  and  special  effects. 

Picco  pipe.  A  small  pipe  having  two 
ventages  above  and  one  below.  It  is  blown 
by  means  of  a  mouthpiece  like  a  flute  a  bee 
or  whistle  ;  and  in  playing,  the  little  iinger  is 
used  for  varying  the  pitch  by  being  inserted 
in  the  end.  The  player,  Picco,  after  whom 
it  was  named,  produced  a  compass  of  three 
octaves  from  this  primitive  instrument. 

Piccorn.    Lit.,  horn-pipe.  [Horn-pipe.] 

Piece  (Fr.)  A  piece,  as  suites  des  pieces, 
sets  of  pieces.  [Suite.] 

Pieds  {Fr.)  The  feet,  as,  avec  les  pieds, 
with  the  feet,  con  pedale. 

Pieno,  Piena  [It.)  Full;  as,  a  pieiia 
orchestra,ior  a  full  band. 

Pietosamente,  Pietoso  {It.)  With  pity, 
tenderly. 

Piffaro,  or  PifTero  {It.)  The  old  form  of 
the  oboe,  still  in  use  in  some  districts  of 
Italy  and  the  Tyrol,  formerly  called  the 
schalmy.  [Oboe.] 

Piffarari,  or  Pifferari  {It.)  Players  on 
the  piffaro. 

Pifferino  {It.)    A  little  piffero. 

PifTero  {It.)  [Pififarc] 

Pileata  {Lat.)  Capped  (of  an  organ  pipe). 
Stopped.  Pileata  major.  i6  feet  stopped. 
Pileata  minor.  4  feet  stopped.  Pileata 
diapente.    Stopped  quint. 

Pince  (Fr.)  Pinched,  (i)  A  direction  in 
French  music  equivalent  to  pizijicato,  q.v. 
(a)  The  name  of  an  ornament  in  harpsi- 


chord playing,  indicated  by  the  signs  here 

shown  : 

No.  I.  No.  2. 


written  written 


The  first  was  called  pince  simple,  the  second 
pince  double.  The  note  of  ornament  of  the 
pince  was  below  the  note  written,  while  the 
added  note  in  the  tremblement  was  above.  A 
pince  or  trill  with  a  flattened  note. 

Pince  bemolise  {Ft.)  An  ornament  in 
harpsichord  playing 

written  thus  :  — 


T  T 


and  plaved  thus  : — 


Pince  diese  {Fr.)    A  pince  or  trill  with 

a  sharpened  note 

written  thus  : —        played  thus  : — 


Pincement  {Fr.)  [Pince.] 

Pique  {Fr.)  On  string-instruments  a  kind 
of  bowing,  by  which  a  staccato  is  produced 
by  allowing  the  bow  to  lie  perfectly  still  on 
the  string  between  each  separate  note.  It  is 
written  with  dots  and  a  slur,  thus  : 


It  is  also  called  spiccato. 

Piquiren  {Ger.)    To  play  pique. 

Pitch,  (i)  The  position  of  a  sound  with 
reference  to  the  number  of  vibrations  which 
produce  it.    The  relative  height  of  a  sound. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  one  standard 
of  pitch  has  not  been  universally  adopted. 

The  following  Table  selected  from  that 
given  in  the  "Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts" 
(June  6,  i860),  and  from  other  sources,  will 
show  some  of  the  variations.  The  number  of 
vibrations  in  each  case  represent  the  note 


(  354  ) 


PITCH-PIPE  PLAGIAULUS. 


No.  ofVibs. 

Paris  Grand  Opera,  1699  ,   404 

Ditto  1858   448 

French  "  Diapason  Normal"  (gene- 
rally adopted)    435 

Handel's  tuning  fork  (c.  1740)    416 

Sir  George  Smart's  "  Philharmonic" 

fork  (early  in  this  century)    433 

Italian  Opera  (London),  1859    455 

Scheibler's  pitch  (recommended  by 
the  Society  of  Arts)    440 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  that  the 
tendency  to  raise  the  pitch  has  been  arrested 
in  France,  and  to  a  great  extent  in  this 
country  also.  The  chief  obstacle  to  the  in- 
troduction of  a  lower  pitch  at  our  Operas 
seems  to  be  the  loind-instriDuents.  An  at- 
tempt to  use  the  French  pitch,  lately  made 
at  Her  Majesty's  Opera,  had  only  the  unfor- 
tunate result  of  putting  everybody  thoroughly 
out  of  tune.  For  valuable  information  on 
this  subject,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Mr. 
Ellis's  XIX  Appendix  to  his  translation  of 
Helmholtz. 

(2)  The  method,  now  generally  adopted,  of 
showing  the  particular  octave  in  which  a 
sound  occurs,  is  as  follows : — 


(Once-acccnted  i 

Sounds  in  the  octave  next  below  the  great 
cclave  C,  D,  and  so  on.  Sounds  above  the 
twice-accented  octave  c"  d'"  and  so  on. 

The  pitch  of  organ  pipes  is,  however,  still 
named  after  the  old  system,  as  follows  : — 


ccc 

(or)  i6ft  C 
(or)  Three  C's 


8ft  C 
Double  C 


The  octave  below  CCC  being  CCCC,  and 
that  above  c  in  alt,  c  in  altissimo. 

Pitch-pipe.  A  wooden -pipe  having  a 
moveable  stopper  or  tampion  with  marks, 
showing  where  it  should  be  placed  for  the 


production  of  different  notes  of  the  scale. 
This  form  of  pipe  has  been  almost  entirely 
superseded  by  an  ingenious  invention  known 
as  "  Eardsley's  Patent."  It  consists  of  a  free 
reed  capable  of  being  lengthened  or  shortened 
by  a  graduated  curve,  on  which  are  registered 
the  notes  of  the  scale. 

Pill  {It.)  More,  as  piii  allegro,  faster  ;  piu 
forte,  louder ;  piil  lento,  slower  ;  pitl  piano, 
softer ;  piU  presto,  more  rapid ;  piU  stretto, 
more  urged  or  closer  ;  piu  tosto  allegro,  rather 
quick. 

Piva  (It.)    A  bagpipe. 

Pizz.    Abbreviation  of  pizzicato. 

Pizzicato  (It.),  Pince  (Fr.),  Gekneipt 
(Ger.)  Lit.  pinched.  A  direction  to  violinists 
to  produce  the  tone  by  plucking  the  string 
with  the  finger  instead  of  using  the  bow. 
The  place  at  which  the  use  of  the  bow  is  to 
be  resumed,  is  pointed  out  by  the  words 
coll'  arco,  or  simply  arco. 

Placidamente,  Placido  [It.)  Quietly, 
peacefully,  placidly. 

Plagal.  The  name  given  to  those  Church 
modes  which  were  formed  from  the  four  older 
or  authentic  modes  by  taking  the  fourth 
below  as  the  new  key-note,  and  proceeding 
thence  to  the  fifth  above,  e.g.  : 


The  plagal  modes  were  distinguished  by  the 
addition  of  viro,  e.g. :  Doric,  an  authentic 
mode  ;  Hypodoric,  a  plagal  mode  formed 
from  the  Doric.    [Plain  Song.] 

Plagal  cadence.  The  cadence  formed 
when  a  subdominant  chord  immediately  pre- 
cedes the  final  tonic  chord,  e.g.  : 


The  plagal  cadence  of  the  old  church  writers 
corresponded  more  to  the  modern  half-close, 
which  is  formed  when  the  final  chord  is 
dominant,  and  is  preceded  by  a  tonic  chord, 
e.g.  : 


Plagiaulus  (Gk.)  vXayiavXoc,  {Lat.)  Tibia 


(  355  ) 


PLAIN-CHANT  PLAIN  SONG. 


obliqtta.  The  cross-flute,  or  flauto  traverse. 
[Flute.] 

Plain-Chant.    [Plain  Song.] 

Plain  Song.  The  kind  of  music  used  from 
time  immemorial  in  the  worship  of  the  ancient 
Jewish  or  Israelitish  Church,  as  well  as  among 
all  the  churches  of  Christendom  throughout 
the  world. 

The  first  principles  of  all  music  being  found 
in  nature,  and  its  various  forms  having  been 
gradually  evolved  by  scientific  and  artistic  in- 
dustr}'  and  research  from  those  principles, 
there  must  necessarily  be  found  much  of  co- 
incidence, and  similarity,  if  not  an  actual 
identity,  in  the  practical  results  of  such  in- 
quiries and  experiments.  Hence  it  is  not 
strange  to  find  some  Greek  Music  traced  to 
the  Hebrew,  nor  that  of  the  early  Christian 
Church  to  both.  In  fact,  so  far  as  in  any 
country  the  natural  development  of  the 
musical  art  has  grown  up  healthily,  according 
to  its  inner  principle  of  life,  there  can  belittle 
doubt  that,  in  all  essential  particulars  (al- 
lowing, of  course,  a  certain  amount  of  charac- 
teristic individuality)  there  will  be  so  much  of 
resemblance  to  that  of  other  countries  as  to 
lead  historians  (rather  too  fondly)  to  trace  a 
parentage  and  derivation,  where,  be  the  fact 
as  it  may,  neither  are  necessary  to  account 
for  the  likeness.  The  Plain  Song  of  the 
Christian  Church  is  a  well  known,  and  uni- 
versally practised  form  of  musical  accent, 
recitation,  and  simple  melody,  written  records 
of  which  are  extant  dating  from  the  eighth 
centur}^ ;  and  these  are  themselves  records 
of  Christian  Plain  Song  of  still  earlier  times, 
of  which  some,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  be- 
lieve, are  the  very  melodies  sung  by  Our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  and  of 
Templar  origin. 

The  music  of  the  Christian  Church,  like  the 
gospel  itself,  was  doubtless  propagated  orally, 
and  by  tradition,  in  the  first  years  of  its 
history  ;  and  as  in  the  New  Testament  traces 
are  discoverable  of  a  primitive  liturgy  and 
hyrnnody,  so  we  also  find  in  early  writers 
indications  of  certain  efforts  to  fix  and  rule 
the  vocal  performance  of  these,  by  an  ap- 
pointed choral  arrangement,  with  somewhat 
of  a  scientific  connection. 

One  point  of  primary  importance  in  this 
respect  v/ould  naturally  be  the  pitch  most 
convenient  for  the  singing  of  the  various  parts 
of  Divine  Psalms,  Hymns,  and  Spiritual 
Songs;  the  relation  in  which  the  several  parts 
of  the  service,  musically  considered,  were  to 
stand  to  each  other  ;  as  also  the  interchanges 
to  be  made  as  to  singing,  either  by  course  in 
alternate  choirs,  or  by  the  clergy  and  people, 
in  solo  or  in  chorus. 

The  writings  of  the  New  Testament  and  of 


the  early  Fathers  are  not  without  various 
interesting  indications,  both  of  the  important 
functions  discharged  by  vocal  music  in  Chris- 
tian worship,  and  also  of  various  ritual  uses  ; 
in  such  wise,  moreover,  as  excited  then,  as 
they  do  now,  the  approval  and  admiration 
of  some,  the  indignation  and  blame  of 
others. 

Thus,  "  Sabellius  and  Marcellus  took  oc- 
casion to  incense  the  Church  of  Neocesarea 
(a.d.  363),  against  their  Bishop  S.  Basil,  as 
being  an  author  of  new  devices  in  the  service 
of  God,"  when  he  introduced  the  antiphonal 
I  chanting  after  the  custom  of  Antioch,  where 
I  it  had  been  taught  by  S.  Ignatius,  a  contem- 
'  porary  and  disciple  of  the  Apostles,  specially 
of  S.  John.    S.  Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan, 
I  was  a  great  admirer  of  S.  Basil,  and  intro- 
I  duced  the  same  kind  of  chanting  into  his 
!  church  as  had    originally  prevailed  in  the 
East,  as  we  learn  from  S.  Basil's  refutation 
of  the  heretics'  charge  of  novelty  and  singu- 
larity, alleging  the  example,  not  only  of  the 
Church  at  Antioch,  but  also  "of  the  Churches 
of   Egypt,   Lybia,   Thebes,   Palestine,  the 
Arabians,   Phcenicians,  Syrians,  Mesopota- 
mians,  and  of  all  that  reverenced  the  custom 
of  singhig  Psalms  together." 

Here,    it   would   seem,  we   have  ample 
grounds  for  the  very  general  belief  that  in 
setting  the  music  at  first  traditionally  sung 
to   various    Psalms    and  Hymns,  and  the 
portions  specially  vocal  in  their  Liturgies,  the 
characters  then  used  in  noting  music  would 
be  taken  advantage  of,  to  fix  and  perpetuate 
the  arrangements  of  the  early  Christian  music 
I  to  the  words.    But  the  notation  of  the  most 
'  artistic  music  then  known  was  the  Greek, 
which,  like  other  refinements,  was  also  at 
:  first  used  by  the  Romans,  and  subsequently 
j  improved  by  the  use  of  the  Roman  letters, 
;  instead  of  the  more  complicated  Greek  cha- 
;  racters.    But  with  the  Greek  notation  would, 
'  to  a  great  extent,  be  adopted  Greek  modes  of 
I  arrangement,  and  Greek  notions  as  to  the 
construction  of  the  scales  in  which  any  chant, 
antiphon,  or  hymn  tune  might  most  fitly  be 
said  to  stand.    If  its  general  character,  e.g., 
were  major  or  minor,  a  similar  mode  or  scale 
of  the  Greek  music  would  be  selected,  and  to 
this  it  would  be  assigned,  just  as  in  the  pre- 
sent day  a  modern  musician's  arrangement 
of  any  ancient  melody  would,  in  the  absence 
of  any  other  system  to  which  he  might  be 
able  to  assign  it,  necessarily  be  in  the  modern 
major  or  minor  scale.    But  in  our  inquiries 
as  to  the  ancient  Plain  Song,  we  must  always 
remember  that  both  it  and  the  Greek  modes 
were  founded  simply  on  melodic,  and  not  on 
harmonic    considerations,    in    our  present 
meaning  of  those  terms.    With  their  usual 


(  356  ) 


PLAIN  SONG. 


acumen,  the  Greeks,  in  their  diatonic,  chro- 
matic, and  enharmonic  genera,  analyzed  all 
the  tone  modulations  of  the  human  voice, 
with  a  discrimination  most  admirable,  and 
effects  most  wonderful,  as  all  are  ready  to 
admit  who  have  studied  their  theoretic  trea- 
tises, and  the  accounts  recorded  of  the 
practical  results  of  their  performances  ;  re- 
sults, it  may  be  suggested,  such  as  poetic, 
oratorical,  and  musical  recitation  can  even 
now  occasionally  produce  in  the  case  of 
singers  of  rare  eloquence  and  sympathetic 
voices,  on  an  appreciating  and  impressible 
audience.  Sentiment  and  feeling,  the  soul  and 
spirit  of  all  true  music,  are  not  confined  to  any 
set  of  outward  appliances,  however  vast,  as 
in  the  present  orchestra;  but  may  be  felt  in 
the  impassioned  delivery  of  a  Simple  Plain 
Song,  or  the  thrilling  notes  of  an  unaccom- 
panied solo  instrument.  It  is  probable  that 
the  first  kind  of  musical  notes  used  by  the 
Christian  Church,  called  pneums  (from  the 
Greek  irvivfia,  breath)  were  derived  from  the 
Greek  characters,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
Hebrew  accents  for  reading.  The  diatonic 
genus  of  the  Greek  music  most  nearly  re- 
sembled (if  it  was  not,  in  some  modes, 
identical  with  it)  the  tonality  of  the  Christian 
Plain  Song  and  the  ancient  Hebrew  music, 
of  which  it  was,  in  part  undoubtedly,  the 
traditional  record  and  sacred  depository  after 
the  dispersion  of  the  Jews  and  the  conse- 
quent disuse  by  them  of  their  Temple  music, 
which,  in  their  state  of  humiliation,  they 
deemed  it  unlawful  any  more  to  sing.  What 
music  they  now  practice  in  their  synagogues 
is  still,  however,  eminently  of  the  same 
character  as  the  ancient  Plain  Song  of  the 
Christians.  The  fact  above  stated  forestalls 
any  objection  that  might  be  made  from  the 
modern  Jews  not  now  using  them,  to  the  be- 
lief that  the  well-known  Ecclesiastical  Psalm 
Tones  have  descended,  through  the  "ages  all 
along,"  the  thirty  centuries  from  the  days 
of  King  David,  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel, 
in  an  unbroken  tradition,  to  our  own 
day. 

The  sources  of  information  as  to  the  history 
of  Plain  Song,  in  addition  to  the  various  re- 
ferences scattered  throughout  the  early  writers 
and  Fathers  of  the  Church,  may  be  found  in 
the  voluminous  psiges  oi Burney  and  Hawkins 
in  English,  and  of  Gerbertiis  in  Latin  ;  as  also 
in  the  original  authors  quoted  by  them, 
specially  the  Septein  Scriptores  Antiqui  of 
Meibomius;  in  the  French  Histoire  deL'Har- 
vionie  an  May  en  Age,  by  E.  De  Coussemaker; 
in  the  XXIXth  Vol.  of  the  Nouvelle  Ency- 
clopedie  Theologique,  edited  by  M.  L'Abbe 
Migne,  being  a  Dictionnaire  de  Plain  Chant, 
et  de  Miisique  Religieuse ;  in  the  pages  of 
Alfieri,  La  Feille,  Clement,  Janssen,  Lambil- 


lotte,  Alix,  and  in  English  in  the  various 
editions  of  Latin  service  and  instruction 
books  by  Lambert,  Benz,  Chas.  Child  Spencer, 
and  the  prefaces  to  the  Rev.  T.  Helmore's 
Accompanying  Harmonies  to  the  Psalter 
Noted  and  Hymnal  Noted ;  more  satisfac- 
torily still  in  the  MS.  and  printed  books  of 
Plain  Song  in  various  libraries  at  home  and 
abroad.  The  subject  is  very  wide,  and  can- 
not easily  be  studied  without  a  large  acquaint- 
ance with  the  numerous  books  of  Ritual 
music,  both  of  the  present  time,  and  of  all 
the  centuries  backwards,  till  the  very  first  in 
which  any  written  remains  of  Plain  Song 
can  be  discovered.  A  sketch  of  what 
may  be  gathered  as  the  result  of  such 
an  investigation  is  all  that  can  be  here  at- 
tempted. 

Plain  Song,  then,  it  may  be  stated,  is  a 
definite,  well  known  system  of  Church  Song, 
which  all  Catholic  musicians  are  obliged  by 
their  duties  to  study,  and  from  which  all  the 
great  composers,  down  to  our  own  times, 
have  more  or  less  tinctured  their  highest  and 
best  compositions. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that. the  ancient 
church  modes  of  the  Plain  Song  or  Gre- 
gorian music  had  their  protot}pes,  if  not 
their  very  birth,  from  the  Diatonic  genus  of 
the  Greeks.  Perhaps  it  would  be  more  true, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  notions  before  ex- 
pressed, to  say  that  the  Greek  Diatonic  genus 
was  identical  with  the  ancient  Hebrew  music, 
and  with  that  of  the  Christian  Church  which 
perpetuated  it.  Here,  then,  is  a  digest  of 
what  can  be  gathered  from  ancient  writers  as 
to  the  Greek  Diatonic  scale. 

It  embraces  fifteen  sounds,  which  practi- 
cally might  be  produced  by  the  strings  of  a 
harp,  fifteen  in  number ;  or  by  the  voice 
of  any  man  of  ordinary  medium  vocal 
power. 

It  is  divided  into  tetrachords,  or  divisions 
of  four  sounds  each, — beginning,  not  on  the 
first  of  the  system,  which  (as  its  name  im- 
plies) was  originally  an  extra  note  added  be- 
low, but  on  the  second,  or  B.  In  the  lower 
nine  sounds  the  second  and  third  tetrachords 
are  reckoned  to  begin,  each  upon  the  fourth 
sound  of  the  foregoing ;  and  are  therefore 
styled  conjoined  tetrachords.  The  first  pair 
of  tetrachords  is  also  succeeded  by  a  tetra- 
chord,  an  octave  above  the  first,  beginning  on 
the  sound  next  to  the  fourth  of  the  second 
tetrachord,  and  consequently  denominated 
the  disjoined  tetrachord.  ,  Then  a  fifth  tetra- 
chord occupied  the  highest  part  of  the  system ; 
all  which  will  be  better  seen  and  understood 
by  Diagram  I.,  in  which  the  Greek  names 
for  the  various  sounds  (written  in  English 
letters)  are  given,  with  a  translation  of  their 
characteristic  nomenclature. 


(  357  ) 


PLAIN  SONG. 


N.B. — The  accents  and  prosodaic  marks  are  here  used  simply  for  the  English  reader.   They  are  not  Greek. 


It  will  soon  be  seen  that  these  same  fifteen 
natural  notes  are  those  from  which  the  Church 
modes  are  all  constructed.  The  musical 
theorists  who,  about  the  eighth  century,  dis- 
puted as  to  the  number  of  modes  or  scales  to 
be  recognized  in  Church  music,  seem  to  have 
laid  down  the  principle  that  a  scale  or  mode 
must  consist  of  the  combination  of  a  perfect 
fifth  (diapente)  with  a  perfect  fourth  (diates- 
saron).  The  division  of  a  scale  into  these 
two  component  parts  might  be  made  so  as  to 
have  either  a  diapente  or  a  diatessaron  in  the 
lower  position.  The  division  which  had  the 
fifth  in  the  lower  and  the  fourth  in  the  higher 
place  was  called  Harmonic,  as  being  tliat 
which  music  naturally  suggests ;  and  the 
other  division  of  the  eight  notes  of  a  scale 
where  the  fourth  was  in  the  lower,  and  the 


fifth  in  the  upper  portion  was  called  arithmeti- 
cal, because,  in  the  science  of  numbers,  the 
greater  numbers  take  precedence  of  the  less, 
and  are  counted  their  superiors.  This  fan- 
ciful nomenclature  is  mild  in  comparison 
with  many  other  conceits  and  far-fetched 
analogies  of  ancient  theorists. 

The  Church  modes,  then,  are  formed  of  the 
seven  natural  notes  of  the  scale  and  their 
octaves,  beginning  upon  any  one  of  the  seven, 
and  extending  to  its  octave,  subject  to  the 
rule  just  stated  that  the  fifths  and  fourths  of 
which  any  scale  was  composed  must  be 
perfect. 

Now  the  Church  melodies  were  generally 
contained  within  the  compass  of  an  octave  or 
a  little  more.  Some  had  a  much  less  range 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  notes.  When 


(358) 


PLAIN  SONG. 


the  melody  ascended  to  the  fifth  above  the 
final  and  the  fourth  above  the  fifth,  and  did 
not  descend  below  the  final,  it  was  said  to  be 
authentic;  when  it  extended  to  a  fifth  above 
the  final  and  a  fourth  beloiv  it,  it  was  called 
plagal.  The  sounds  of  which  these  two 
sorts  of  melodies  consisted  being  set  down 
in  orderly  succession  from  the  lowest  to 
the  highest,  naturally  arranged  themselves 
into  two  corresponding  classes ;  and  the 
ecclesiastical  modes  are  therefore  matched, 
or  fas  medijeval  writers  have  termed  it) 
wedded  to  one  another  in  pairs,  authentic 
and  plagal,  in  which  male  and  female  charac- 
teristics are  respectively  developed. 

Now,  taking  the  notes  before  given  as  the 
Greek  Diapason,  and  supposing  anyAntiphon 
or  other  piece  of  Plain  Song  to  descend  to  the 
lowest  note  A,  and,  after  ascending  by  various 
intervals  to  the  A  an  octave  above  it,  to 
settle  down  and  close  on  D,  we  should,  accord- 
ingly, by  arranging  these  sounds  in  an 
of-derly  sequence  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest,  have  a  scale  whose  final  or  closing 
note  is  D,  and  its  range  of  notes  from  A  to  A, 
and  this,  as  before  explained,  would  be  the 
lower,  collateral,  and  plagal  scale  or  mode 
of  another  beginning  on  D,  the  final,  and 
rising  to  its  octave,  which  would  be  its  own 
proper  authentic,  or  ruling  and  authoritative 
mode.  Such,  in  fact,  are  the  first  two  modes 
of  the  Gregorian  Plain  Song,  and  the  pair,  as 
husband  and  wife,  have  reciprocal  functions, 
and  though  two,  are  yet  one  by  participation 
of  one  common  bond  of  union,  viz.,  the 
diapente  D,  E,  F,  G,  A. 

In  Diagram  II.  we  see,  then,  the  ii  notes 


of  the  Dorian  Modes,  Authentic  and  Plagal, 

called  the  ist  and  2nd. 

The  I  St  is  authentic,  and  ranges  from  the 
4th  to  the  nth  note,  having  a  perfect  fifth 
from  D  to  A,  which  same  fifth  is  the  upper 
part  of  the  plagal  mode.  From  A  the  8th  to 
D  the  nth  is  a  perfect  fourth,  and  thus  fulfils 
the  requirements  before  mentioned  as  essen- 
tials of  a  Church  mode  ;  while  the  same  law 
is  obeyed  in  the  case  of  the  2nd  or  plagal 
mode,  as  from  A  the  ist  to  D  the  4th  is  the 
required  perfect  diatessaron. 

The  terms  hyper  {above),  and  hypo  [below), 
are  used  to  distinguish  the  two,  though  the 
hyper  is  often  omitted  as  unnecessary  ;  and 
besides,  it  seems  to  have  been  used  in  another 
way  by  some  of  the  Greek  writers. 

We  are  told  that  in  Charlemagne's  reign 
(about  A.D.  768)  a  great  dispute  arose  as  to 
the  allowable  number  of  the  modes,  and  that 
the  Emperor  at  first  decided  in  favour  of  the 
first  eight  alone  ;  but  that  on  the  remon- 
strance of  the  malcontents,  the  gth,  loth, 
nth,  and  12th,  were  also  allowed.  The  ritual 
books  of  the  church  have,  however,  been 
generally  arranged  for  the  eight  tones  only, 
and  those  portions  of  the  Plain  Song  which 
formerly  were  assigned  to  the  gth,  loth,  nth, 
and  1 2th  modes  were  so  re-arranged  by  a 
transposition,  as  to  appear  to  have  been  com- 
posed in  some  one  or  other  of  the  first  eight; 
though  a  careful  inspection  of  these  trans- 
positions will  serve  to  show  that  the  means 
at  command  were  not  (while  no  other  change 
of  sound  was  allowable  than  the  B  flat) 
sufficient  to  effect  a />er/£'ci  transposition.  This 
will  appear  in  the  subsequent  examples. 


DIAGRAM  II. 

1st  AND  2nd  MODES. 

Dorian  or  Hyper-Dorian,  and  Hypo-Dorian. 
^  I        ~7  8 


12345 

I          2  3 

ABC 
I       2  3 

45678 
D  E  F  G  a 
45678 

3rd  AND  4th  MODES. 

The  next  pair  is  the  Phrygian,  thus: — Phrygian  or  Hyper- Phrygian,  and  Hypo-Phrygian. 

Final  E. 


678 


I        2        3        4  4 

*  * 

4  5. 

5^4* 

I          2  3 

BCD 
I       3  3 

45678 
E      F      G       a  b 
45678 

c       d  e 
9      10  11 

B      E  b 

Arithmetical 
Division. 

E       B  e 
Harmonic 
Division. 

(  359  ) 


PLAIN  SONG. 


5th  AND  6th  MODES. 

These  are  the  Lydian  or  Hyper-Lydian,  and  Hypo-Lydian.    Final  F. 


F      c  f 

Harmonic 
Division. 


7th  AND  8th  MODES. 

The  Mixo-Lydian  or  Hyper-Mixo-Lydian,  and  the  Hypo-Mixo-Lydian.    Final  G. 


I        2  3 

4        5        6  ^1 

-»--■-* 

^      5,  _ 

5   -  4* 

I          2  3 

DBF 

12345 
45678 
G      A       B      C  d 

gth  AN 

The  iEolian  or  Hyper-jEo 

6       7  8 
g      10  II 
e       f  g 

D   lOth  MODES. 

Han,  and  Hypo 

D      G      d      1      G       d  g 
Arithmetical  Harmonic 
Division.        |  Division. 

•JEoM&n,    Final  A. 

4       5                     5       4  -■- 

I       2  3 

4567^ 

■  -B- 

m  ■ 

E      F  G 
I       2  3 

12345 
A      B      C      D  e 
45678 

678 

f      g  a 
9      10  II 

■ 

E      A  e 
Arithmetical 
Division. 

A       e  a 
Harmonic 
Division. 

B  cannot  become  the  final  of  a  mode  as  the  4th  below  it  is  F,  and  the  interval  a  pluper- 
fect 4th,  and  the  5th  above  it  is  also  F,  and  the  interval  an  imperfect  5th. 

Ilth  AND  I2th  MODES. 

The  Ionian  (or  lastian)  or  Hyper-Ionian  (or  Hyper-Iastian),  and  Hypo-Ionian  (or  Hypo- 
lastian).    Final  C. 


I          2  3 

4  5 

6        7  8_ 

■. 

•■  -■- 

4      5  ^ 

5       4  "L 

GAB 

1  2 
C  D 

3        4  5 
E       F  g 

6 
a 

7  8 
b  c 

G      C  g 
Arithmetical 
Division. 

C        g  c 
Harmonic 
Division. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  ancient 
system  of  scales  took  every  one  of  the  six 
natural  notes  on  which  the  union  of  the  per- 
fect diatessaron  and  perfect  diapente  can  be 
effected  as  the  final  of  a  pair  of  modes,  thus 
placing  the  diatonic  intervals  of  tone  and 
semitone  in  every  possible  position  with 
respect  to  the  two  tetrachords  of  each,  and 
of  the  final  of  each  pair. 

There  was  yet  another  method  of  securing 
to  each  mode  its  own  characteristic  features, 
by  which  it  is  clearly  to  be  discerned  from  all 
the  rest.  In  each  there  is  a  note  higher  than 
the  final  which  assumes  the  next  importance 
to  it,  from  being  another  point  of  sound  about 
which  the  melodies  principally,  as  it  were, 
revolved,  and  on  which  the  voice  more  fre- 
quently and  (in  the  case  of  the  recitation  of 
any  psalm,  antiphon,  or  canticle)  most  con- 
tinuously dwelt.  From  thus  predominating 
over  the  othei  sounds  of  each  scale  it  is 


called  the  Dominant.  But  it  must  not  be 
confounded  with  what  in  general  is  now 
understood  by  that  term,  nor  with  the  har- 
monic associations  which  it  suggests  to  the 
mind  of  a  modern  musician. 

In  every  authentic  mode  the  dominant  is 
the  5th  above  the  final,  except  in  the  third 
mode, where  B,  the  fifth,  being  a  changeable 
note,  i.e.,  sometimes  natural  and  sometimes 
flat,  and  also  standing,  unlike  any  other  note 
in  the  scales,  at  the  forbidden  interval  of  a 
tritone,  or  pluperfect  fourth  from  the  F  below 
it,  and  of  an  imperfect  fifth  from  the  F  above 
it,  is  rejected,  and  C,  the  nearest  sound  to 
it,  is  the  dominant,  being  a  minor  6th  above 
the  final  E. 

In  the  six  plagal  modes  the  dominant  is 
the  third  note  in  the  scale  below  the  dominant 
of  each  relative  authentic  mode,  except  in  the 
8th,  where  B,  the  3rd  below  D,  is  also  on  the 
same  grounds  discarded  for  C. 


360  ) 


PLAIN  SONG. 


DIAGRAM  III. 


Authentic,  Hyper- Dorian    d 

Plagal,  Hypo-Dorian    A     B     c  d 

Authentic,  Hyper- Phrygian   ^    f  S 

Plagal,  Hypo-Phrj'gian    Bed         f  g 

Authentic,  Hyper-Lydian    / 

Plagal,  Hypo-Lydian    c     d     e  / 

Authentic,  Hyper-Mixo-Lydian   g 


Dom, 

e    f    g  a 

,  ,Dom. 

e    f  g 


Dom. 

a  b 

Dom. 


C   


8.    Plagal,  Hypo-Mixo-Lydian 


/ 


9.    Authentic,  Hyper-iEolian    a 

10.    Plagal,  Hypo-i^^olian   '    f  g 


II.    Authentic,  Hyper-Ionian  or  lastian    c 


gab 

Dom. 

gab 

Dom. 

abed     e  / 

Dom, 

abed    —  — 

Dom. 

b     e     d     e     f  g 

Dom. 

b     e     d     e     —  — 

Dom. 

d     e     f    s     a  b 


Plagal,  Hypo-Ionian  or  lastian 


/ 


Thus  A  is  the  Final  of  the  gth  and  loth,  and  Dominant  of  the  ist,  4th,  and  6th. 

„     C             „            iith   ,,    I2th          „  ,,          3rd,  5th,  8th,  and  loth. 

,,     D             ,,             ist    ,,     2nd          „  „  7th. 

,,     E             ,,             3rd   ,,     4th          „  „          gth  and  12th. 

„     F             „             5th   „     6th          „  „  2nd. 

„     G             „             7th   „     8th          „  „  nth. 

The  following  formula  committed  to  memory  will  be  of  immense  use  in  grasping  the 
otherwise  troublesome  varieties  of  the  Church  modes. 


Finals     ,  ,,  D 

D, 

E 

E, 

F 

F, 

G 

G, 

A 

A, 

c. 

c. 

Dominants  A 

/ 

c 

a 

c 

a 

d 

e 

e 

c 

g 

e 

Mode     No.  I 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

ID 

II 

12 

[N.B. — The  dominants  spell  the  mnemonic  word  Afcacad[e]cecge.] 


Of  this  ancient  system  the  German  Pro- 
fessor of  Music  at  the  University  of  Berlin, 
Dr.  Adolph  Bernhard  Marx,  justly  remarks 
that  its  "  profound  ideality  is  undeniable," 
and  while  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  notions 
and  feelings  of  a  modern,  confesses  that  in 
many  points  it  displays  nicer  distinctions 
and  more  striking  characteristics  than  our 
own.  Whatever  view,  however,  may  be  true 
with  regard  to  the  discoveries  and  improve- 
ments of  the  musical  art  in  our  day,  it  is 
certain  that  for  sacred  music  generally,  and 
for  Church  music  in  particular,  the  study  of 


Plain  Song  as  it  has  come  down  to  us,  with 
all  the  hallowed  associations  of  a  definite 
history  of  twelve  centuries  and  with  an  in- 
definite period  of  great  extent  before  them, 
together  constituting  a  sequence  of  near  upon 
three  thousand  years'  use  in  the  highest  acts 
of  human  concern,  cannot  be  neglected  with- 
lout  much  injury  to  the  sentiment  and  feeling 
of  composers,  and  a  secularising  of  Church 
music,  both  in  its  composition  and  in  the 
style  of  its  execution,  highly  to  be  deprecated 
by  every  true  lover  of  Sacred  Art,  and  of  the 
Christian  Church  throughout  the  world. 


(  361  ) 


PLAIN  SONG  PLANXTIES. 


It  remains  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  time, 
accent,  rhythm,  and  metre  of  Plain  Song,  all 
of  which  have  unfortunately  suffered  much  in 
the  opinion  of  mankind  by  being  misunder- 
stood in  theory,  and  dreadfully  distorted  in 
practice. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  those  who,  like  Cousse- 
maker,  have  most  deeply  studied  the  subject, 
that  there  was  by  no  means  that  monotonous 
equality  in  the  length  of  the  notes,  which  we 
have  found  practised  and  thought  right  since 
the  Plain  Song  of  the  Church  has  been  so 
generally  neglected  for  more  strictly  mensur- 
able modern  compositions. 

A  manifest  tendency  has  long  existed  to 
lengthen  the  short  notes  of  ancient  MSS.,  in 
order  probably  that  the  accompanying  organists 
may  give  (as  they  intend)  a  greater  dignity  to 
the  solemn  march  of  their  harmonies,  and 
get  rid  of  the  charming  varieties  of  what  may 
be  styled  the  bars,  speaking  after  the  fashion 
of  modern  music.  Two  striking  instances  of 
this  will  explain  what  is  meant  better  than 
further  description. 

There  is  in  the  British  Museum,  among 
the  Lansdown  MSS.  (No.  463),  a  fine  well- 
written  copy  of  the  ancient  Sanim  Anti- 
phonary ;  and  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  Ox- 
ford, there  is  a  corresponding  MS.  most 
splendidly  written,  which  formerly  belonged 
to  Archbishop  Laud  ;  in  both  of  these  the 
writer  of  this  article  has  found  very  many 
notes  short  {i.e.,  the  ♦  ♦  diamond  shaped 
semibreve)  where  in  the  printed  folio  (c  35  1., 
Paris,  1519.  20  B.  M.),they  are  changed  into 
breves  thus  ■  ■.  The  difference  thus  made 
in  the  music  may  be  compared  to  an  altera- 
tion of  all  the  quavers  in  "  God  save  the 
Queen  "  into  crotchets  ! 

Another  instance  of  the  same  perverse 
treatment  may  be  seen  in  the  version  of  the 
melody  "Veni,  veni,  Emmanuel,"  set  to  the 
words  "O  come,  O  come,  Emmanuel,"  in 
Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern  (No. 36,  first  tune), 
where  all  the  short  notes,  originally  printed 

£1  the  Hymnal  Noted)  correctly  from  the 
S.  copied  by  the  late  J.  M.  Neale  from 
a  French  Missal  in  the  National  Library, 
Lisbon,  are  deliberately,  and  of  set  purpose, 
turned  into  long  ones,  seemingly  to  avoid  the 
interspersion  of  a  triple  bar,  in  several  places, 
among  the  duple  or  quadruple  measures.  See 
Hymnal  Noted,  "  Veni,  veni,  Emmanuel," 
65  Ac.  Har.,  p.  213,  "  Draw  nigh,  draw  nigh, 
Emmanuel." 

The  time  or  rhythm  of  the  Plain  Song, 
where  best  understood  and  properly  rendered,- 
is  a  most  entire  and  definite  flow  of  melody 
in  accordance  with  the  accents  of  the  words 
and  the  construction  of  the  musical  phrase 
combined.  The  fullest  development  of  this 
18  perhaps  in  the  Ancient  Metrical  Hymns, 


in  which  the  varied  prosodaic  metres  aie 
always  complied  with  by  the  Plain  Song,  the 
accents  of  which  correspond  to  those  of  the 
words  ;  and  the  notes  fall  into  what  we  should 
now  call  bars,  sometimes  regular  in  their 
formation,  and  of  one  time,  but  often  in  duple 
and  triple  forms  mixed. 

There  is,  to  the  lovers  of  Plain  Song  who 
have  caught  the  spirit  and  intention  of  its 
various  phrases,  a  charming  variety  and 
freedom  from  stiffness  in  these  changes  of 
measure,  somewhat  akin  to  the  pleasure  we 
derive  in  verse  from  similar  departures  from 
one  stereotyped  succession  of  accents  or 
quantities.  For  example,  after  the  regular 
iambics  of  this  couplet  — 

"  Thro'  life's  long  day  and  death's  dark  night, 
O  gentle  Jesus,  be  our  light — " 
how  pleasing  is  the  introduction  of  the  trochee 
in  the  beginning  of  the  next  verse: 

"  Labour  is  sweet  for  thou  hast  toiled." 
Something  of  the  same  kind  seems  to  occur, 
in  such  a  phrase  as  this,  put  into  measured 
time,  as  it  should  be  sung  from  the  usual 
notes  of  the  Gregorian  Plain  Song. 


ran. 


Who        dost  .  .   thy      seven     -    (oXA  guts  impart. 


In  conclusion,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the 
more  highly  people  are  educated  in  all  that 
concerns  the  employment  of  art  in  the  Ser- 
vice of  the  Church,  and  the  more  deeply  they 
enter  into  the  rationale  of  the  use  of  music  as 
the  handmaid  of  religion,  the  better  will  they 
appreciate  the  value  of  Plain  Song,  the  better 
will  they  execute  it,  and  the  better  too  will 
they  know  and  feel  what  other  music  is  fittest, 
and  really  the  best,  to  stand  side  by  side  with 
it  in  the  Lord's  House,  as  the  offering  of  the 
first-fruits  of  man's  highest  art  and  most 
exquisite  skill,  to  Him  from  whom  all  skill 
and  all  talent  are  derived,  and  who  will  be 
worshipped  by  each  according  to  that  he 
hath,  be  it  little  or  much.  The  Plain  Song 
of  the  Church  gives  all  who  can  sing  the  best 
means  of  discharging  this  sacred  duty. 

Plainte  {Fr.)    An  elegy,  or  lament. 

Plaisanterie,  or  Pleasantrie.  A  kind 
of  concerto  for  a  solo  instrument,  in  which 
various  cheerful  tunes  or  dance  melodies 
were  introduced. 

Planxties  or  Laments.  Certain  melodies 
were  so  called  by  Irish  and  Welsh  harpers. 
They  were  not  always  of  the  doleful  character 
their  name  would  seem  to  imply. 


(  362  ) 


PLAQUE  POLACCA. 


Plaque  {Fr.)  Struck  at  once.  A  direction 
that  a  chord  is  not  to  be  played  arpeggio. 

Play-house  Tunes.  Musical  composi- 
tions performed  between  the  acts  of  the 
tragedies  or  comedies  in  the  old  theatres  of 
London. 

After  the  Restoration,  music  became  more 
general  as  a  relief  to  the  performers  and 
the  performances  in  theatres  ;  compositions, 
called  Playhouse  or  Act  Tunes,  were  written 
and  played  in  concert,  and  not  in  unison  as 
formerly,  and  the  theatre  music  was  of  a 
superior  character.  "  Insomuch,"  says  Sir 
John  Hawkins,  "that  to  say  of  a  performer 
on  any  instrument  that  he  was  a  playhouse 
musician,  or  of  a  song  that  it  was  a  playhouse 
song,  or  a  playhouse  tune,  was  to  speak  of 
each  respectively  in  terms  of  the  highest 
commendation."  The  most  popular  were  the 
"  Genius  of  England,"  Madame  Subligny's 
"  Minuet,"  the  "  Louvre"  (or  "  Loure,")  and 
many  others.  The  principal  composers  of 
this  kind  of  music  were  Mr.  John  Reading, 
John  Bannister,  Godfrey  Finger,  Matthew 
Lock,  Henry  and  John  Eccles,  Raphael 
Courteville,  &c.  A  coranto  written  by  Bul- 
strode  Whitelock,  one  of  the  Lords  Commis- 
sioners of  Charles  H.,  in  conjunction  with 
H2nry  Lawes,  was  played  at  the  theatres  for 
more  than  thirty  years  regularly  "  by  the 
Blackfriars  musicians,  esteemed  the  best  in 
London." 

Plectrum  {Lat.)  irXrjKTpov.  A  little  staff 
made  of  ivory,  horn,  quill,  or  metal,  with 
which  (having  it  in  his  right  hand)  the  player 
on  a  lyra  or  cithara,  set  the  strings  in  vibra- 
tion. It  cannot  yet  be  said  to  be  obsolete, 
inasmuch  as  one  is  used  by  the  performer  on 
a  modern  mandolin  and  zither.  From  the  . 
method  of  using  a  plectrum  to  the  cithara, 
the  more  perfect  instrument,  the  dulcimer 
(Hackbrett),  probably  took  its  origin ;  and 
from  the  dulcimer  came  the  spinet,  harp- 
sichord, and  eventually  the  pianoforte.  But 
it  should  be  remembered  that  while  the 
quill  of  a  harpsichord  plucks,  as  it  were,  a 
string,  just  as  a  plectrum  would,  the  hammer 
of  a  pianoforte  strikes  the  string.  The 
plectrum  was  not  invariably  used  by  the 
ancients,  for  some  of  the  paintings  discovered 
at  Herculaneum  depict  citharists  using  the 
ends  of  their  fingers. 

Plein  jeu  (Fr.)    With  the  full  power. 

Plica  (Lat.)  A  term  used  by  the  old 
writers  on  mensurable  music,  the  exact 
meaning  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  discover. 
Franco  of  Cologne  (Gerbertus,  Script,  iii.  6) 
says,  "  Plica  est  nota  divisionis  ejusdem 
toni  in  gravem  et  acutam"  (Plica  is  a  sign 
of  the  division  of  the  same  note  into  a  higher 
and  lower  soundV  This  would  seem  to 
describe  it  as  an  ornament  or  grace.  Joannes 


de  Muris  says,  "  Plica  dicitur  a  plicando,  el 
continet  notas  duas,  unam  superiorem  el 
aliam  inferiorem "  (Plica  is  so  called  from 
plicando,  folding,  and  it  contains  two  notes, 
one  higher,  the  other  lower).  This  would 
make  plica  a  part  of  the  system  of  ligatures. 
At  other  times  the  word  seems  used  by  old 
authors  as  synonymous  with  cauda  or  vir- 
gtda,  a  stem. 

Ploke  [Gk.),  ttXokti.  [Melopoeia.] 

Plures  ex  una  (Lat.)  Many  parts  from 
one.  The  old  name  of  a  canon  because 
originally  written  only  on  one  line. 

Plus  (Fr.)  More,  as,  plus  animi,  more 
animated,  with  greater  spirit. 

Pneuma.  [Neuma.] 

Pneumatic  bellows.    [Organ,  §  12.] 

Pneumatic  Organ.  Organum  pneu- 
maticum.  The  ordinary  organ  as  opposed 
to  the  ancient  hydraulic  organ,  or  organum 
hydraulicum,  in  which  water  was  used,  not  as 
was  popularly  supposed  at  the  time,  for  the 
purpose  of  entering  the  sound-boards  or  pipes, 
but  to  act  as  a  regulator  of  the  pressure  of 
air.  [Organ.] 

Pocetta  (It.)  [Poche.j 

Poche,  Pochette  (Fr.)  A  little  fiddle 
used  by  dancing-masters.  [Kit.] 

Pochettino,  Pochette  (It.)  A  little,  as, 
ritard  un  pochettino,  making  a  slight  rallen- 
tando. 

Poco  (It.)  A  little,  as  poco  a  poco,  little 
by  little  ;  poco  animato,  rather  animated  ; 
poco  lento,  rather  slow ;  mosso  poco  meno, 
rather  less  quick ;  poco  piano,  rather  soft ; 
poco  piu  allegro,  rather  faster;  poco  presto, 
somewhat  rapid. 

Poggiato  (It.)    Leant  upon,  dwelt  upon. 

Poi  (It.)  Then,  as  piano  poi  forte,  soft 
then  loud.    Poi  segue,  then  follows. 

Point  (Fr.)    A  dot. 

Point    d'orgue   {Fr.)     A  pedal- point. 

[Fugue.] 

Point  de  repos  (Fr.)    A  pause. 

Pointe  (Fr.)  Dotted. 

Polacca  (/^.)  PoHsh.  A  title  applied  to 
melodies  written  in  imitation  of  Polish  dance 
tunes.  It  is  synonymous  with  the  French 
word  polonoise,  or  polonaise.  It  is  a  term 
of  modern  introduction,  as  neither  Brossard, 
Grassineau,  nor  Rousseau,  have  the  word  in 
their  dictionaries.  Kollmann  on  "  Style  and 
National  Music,"  describes  it  as"  a  particular 
characteristic  piece  in  |  time,  and  its  move- 
ment like  a  majestic  but  fluent  andante  or 
andantino.  It  deviates  from  the  general  rule 
respecting  simple  measure  in  making  every 
rhythmical  caesure,  not  on  the  first,  but  on 
the  last  time  or  crotchet  in  the  bar." 

In  No.  3  of  Handel's  twelve  grand  con- 
certos is  a  polonaise  or  polacca,  of  a  slightly 
different  rhythm,  and  there  are  other  polaccaa 


(  3C'3  ) 


POLKA  POSITIVE  ORGAN. 


which  differ  still  more  from  the  model 
described  above. 

Polka.  A  dance  of  world-wide  popularity, 
the  music  to  which  is  in  |  time,  with  the  third 
quaver  accented.  There  are  three  steps  in 
each  bar,  the  fourth  beat  is  always  a  rest,  the 
three  steps  are  performed  on  the  three  first 
beats  of  every  bar. 

It  is  stated  that  Anna  Slezak,  a  farm 
servant  at  Elbeteinitz,  near  Prague,  invented 
the  polka  about  1830.  The  room  in  which 
she  was  accustomed  to  dance  being  of  small 
dimensions,  the  movements  of  her  feet  were 
short,  and  so  the  dance  was  called  the 
"Pulka"  dance,  that  is  the  "half"  dance. 
The  title  was  changed  when  it  was  introduced 
into  France,  as  were  also  the  steps  and  the 
character  of  the  dance.  In  Bohemia,  where 
it  is  said  to  have  originated,  it  is  danced  with 
a  peculiar  alternative  of  hurrying  and  halting 
steps  to  which  the  music  has  to  be  accom- 
modated. 

It  was  brought  into  England  about  the 
year  1843,  and  was  received  with  an  extra- 
ordinary enthusiasm  by  all  classes.  It  effected 
a  revolution  in  the  style  of  dancing  which 
had  prevailed  up  to  that  period.  Country- 
dances  and  quadrilles  were  even  performed 
with  livelier  steps  than  hitherto,  for  the  polka 
was  so  popular  that  it  absorbed  every  other 
dance  for  a  time.  Articles  of  food,  of  clothing, 
and  of  ornament,  were  named  after  it.  Comic 
songs  and  farces  were  written  on  the  polka- 
mania,  as  it  was  called.  To  such  a  height 
did  this  absurd  fancy  reach,  that  public- 
houses  were  called  the  "  Polka  Arms,"  and 
newly-built  streets  "  Polka  "  terraces  or  cres- 
cents. When  the  mania  subsided  these 
names  were  altered  to  titles  less  suggestive 
of  a  passing  folly. 

Polonaise  or  Polonoise  {Fr.)  [Polacca.] 

Polychord.  An  instrument  invented  by 
Fried.  Hillmer  of  Leipzig,  in  1799.  It  was 
strung  with  ten  strings.  In  shape  it  was  not 
unlike  a  double  bass  without  a  neck.  It  was 
never  generally  used. 

Polycephalus.  One  of  the  neumes. 
[Neumes.] 

Polymorphous.  Of  many  shapes,  a  term 
applied  to  compositions,  the  parts  of  which 
are  capable  of  inversion,  as  in  double  counter- 
point;  or  of  augmentation,  diminution,  per 
tkesin  et  arsin,  and  other  devices,  as  in 
Canon. 

Pommer.  [Bombardo.] 

Pomposamente,  Pomposo  (7^.)  Pom- 
pously. 

Ponderoso  {It.)  With  weight,  impres- 
sivel . . 

Ponticello  (7^.)  Lit.,  a  little  bridge,  (i) 
The  bridge  of  a  violin  or  other  instrument. 
(2)  The  '-—ak  in  the  voice.  [Break.] 


Pont-neuf  (T-V.)  A  common  ballad,  such 
as  was  formerly  sold  on  the  Pont-neuf,  Paris. 

Poogye.  The  nose-flute  of  the  Hindoos. 
Probably  blown  by  the  nose  instead  of  the 
mouth,  in  order  to  avoid  possible  defilement 
of  caste. 

Portamento  (It.)  A  lifting  of  the  voice, 
or  gliding  from  one  note  to  another. 

Portando  la  voce  {It.)  Sustaining  the 
voice,  or  gliding. 

Portative  organ.  A  little  organ  which 
could  be  carried  about,  as  opposed  to  a 
positive  organ  which  was  fixed.  Many  con- 
sider the  portative  organ  to  have  been 
identical  with  regals  ;  they  were  certainly  of 
the  same  class.  A  portative  organ  was  often 
carried  in  processions,  on  a  man's  shoulder, 
who,  when  it  was  required,  placed  it  on  a 
stool  and  worked  the  bellows. 

Portato  (7^)    Lengthened,  sustained. 

Port  de  voix  {Fr.)  A  kind  of  appog- 
giatura  combined  with  the  Pince,  q.v.,  written 
in  old  harpsichord  music  thus  : 

No.  I.  T 


No.  I  is  the  Port  de  voix  simple,  and 
No.  2  the  Port  de  voix  double. 

Portee  {Fr.)  Stave. 

Porter  la  voix  (Fr.)  [Portando.J 

Portunal-flute.  An  organ  stop,  the  pipes 
of  which  are  of  wood,  and  are  open,  and 
larger  at  the  top  than  at  the  mouth. 

Posato  [It.)  Quietly. 

Posaune  {Ger.)  [Trombone.] 

Posaune.  A  reed-stop  on  the  organ,  of  a 
rich  and  powerful  tone.  Its  pipes  are  of  a 
very  large  scale.  It  is  of  8  ft.  on  the  manuals, 
and  of  16  ft.  or  32  ft.  {contra-posmine)  on  the 
pedals.  The  tubes  of  the  manual  stop  are 
generally  of  metal,  sometimes  of  tin  ;  those 
of  the  pedal  stop,  sometimes  of  metal,  often 
of  zinc  or  wood. 

Posement  {Fr.)    Gravely,  sedately. 

Position,  (i)  A  chord  is  said  to  be  in  its 
original  position  when  the  groundnote  is  in 
the  bass,  in  other  positions  when  the  relative 
arrangement  of  the  component  notes  is 
changed.  (2)  The  position  of  a  chord  is  the 
same  as  the  disposition  of  its  parts.  A  close 
position  is  close  harmony ;  an  open  position 
open  harmony.  (3)  A  position,  on  a  violin  or 
other  string  instrument,  is  to  use  the  fingers 
otherwise  than  in  their  normal  place.  [Shift.] 

Position  {Fr.)    [Position  3.] 

Positive  Organ.    An  old  name  for  the 


(  364  ^ 


POSITIF  PRESA. 


choir  organ.  Originally  a  positive  organ  was 
a  fixed  organ.    [Portative  organ.] 

Positif  (Fr.)  A  chamber  organ.  A  choir 
organ. 

Positiv  {Ger.)  A  chamber  organ.  A  choir 
organ.    [Portative  organ.] 

Possibile  (It.)  Possible,  as,  il  piil  forte 
possibile,  as  loud  as  possible. 

Post-Horn,  (i)  A  wind  instrument  con- 
sisting of  a  simple  metal  tube,  without  valves 
or  pistons,  blown  by  postmen.  It  can  hardly 
be  termed  a  musical  instrument.  (2)  A  piece 
of  music  suitable  to,  or  in  imitation  of  the 
notes  or  passages  of  a  post-horn.  [Bugle.] 

Postludium  (Lat.)  Nachspiel  (Ger.)  A 
concluding  voluntary.  A  piece  played  at  the 
end  of  service. 

Potpourri  {Fr.)  A  medley ;  a  collection 
of  various  tunes  linked  together ;  a  capriccio 
or  fantasia  on  popular  melodies. 

Poule,  la  (Fr.)  One  of  the  movements  of 
a  quadrille. 

Pousse  {Fr.)    [Up  bow.] 

PP.  abb.  of  pianissimo. 

Pralltriller  {Ger.)  A  transient  shake,  sig- 
nified by  w. 

Preambulum,  Preludium.  V  or  spiel  {Ger.) 
An  introductory  voluntary. 

Precentor,  Praecentor,  Cantor,  Caput 
Scholae  {Lat.),  Capiscol.  Cabischol, 
Armarius,  Primicerio  {Sp.),  Prechantre 
{Fr.),  Grand  Chantre  {Fr.),  Vorsanger 
{Ger.)  An  officer  in  a  cathedral,  who  in 
dignity  ranks  next  to  the  dean.  His  stall  is 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  choir,  and  that 
side  is  called  cantoris  side,  the  side  of  the 
cantor,  as  the  other  is  called  decani,  the  side 
of  the  dean.  The  office  of  the  Precentor  was 
an  important  one  in  olden  times,  and  the 
duties  are  variously  defined.  The  Rev. 
Mackenzie  Walcott,  Precentor  of  Chichester, 
in  his  valuable  book  "  Cathedralia,"  thus 
speaks  of  the  Precentor  and  his  duties  :  "  The 
primicerius,  the  first  named  on  the  waxen 
tablets  or  roll  of  singers,  or  precentor,  was 
the  bishop's  vicar,  who  governed  the  inferior 
clergy,  presided  at  the  canonical  hours, 
directed  the  lectures  by  the  clerks,  and  con- 
trolled the  order  and  mode  of  singing  by  the 
choir.  From  a  mere  office  the  precentorship 
in  cathedrals  became  a  dignity.  He  only 
sang  on  the  greater  feasts.  In  some  places 
he  had  authority  over  all  the  city  and 
diocesan  schools,  an  was  known  as  caput 
scholcB,magister  scholcc,  being  also  scholastims. 
No  one  could  open  a  song-school  without 
his  leave.  He  saw  that  all  were  attentive  in 
the  choir  and  observant  of  the  statutes,  he 
corrected  faults  and  chastised  offenders.  In 
England  the  office  of  precentor  was  instituted 
at  an  early  period — at  Exeter,  c.  1080 ;  at 
Salisbury  in  1091  ;  at  Chichester,  1115  ;  at 


Wells,  c.  1135;  at  St.  David's,  1224;  at 
Hereford,  c.  1195  ;  at  Lichfield,  1130  ;  Lincoln. 
1097  ;  York,  1090  ;  and  at  St.  Paul's  in  the 
reign  of  King  John.  The  duties  of  the  Pre- 
centor were  generally  alike,  but  differed  only 
in  a  few  local  or  diocesan  peculiarities.  A 
summary  of  his  duties  as  laid  down  in  the 
statutes  of  the  several  places  may  be  briefly 
told.  He  had  to  direct  the  divine  offices  as 
regards  the  chant  ;  to  select  candidates  to 
supply  vacancies  ;  to  provide  and  keep  the 
choir-books  in  good  condition  ;  to  table  the 
weekly  rota,  or  list  of  officers,  with  their 
duties ;  to  choose  and  present  a  succentor 
when  necessary ;  to  instal  the  dean  and 
canons,  and  to  assign  stalls  to  the  prebends  ; 
to  superintend  the  training  of  the  choristers, 
not  only  as  regards  food  and  clothing,  but 
also  their  morals  and  choral  instruction.  On 
great  feasts  he  '  ruled  the  choir,'  when  two 
canons,  robed  in  the  red  sontane  (cassock) 
were  the  chanters,  whom  he  followed  up  and 
down  the  choir,  regulating  the  offices,  and 
overseeing  the  service  in  rochet  and  cope, 
holding  a  staff  in  his  hand,  which  was  gloved 
and  ornamented  with  a  ring.  He  further 
observed  that  all  the  choir  sang  with  proper 
modulation,  and  that  various  and  proper 
chants,  according  to  the  day  and  festival, 
were  used.  He  gave  the  note  to  the  canon 
celebrant  at  the  altar,  distributed  the  copes  in 
the  choir,  and  having  presented  offenders  to 
the  dean  and  chapter,  left  correction  to  them." 

In  most  cathedrals,  the  revenues  of  the 
office  have  been  taken  away  and  its  dignity 
and  status  lowered,  but  nevertheless,  during 
the  last  few  years  there  has  been  a  general 
attempt  to  revive  the  ninsical  responsibilities 
of  the  holder. 

Precipitamente,  Precipitate,  Precipita- 
zione,  con;  Precipitoso  {It.)  With  preci- 
pitation, impetuously,  hurriedly. 

Precipite  (Fr.)  [Precipitamente.] 

Precisione,  con  (7^.)  Witli  exactitude 
or  precision. 

Prefectus  Chori.  Director  of  the  choir. 
Precentor. 

Prelude.  A  movement  played  before,  or 
an  introduction  to,  a  musical  work  or  per- 
formance. 

Preludio  (7^.)  A  prelude,  introduction,  or 
introductory  voluntary. 

Preludium  {Lat.)  [Preludio.] 

Premiere  {Fr.)  First,  as  premiere  foii, 
the  first  time,  prima  volta  {It.)  ;  premiere 
dessus,  first  treble,  canto  primo. 

Preparation.  The  causing  a  discord  to 
be  heard  as  a  concord  immediately  before  its 
percussion.  It  must  take  place  in  the  same 
part  as  that  which  has  the  discord. 

Preparazione  (7^.)  [Preparation.] 

Presa  {It.)    Lit.  taken,  caught.    A  cha- 


(  365  ) 


PRESSANTE  PRINTING  OF  MUSIC. 


racter  or  mark  used  generally  in  continuous 
fugues  or  canons  to  mark  the  point  of  entry 
for  the  voices  or  instruments.    A  lead. 

Pressante  [It.)  Pressing  on,  hurrying 
the  time. 

Pressiren  (Ger.)    To  hurry  the  time. 

Prestamente,  Prestezza,con.  Hurriedly, 
with  rapidity. 

Prestant.  The  open  diapason  of  an 
organ,  sometimes  of  i6  feet,  sometimes  of 
8  feet  in  length. 

Prestissimamente  (It.)  As  rapidly  as 
possible. 

Prestissimo  (It.)    Very  fast  indeed. 
Presto  {It.)    Fast.    Presto  assai.  Very 
fast. 

Prick-Song.  Written  music,  as  opposed 
to  extempore  descant. 

Prima  [It.)  First  (fem.),  as  prima  buffa, 
chief  comic  actress  or  singer;  prima  donna, 
chief  female  singer  in  the  opera  ;  prima  viola, 
first  viola ;  prima  vista,  at  first  sight  ;  prima 
volta,  the  first  time,  i.e.,  before  repeating. 

Prime,  (i)  Tonic  or  generator.  (2)  The 
lowest  note  of  any  two  notes  forming  an 
interval.    (3)  The  first  partial-tone. 

Primicerius  [Lat.)  Prior  scholse  can- 
torum.  In  cathedrals  the  precentor,  suc- 
centor  or  cantor. 

Primo  {It.)  First  (masc),  as  tempo  primo, 
at  the  original  pace  or  time  ;  violino  primo, 
first  fiddle  ;  primo  buffo,  chief  comic  actor  or 
singer;  primo  musico  and  primo  uomo,  prin- 
cipal male  singer  in  the  opera. 

Principal  {Old  Eng.)  The  subject  of  a 
fugue,  the  answer  being  termed  the  Reply. 

Principal  {Ger.  and  Fr.)  An  organ  stop. 
[Open  diapason.] 

Principal.  On  English  organs  the  chief 
open  metal  stop,  one  octave  higher  in  pitch 
than  the  open  diapason.  On  the  manual  4 
feet,  on  the  pedal  8  feet  in  length. 

Principal.  Chief,  as  principal  violin,  the 
leader ;  principal  vocalists,  those  to  whom 
the  solos  are  allotted. 

Principal.  The  name  given  by  Handel 
to  the  third  trumpet  in  the  "  Dettingen  Te 
Deum." 

Principale  {It.)    [Principal  4.] 
Principalis  mediarum  {Lat.)  [Hypate 
meson.] 

Principalis  principalium  {Lat.)  [Hypate 
hypaton.] 

Principalis  extenta  {Lat.)  [Lichanos 
hypaton.] 

Principal  Subject  or  Theme.    One  of 

the  chief  subjects  of  a  movement  in  sonata 
%rm,  as  opposed  to  a  subordinate  theme. 

Printing  of  Music.  Music  is  printed  in 
various  ways :  from  plates,  from  lithographic 
stones,  or  from  moveable  type. 

The  plates  for   music   are   generally   of  | 


pewter,  and  the  notes  and  characters  are 
stamped  with  punches  of  the  shape  and 
character  requiied.  Corrections  are  made  by 
beating  up  the  back  of  the  plate,  so  that 
the  surface  may  be  as  equal  as  possible  for 
making  the  alterations.  The  music  is  either 
printed  direct  from  the  plate,  or  an  impres- 
sion is  transferred  to  a  lithographic  stone, 
and  so  printed.  This  latter  plan  is  the  most 
usual  when  large  impressions  are  needed,  or 
when  it  is  desirable  to  preserve  the  plates. 

In  the  earliest  engraved  music  copper- 
plates were  used,  and  every  note  was  made 
with  the  graver.  Both  words  and  notes  were 
formed  in  imitation  of  the  writing  of  the  time. 
"  Parthenia," — "  the  first  musicke  that  was 
ever  printed  for  the  Virginals," — in  which 
there  are  compositions  by  Byrd,  Bull,  and 
Gibbons,  was  "  engraven  on  copper,"  in  1611, 
and  the  character  employed  is  very  like  writing. 
This  style  prevailed  in  France  and  Italy,  as 
well  as  in  England,  until  the  commencement 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  stamping 
musical  notes  on  plates  became  more  general 
for  this  class  of  work.  The  process  of 
stamping,  which  has  been  more  or  less  im- 
proved according  to  the  skill  of  the  stamper, 
has  always  been  called  "  engraving,"  though, 
strictly  speaking,  it  ought  to  be  called 
"  punching." 

The  invention  of  moveable  music  type  is 
claimed  forOttaviano  Petrucci,  whoestablished 
a  printing  press  at  Venice,  and  was  working 
as  early  as  1503,  the  year  in  which  he  pub- 
lished some  Masses  by  De  La  Rue.  Petrucci, 
removing  to  Fossombrone  in  1513,  obtained  a 
patent  from  Leo  X.  for  his  invention  of  move- 
able types,  for  the  sole  printing  of  Cantus 
Figiiratus  and  Organornm  I ntahulaturce ,  for 
a  term  of  twenty  years.  There  is,  therefore, 
good  reason  for  believing  his  claim  to  be 
supported  by  trustworthy  contemporary  evi- 
dence. The  very  first  known  example  of 
printed  music  is  in  the  Milan  edition  of 
Franchinus.  The  notes  there  printed  are 
not,  however,  music  types,  but  engraved 
wood  blocks,  like  the  musical  characters  in 
Higden's  "  Polychronicon, "  translated  by 
Trevisa,  and  printed  by  Wynkin  de  Worde 
in  Westminster  in  1495. 


Q 

These  characters  were  improved  in  a  book 
I  published  by  Grafton  in  1550,  entitled  "  The 


(  366  ) 


PRINTING  OF  MUSIC. 


Booke  of  Common  Praier  Noted,"  by  John 
Marbecke,  Organist  of  Windsor. 

The  printer  thought  it  necessary  to  prefix 
an  explanation  of  the  types  he  employed, 
which  he  does  in  the  following  words :  "  In 
this  booke  is  conteyned  so  much  of  the  order 
of  Common  Praier  as  is  to  be  song  in 
Churches,  wherein  are  used  only  these  iiij. 
sortes  of  notes: — 


The  first  note  is  a  strene  note  and  is  a  breue, 
the  second  note  is  a  square  note  and  is  a 
semybreue,  the  iij.  a  prycke  and  is  a  myn- 
ymne.  And  when  there  is  a  prycke  by  the 
square  note,  that  prycke  is  half  as  muche  as 
the  note  that  goeth  before  it.  The  iiij.  is 
a  close,  and  is  vsed  at  only  y«  end  of  a 
verse." 

John  Day,  who  in  1560  printed  the  Church 
Service  in  three  and  four  parts,  and  in  1562 
the  "  Whole  Booke  of  Psalmes,"  by  Sternhold 
and  Hopkins,  used  music  types,  as  did 
also  many  of  the  printers  who  immediately 
succeeded  him. 

1575.  Thomas  VautroUier,  in  Blackfriars, 
printed,  among  other  v/orks,  Tallis  and  Byrd's 
"  Cantiones,"  under  a  patent  to  the  authors. 
The  patent  allowed  them  the  monopoly  of 
"  ruling  "  paper,  and  as  music  was  printed  on 
ruled  lines  they  managed  to  include  it  in 
their  patent. 

It  would  form  an  interesting  episode  in  the 
history  of  printing  if  special  attention  were 
to  be  given  to  the  progress  of  the  art  of 
printing  music  from  types  in  Europe,  so  that 
detailed  accounts  of  the  chief  works  produced 
by  the  several  "  Fathers  of  the  Chapel  "  from 
time  to  time  might  be  given.  Such  a  list 
would  be  entirely  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
present  article.  It  has  therefore  been  thought 
advisable  only  to  include  a  few  of  the  chief 
and,  to  antiquarians,  well-known  works  of 
the  early  printers  before  Playford. 

After  VautroUier  in  chronological  order 
comes  Thomas  Este,  the  assigne  of  William 
Byrd,  living  and  working  by  Paul's  Wharf. 
The  chief  of  his  productions  were  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

1588.  Byrd's  Psalmes,  Sonets  and  Songs  ; 
Younge's  Musica  Transalpina. 

1589.  Byrd's  Songs  of  sundrie  natures. 
Black  Horse,  Aldersgate  Street. 

1590.  Watson's  Italian  Madrigalls  Eng- 
lished. 

1591.  Farmer's  Divers  and  Sundry  ways 
of  two  parts  in  one,  to  the  number  of  40  upon 
one  playn  song. 

1593.  Morley's  Canzonets,  3  voices. 

1594.  Mundy's  Songs  and  Psalmes.  Mor- 
ley's Madrigals,  4  voices. 


I  ^595-  Morley's  Ballets,  5  voices  ;  Morley's 
I  Canzonets,  2  voices. 

I  1597.  Weelkes'  Madrigals,  3,  4,  5,  and  6 
voices ;  Yonge's  Musica  Transalpina,  and 
Book;  Morley's  Canzonets,  4  voices;  Kirbye's 
Madrigals. 

1598.  Wilbye's  Madrigals,  1st  Set.  Morley's 
Madrigals,  5  voices  ;  Weelkes'  Ballets  and 
Madrigals,  5  voices. 

1600.  Weelkes'  Madrigals  of  5  and  6  parts, 
as  assigne  of  Thomas  Morley ;  Weelkes' 
Madrigals  of  6  parts ;  Dowland's  Songs  or 
Ayres  of  4  parts.  Book  II. 

1601.  Triumphs  of  Oriana  ;  Jones's  First 
Book  of  Ayres. 

1603.  Robinson's  Scoole  of  Musicke.  [In 
tablature.] 

1604.  M.  Este's  Madrigals;  Bateson's  ist 
Set  of  Madrigals. 

1605.  Pilkington's  Songs  or  Ayres  of  4 
parts. 

1606.  Danyel's  Songs. 

1608.  Youll's  Canzonets  ;  Croce's  Musica 
Sacra,  Englished. 

1609.  Wilbye's  2nd  Set  of  Madrigals  ;* 
Rosseter's  Lessons  for  Consort;*  Ferra- 
bosco's  Ayres. 

1610.  M.  Este's  3rd  Set  of  Madrigals  ; 
Campian's  Two  Books  of  Ayres. 

161 1.  Byrd's  Psalmes,  Songs,  and  Sonnets; 
Morley's  Consort  Lessons  ;  Maynard's  XII, 
Wonders  of  the  World. 

1612.  Gibbons's  Madrigals;  Campian's  3rd 
and  4th  Books  of  Ayres;  Corkine's  2nd  Book 
of  Ayres  ;  Dowland's  Pilgrim's  Solace. 

1613.  Ward's  Madrigals  ;  Pilkington's  Ma- 
drigals. 

1614.  Lichfild's  Madrigals. 

1615.  Robert  Tailour's  Sacred  Hymnes. 

1618.  Bateson's  2nd  Set  of  Madrigals  ;  M. 
Este's  4th  and  5th  Set  of  Madrigals;  Ravens- 
croft's  Pammelia ;  Mason  and  Earsden's 
Ayres  in  the  King's  Entertainment. 

1619.  Vautor's  first  Set  of  Ayres. 

1620.  Martin  Pearson's  Private  Musicke. 

1621.  Adson's  Courtly  Masquing  Ayres. 

1622.  Thomas  Tomkins's  Songs  of  3  and 
more  parts  ;  Attey's  Ayres. 

1624.  M.  Este's  6th  Book  (Anthems) ;  Pil- 
kington's 2nd  Set  of  Madrigals. 

Contemporary  with  him  was  Peter  Short, 
at  "  The  Starre,  on  Bread  Street  Hill.''  He 
produced — 

1597.  Morley's  Introduction  to  Practical 
Musicke  ;  Dowland's  Songes  or  Ayres  of  4 
parts.  Book  I. ;  Morley's  Canzonets,  5  and  6 
voices  ;  Holborne's  Cittharn  Schoole. 

1598.  Farnaby's  Canzonets,  4  voices. 

1599.  Cavendish's  Ayres  for  4  voices. 

•  On  the  title-pages  he  calls  himself  Thomas  Este, 
alias  Snodham.  He  subsequently  used  the  latter  name 
only. 


(  ) 


PRINTING  OF  MUSIC. 


1601.  Rosseter's  Ayres  ;  Jones's  Second 
Book  of  Ayres. 

1603.  Dowland's  Third  Book  of  Songs  or 
Ayres. 

And  William  Barley,  the  assigne  of  Thomas 
Morley,  in  Little  St.  Helen's,  and  sold  at  his 
shop  in  Gratious  Street. 

1596.  Booke  of  Tabliture. 

1599.  Farmer's  Madrigals ;  Bennet's  Ma- 
drigals. 

1608.  Weelkes'  Ayeres  or  Phantasticke 
Spirites. 

1609.  Ravenscroft's  Pammelia. 

In  later  years  Edward  Allde  printed — 

1614.  Ravenscroft's  Brief  Discourse. 

1615.  Amner's  Sacred  Hymnes. 
Following  next  on  the  list  was  Humphrey 

Lownes,  who  produced  in  1608  Morley's  In- 
troduction ;  and  in  1627  Hilton's  Ayres  or  Fa 
las. 

John  Leggatt,  London,  was  the  printer  in 
1637  of  "  Sandys's  Paraphrase  on  the  Psalmes 
of  David,  with  tunes  by  Henry  Lawes." 

Edward  Griffin  in  1641  printed  Barnard's 
"  Selected  Church  Music,"  a  book  of  which  no 
complete  copy  is  known. 

John  Haviland,  London,  printed  in  1636 
Charles  Butler's  "  Principles  of  Musik,"  a 
book  remarkable  for  its  quaint  diction;  and 
William  Turner,  Oxford,  in  1634,  the  same 
writer's  "  Feminine  Monarchie." 

James  Young,  London — 

1648.  Henry  and  William  Lawes's  Choice 
Psalmes. 

William  Godbid— 

1656.  Matthew  Locke's  Little  Consort. 

1657.  Walter  Porter's  Mottets.  (No  place 
of  printing  mentioned.)  Gamble's  Ayres  and 
Dialogues. 

1659.  Gamble's  Ayres  and  Dialogues,  2nd 
Book  ;  Select  Ayres  and  Dialogues. 

1662.  Dering's  Cantica  Sacra  (Inner  Tem- 
ple) ;  Courtly  MasquingAyres,  various  authors. 

1668.  Tompkins's  Musica  Deo  Sacra  (Little 
Britain). 

1669.  Henry  Lawes's  Ayres,  Third  Book. 
1674.  Dering  and  others,  Cantica  Sacra. 

(No  place.) 

William  Hall,  Oxford— 

1661.  Lowe's  Directions  for  performance 
of  Cathedral  Service. 

1664.  Ditto,  2nd  edition. 

1668.  William  King's  Songs  and  Ayres. 

J.  Heptinstall,  London — 

1690.  Purcell's  Songs  in  Dryden's  Amphi- 
tryon. 

1694.  Purcell,  &c.  Don  Quixote.  Parts  I. 
and  II. 

1696.  Blow's  Ode  on  the  death  of  Dryden. 

1697.  Purcell's  Ten  Sonatas  in  4  parts  ; 
Purcell's  Ayres  for  the  Theatre  ;  Purcell's 
TeDeumandJubilateforS  Cecilia's  Day,  1694. 


Some  writers  declare  that  the  Germans 
invented  moveable  music  types,  but  this  is 
not  the  case.  It  is  certain  that  they  were 
employed  in  Germany  for  books  at  a  very 
early  period.  One  of  the  first,  if  not  actually 
the  first  book  printed  in  Germany  with  music 
was  entitled  : — "  Musicae  activae  micrologus, 
libris  quatuor  digestus,  omnibus  musicae  stu- 
diosis  non  tarn  utilis  quam  necessarius." 
Leipsic,  15 17.  Andreas  Ornithoparcus.  It  was 
translated  into  English  by  Dowland  in  1609^. 

When  type  was  employed  all  musical  notes 
were  printed  separately  ;  quavers  and  semi- 
quavers, no  matter  how  many  there  were  in 
succession,  were  all  distinct.  In  or  about  the 
year  1660  John  Playford  invented  what  he 
called  the  "  new  tyed  note,"  that  is  to  say,  he 
used  a  common  stroke  or  strokes  to  connect 
a  series  of  quavers  or  semiquavers.  This 
improvement,  which  made  music  neater  to 
the  e3'e  and  easier  to  read,  was  soon  adopted 
by  other  nations,  the  Dutch  first,  the  French 
next,  and  after  them  the  Germans.  The 
Italians  did  not  adopt  it  until  many  years 
later,  for  Marcello's  Psalms,  printed  in  1734, 
had  the  old  disjointed  notes.  To  continue 
the  record  of  improvements  made  in  type 
music-printing,  mention  must  next  be  made 
of  William  Pearson,  who  with  John  Heptin- 
stall mentioned  above,  was  employed  by 
Henry  Playford,  the  son  of  old  John.  In 
1699,  Playford  published  "  Twelve  New 
Songs,  with  a  Thorow  Bass  to  each  Song, 
Figur'd  for  the  Organ,  Harpsichord  orTheorbo, 
chiefly  to  encourage  William  Pearson's  New 
London  Character."  This  improvement  of 
William  Pearson's  consisted  in  matrices  for 
music  type,  so  cut  that  the  several  pieces 
cast  in  them  could  be  better  "  ranged  "  than 
formerly. 

The  commencement  of  the  eighteenth 
century  brought  with  it  a  change  concerning 
music  printing.  Music  types  were  consi- 
dered ugly,  and  the  pages  they  formed  in- 
elegant, and  so  a  strong  tide  in  favour  of 
engraved  music  set  in.  In  order  to  make  the 
present  sketch  to  a  certain  extent  complete, 
and  to  show  the  state  of  music  printing  in 
its  several  branches,  it  will  not  be  considered 
superfluous  if  we  turn  back  to  speak  of 
engraved  music,  and  of  its  progress  up  to  the 
period  at  which  we  have  traced  type  music. 

Frescobaldi's  "  Toccate  d'Intavolatura  di 
Cimbalo  et  Organo,  partite  di  diverse  Arie  e 
Corrente,    Balletti,    Ciacone,  Passaghali," 
Rome,  1637,  was  one  of  the  earliest  books 
printed   in  Italy  from  copper  plates ;  a  fac- 
I  simile  specimen    of  the   character  of  the 
engraving  may  be  seen  in  the  article  "  Leger- 
I  lines."     Hawkins  implies  that  the  English 
I  adopted  the  practice  from  the  Italians,  in 
I  company  with  the  Germans  and  the  French. 


f  368  ) 


PROASMA  PROGRESSION. 


"The  English,"  says  he,  in  speaking  of  Fres- 
cobaldi's  pubHcations,  "  also  gave  into  it,  as 
appears  by  a  collection  of  lessons  by  Dr. 
Bull,  Byrd,  and  others,  entitled  '  Parthenia,' 
already  alluded  to;"  but  this  work  was  pro- 
duced in  1611,  twenty-six  years  before  Fres- 
cobaldi's  books,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how 
a  previous  work  can  be  indebted  to  a  later  one. 

Type,  however,  was  most  generally  used 
for  printing  music  in  England  as  well  as 
abroad.  In  fact,  there  was  only  one  engraver 
of  music  in  London  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  one  Thomas  Cross.  The 
great  labour  of  engraving  music,  the  cost  of 
the  plates,  and  other  incidental  expenses, 
made  music  type  preferable  to  the  pocket  of 
the  producer,  although  it  was  inferior  in  ap- 
pearance and  elegance.  Some  Dutch  printers 
are  said  to  have  discovered  a  means  of 
softening  copper  so  as  to  make  it  "  suscepti- 
ble of  an  impression  from  the  stroke  of  a 
hammer  or  a  punch,  the  point  whereof  had 
the  form  of  a  musical  note."  There  were 
many  works  produced  by  this  process,  and 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  from  the 
year  1700,  the  Dutch  printers  had  the  mono- 
poly of  work.  Sir  John  Hawkins  further  states 
that  "  the  difficulty  of  getting  music  from 
abroad,  and  the  high  duty  on  the  importation 
of  it,  were  motives  to  an  attempt  of  a  some- 
what similar  kind  in  England."  The  attempt 
included  the  use  of  pewter  for  copper,  as  the 
former  material  was  more  workable  with 
punches  than  the  latter.  The  enterprising 
publishers  who  carried  this  plan  to  a  suc- 
cessful end  were  John  Walsh,  of  the  "  Harp 
and  Hoboy,"  in  Catherine  Street  in  the 
Strand,  and  John  Hare,  of  the  "  Viol  "  in  St. 
Paul's  Churchyard.  The  first  book  printed 
from  their  plates  was  issued  in  1710.  The 
method  of  stamping  which  they  introduced 
has  been  continued  with  scarcely  any  im- 
provement in  England  to  the  present  time. 
The  Germans  are  more  accomplished  in  this 
branch  of  the  art  of  music  printing  than  other 
European  nations.  Their  punches  are  of 
more  elegant  shapes,  and  they  can  produce 
their  work  at  a  less  cost  than  other  folk.  It 
is,  therefore,  not  a  matter  for  wonder  when 
it  is  found  that  a  great  many  English  works 
are  engraved  and  even  printed  in  Germany 
in  the  present  day. 

Many  of  the  books  of  Walsh  and  Hare 
were  clumsily  and  inelegantly  sent  forth,  but 
still  these  men  kept  the  trade  in  their  own 
hands,  and  outlived  all  attempts  to  beat  them 
off"  the  ground.  Richard  Mears  attempted 
to  rival  them,  but  ruined  himself.  Walsh's 
son  produced  better  works  than  his  father, 
and  with  almost  the  same  materials  published 
much  neater  music.  Better  punches  were 
cut  by  a  Welshman  named  Phillips,  who. 


with  his  wife  and  son,  "  improved  the  practice 
of  stamping  to  so  great  a  degree  that  music 
is  scarce  anywhere  so  well  printed  as  in 
England  "  in  his  time.  A  native  of  Lapland, 
named  Fougt,  obtained  about  the  year  1764, 
in  England,  a  patent  for  printing  with  move- 
able types  of  his  own  cutting  and  founding,  but 
he  was  undersold  by  the  pewterplate  music  en- 
<^ ravers,  and  compelled  to  leave  the  country. 

The  French  engravers  exhibited  more 
taste  and  elegance  than  any  others.  A 
reference  to  any  work  printed  in  Paris  about 
the  years  17 10 — 20  will  show  this.  Then- 
work  was  expensive,  as  music  was  cultivated 
only  as  a  luxurj'  in  France.  When  it  began 
to  be  popular  it  became  necessary  to  produce 
cheaper  work,  but  the  artistic  excellence 
which  the  engravers  had  attained  in  former 
times  did  not  desert  them,  and  their  cheap 
work  was  less  clumsy  in  appearance  than 
that  issued  in  England.  When  the  French 
printed  from  music  types  they  employed 
English  founts,  for  they  were  the  best  in 
Europe,  as  they  had  been  for  a  century  and  a 
half  before,  and  are  still  to  the  present  day. 
Any  one  who  has  leisure,  will,  and  oppor- 
tunity, may  see  by  comparison  that  books 
printed  in  Venice,  in  Holland,  and  even  in 
Spain,  were  set  up  from  the  same  founts  of 
type  with  which  English  books  were  printed 
at  the  beginning  and  nearly  all  through  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 

A  vast  improvement  in  music  type  took 
place  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century.  A  series  of  oratorios  in  folio  size, 
published  by  Jones  and  Lackington,  at  the 
"Temple  of  the  Muses,"  Finsbury  Square, 
were  printed  in  beautiful,  legible,  and  sharp 
outlined  characters.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
trace  the  art  of  music  printing  beyond  that 
point*  or  to  say  more  than  that  it  has  arrived 
at  a  pitch  of  elegance  and  usefulness  probably 
undreamed  of  by  the  early  and  enthusiastic 
printers. 

Proasma.  An  introduction,  or  a  short 
symphony. 

Probe  (Ger.)    A  rehearsal. 

Proceleusmaticus.  A  foot  consisting  of 
four  short  syllables,  or  of  two  Pyrrhics.  [  Metre.] 

Program,  or  Programme.  A  list  of  the 
names  of  the  pieces  of  music  to  be  performed 
at  a  concert  or  other  musical  entertainment. 

Progression.  There  are  two  kinds  of 
progression,  melodic  and  harmonic.  Speak- 
ing in  general  terms,  the  former  is  a  "  succes- 
sion of  sounds  forming  a  tune  or  melody," 
but  the  term  is  also  applied  to  an  "  imitative 
succession  of  melodic  phrases,"  that  is  to  a 
melodic  sequence.  Harmonic  progression  is 
"  the  movement  of  one  chord  to  another," 
and  is  diatonic  or  chromatic.  The  term  is  also 
sometimes  used  as  synonymous  with  sequence 


(  369  ) 


2  A 


PROGRESSIONSSCHWELLER  PROSA. 


Progressionsschweller  (Ger.)  A  con- 
trivance of  Vogler  for  gradually  drawing  out, 
and  then  in,  the  stops  of  an  organ  in  their 
harmonic  order,  thus  producing  a  crescendo, 
forte,  and  diminuendo. 

Prolatio  {Lat.)  Prolation,  one  of  the 
three  divisions  of  mensurable  music  is,  ac- 
cording to  Franchinus,  "  essentialis  quantitas 
semibrevibus  ascripta."  Prolatio  is  perfect 
or  imperfect ;  perfect  when  the  semibreve  is 
divided  into  three  minims,  imperfect  when 
divided  into  two.  The  perfect,  or  ternary 
division  of  the  semibreve  is  called  by  some 
"prolatio  major;"  the  imperfect,  or  binary 
division,  "prolatio  minor."  The  presence  of 
a  dot  (punctus)  in  the  time-signature  (in 
temporali  signo)  shews  that  the  prolation  is 
perfect ;  the  absence  of  the  dot  shows  that  it 
is  imperfect,  unless  rests  are  added  in  the 
place  of  the  dot.  Perfect  and  imperfect  pro- 
lation may  each  occur  in  perfect  or  imperfect 
time,  that  is,  in  time  having  three  semibreves 
equal  to  the  breve,  or  two. 

Prolatio  is  the  subdivision  of  a  semibreve 
into  minims,  as  Tempus  is  of  a  breve  into  semi- 
breves, and  as  Modus  is  of  a  long  into  breves, 
or  of  a  maxim  into  longs. 

Promptement  {Fr.)  Quickly. 

Prontamente,  pronto  {It.)  Readily, 
quickly. 

Prope  media  (Lat.)  [Paramese.] 
Proper-chant.    An  old  name  for  the  key 
of  C  major  which  had  its  mi  in  B,  that  is 
which  had  B  for  its  leading  note. 

Proportio  (Lat.)  "  Duorum  numerorum 
ad  invicem  habitudo."  The  ratio  of  two 
numbers  to  each  other.  The  discussion  of 
the  ratios  of  intervals  formed  one  of  the  chief 
parts  of  mediaeval  treatises  on  music.  Pro- 
portio is  of  three  kinds:  (i)  Multiplex.  (2) 
Superparticularis.  (3)  Superpartiens.  Pro- 
portio multiplex,  is  when  the  larger  number 
contains  the  smaller  so  many  times  without 
a  remainder,  as  2 :  i  (dupla),  3:1  (tripla), 
4:1  (quadrupla).  Proportio  superparticnlaris 
is  when  the  larger  number  exceeds  the  smaller 
by  one  only,  as  3:2  (sesquialtera),  4:3 
(sesquitertia),  5  :  4  (sesquiquarta).  Proportio 
superpartiens  is  when  the  larger  number 
exceeds  the  smaller  by  more  than  one,  as, 
5  :  3  (superbipartienstertias),  7  :  4  (supertri- 
partiensquartas),  9:5  (superquadripartiens- 
quintas).  The  following  tables  from  Boethius, 
explain  fully  the  kinds  of  proportio : 

H       III       nil       V        VI       VII  ;  Multiplex. 

Sesquialter.        Sesquiguartus.    Sesquisextus.  ^ 

I^I,^  •III'       \_J^I         V"  pankuTa'ris. 

Sesquitcrtius.  Sesquiquintus.  / 
Su^crbipartiens.  Superquadnpartiens.  ^ 

m    mi    >^  VI     VII     viii    vm  I 

bupertripartiens.  j 


Thus,  it  will  be  understood,  that  instead  of 
giving  simply  the  ratio  between  two  numbers, 
early  writers  on  arithmetic  and  geometry,  as 
well  as  music,  coined  a  single  word  to  express 
that  ratio  ;  for  example,  17  : 5  was  said  to  be 
Triplasuperbipartiensquintas,  i.e.,  that  the 
larger  number  contained  the  smaller  number 
three  times  (tripla)  with  two  remainder 
(bipartiens).  Again,  Triplasupertripartiens- 
quartas  proportio,  signified  that  the  larger 
contained  the  smaller  three  times  and  three 
over,  as  15:4,  27  : 8,  &c.,  the  last  part  of  the 
compound  word  always  pointing  out  the 
smaller  of  the  numbers  compared,  or  an  exact 
multiple  of  it.  Lastly,  the  addition  of  sub 
showed  that  the  smaller  number  was  com- 
pared to  the  larger,  e.g.,  4  :  15  would  be  called 
Subtriplasupertripartiensquartas  proportio. 
This  system  of  proportion  was  used  not  only 
with  reference  to  intervals  but  also  to  the 
comparative  length  of  notes. 

Proposta  {It.)  The  subject  of  the 
fugue. 

Prosa  {Lat.) ;  Prose  {Fr.) ;  a  prose.  A 
hymn  sung  after  the  gradual  and  before  the 
gospel  in  the  Roman  Church.  Some  authors 
believe  them  to  be  of  high  antiquity  and  to 
have  had  their  origin  in  popular  hymns, 
sometimes  metrical  and  written  in  the  vulgar 
tongue.  S.  C}'prian  uses  the  word  in  this  sense 
in  his  life  of  S.  Caesar  of  Aries.  "  Adjecit  et 
compulit  ut  laicorum  popularitas  psalmos  et 
hymnos  pararet,  altaque  et  modulata  voce 
instar  clericorum  alii  Graece,  alii  Latine,/>yo5as 
antiphonasque  cantarent." 

Other  authors  say  that  the  prose  was  the 
result  of  setting  words  to  the  long  neumes  of 
alleluias,  a  specimen  of  which  will  be  seen 
under  the  head  Neume.  From  this  cause  a 
prose  came  to  be  called  Suite  de  I'alleliiia,  or 
an  aileluiatic  sequence,  or  in  short,  a  sequence 
{seqiientia).  Notker,  a  monk  of  S.  Gall  in 
the  9th  or  loth  century,  is  said  to  have  intro- 
duced this  custom  of  setting  words  to  the 
"  notae  pneumaticae." 

Their  use  spread  with  great  rapidity,  and 
about  the  twelfth  century  they  began  to 
assume  the  form  of  rhythmical  and  rhyming 
poetry  set  to  a  well  defined  melody.  They 
then  threw  off  the  former  rule  that  the  prose 
should  be  if  possible  in  the  mode  of  the 
alleluia,  and  the  result  is  that  the  music  of 
the  proses  (a  large  number  of  which  are  in 
triple  time)  are  some  of  the  most  beautiful 
melodies  handed  down  to  us. 

Their  use  was  limited  by  Pius  V.  to  Easter- 
day  (  "  Victimaj  paschali  laudes  "  ),  Whit- 
sunday ("  Veni  Creator  Spiritus  "),  Holy 
Sacrament  ("  Lauda  Sion  "),  and  Commemo- 
ration of  the  Dead  ("  Dies  Iras  ").  But  a 
vast  literature  of  proses  exists,  and  the  term 
has  often  been  somewhat  loosely  applied  to 


(  370  ) 


PROS^  SEQUENTIiE  PYTHAGOREANS. 


hymns  of  various  kinds,  amongst  which  is 

the  "  Stabat  Mater." 

Prosae  Sequentiae  {Lat.)  [Prosa.] 

Prosarium  (Lat.)    A  book  of  proses. 

Proscenium,  (i)  The  quadrangular  space 
behind  the  logeiun  or  stage.  (2)  The  stage 
front :  all  that  part  of  the  stage  between  the 
footlights  and  the  curtain. 

Proslambanomenos.  {Gk.)  irpoaXajx- 
QavofitvoQ.    [Greek  Music] 

Prosody.  [Metre.] 

Prova  {It.)    Probe  {Ger.)    A  rehearsal. 

Provengales.  Troubadours  of  Provence, 
in  which  country  the  rhymers  and  minstrels 
of  mediaeval  times  seem  to  have  had  their 
origin.  So  little  of  their  music  has  been 
handed  down  that  it  is  difficult  to  form  a  just 
opinion  on  its  merits.  It  is  certain,  however, 
that  they  paid  little  regard  to  the  laws  of 
music  as  laid  down  by  their  contemporaries, 
but  constructed  rhythmical  melodies,  in  what- 
ever scale  was  pleasing  to  the  popular  ear. 
The  date  of  the  rise  of  proven9al  poetry  is  by 
some  stated  to  have  been  as  early  as  the  tenth 
century,  but  was  more  probably  the  twelfth. 

Psallettes.    Maitrises  [Fr.)    Schools  in 
which,  at  the  time  of  Franco  of  Cologne,  | 
descant  was  taught. 

Psalm  Melodicon.  An  instrument  in- 
vented in  1828  by  vSchuhmacher  Weinrich.  It 
was  a  wind  instrument  with  keys  and  ven- 
tages, imitating  the  tone  of  several  orchestral 
instruments.  In  1832  it  was  improved  by 
Leo  Schmidt,  and  named  the  Apollo-Lyra. 

Psalmody.    [Hymn  tunes.] 

Psalmistae.  An  order  of  clergy  instituted 
about  the  time  of  the  introduction  of  the 
Cantus  Ambrosianus  ;  for  the  special  duty  of 
singing  from  the  Ambo,  such  music  as  would 
have  been  marred  by  the  singing  of  the  con- 
gregation. At  the  council  of  Laodicea,  held 
between  the  years  360  and  370,  it  was  ordered 
that  no  one  but  the  canonical  singing-men 
should  presume  to  sing  in  the  church  ;  and 
by  a  canon  of  the  fourth  council  of  Carthage 
the  following  form  of  words  was  prescribed 
for  their  ordination.  "  Vide  ut  quod  ore 
cantas  corde  credis,  et  quod  corde  credis 
operibus  comprobes."  > 

Psalterium  {Lat.)  (i)  A  Psalter,  generally  i 
with  musical  notation  above  the  words.  (2)  I 
A  Psaltery.'  [Nebel.]  ! 

Psaltery.  [Nebel.] 

Psaltriae  {Lat.)  Female  musicians  who 
sang  and  played  during  a  banquet. 

Pulpitum  {Lat.)  (i)  The  Xoyeiov,  or  stage 
of  the  Greek  Theatre.  A  wide  but  shallow 
space  in  the  shape  of  a  parallelogram,  in  the 
middle  of  which  the  chief  actors  usually 
spoke.  Behind  it  was  another  quadrangular 
space  termed  the  proscenium,  not  so  wide  as 
the  logeum.  The  remainder  of  the  logeum, 
right  and  left  of  the  proscenium,  had  at  the 

(  37 


back  a  wall  rising  as  high  as  the  uppermost 
tier  of  spectators ;  at  the  froi:t  a  way  down 
to  the  orchestra,  or  space  set  aside  for  the 
chorus,  (2)  A  motett.  Pulpitre  {Old  Fr.) 
[Motett.] 

Pulsatile.  A  term  applied  to  instruments 
of  percussion,  such  as  the  drum,  gong,  cym- 
bals, &c. 

Pulsator  organorum.  An  organ-player, 
at  the  time  when  the  keys  were  very  large 
and  had  to  be  struck  sharply.  [Organ.] 

Punctus  (Laf.)  A  point  or  dot.  A  punctus 
was  of  various  kinds.  The  puncttis  additionis, 
or  augmentationis,  added  to  a  note  one  half  of 
its  value,  as  does  the  modern  dot,  making  an 
imperfect  note  (or  binary),  into  a  perfect  (or 
ternary).  The  punctus  divisionis  formed  thus 
v/,  performed  the  office  of  a  modern  bar. 
The  punctus  perfectionis,  similar  in  shape  to 
the  former,  was  in  effect  the  same  as  a  punctus 
additionis.  The  punctus  prolationis  was  the 
dot  inserted  in  the  circle  or  half  circle  Q  G 
which  distinguished  prolatio  perfecta  from 
prolatio  imperfecta. 

Punkt  {Ger.)  Dot.  Punktirte  Noten. 
Dotted  notes. 

Punta  {It.)  The  point,  as  colla  punta 
deU'arco,  with  the  point  or  tip  of  the  bow. 

Puntato  {It.)  Pointed,  detached,  made 
staccato. 

Pupitre  {Fr.)    [Pulpitum  §  2.] 

Pyknon  {-kvkvov).  The  close  note,  (i)  A 
name  given  to  those  half  or  quarter  tones 
which  came  together  in  the  chromatic  and 
enharmonic  genera  of  the  Greeks.  (2)  In 
mediaeval  music,  a  semi-tone. 

Pyramidon.  An  organ  stop  of  16  ft.  or 
32  ft.  tone,  the  pipes  of  which  are  closed  at 
the  top,  and  pyramidical  in  shape,  the  top 
being  more  than  four  times  the  width  of  the 
mouth.  From  a  pipe  only  2  ft.  9  in.  in  length, 
2  ft.  3  in.  square  at  the  top,  and  8  inches  at 
the  block,  the  note  C  C  C  is  produced. 

Pyrophone.  An  instrument  invented  by 
Kastner,  the  sounds  of  which  are  produced 
by  jets  of  gas  burning  under  glass  tubes.  It 
has  three  manuals. 

Pyrrhic,  (i)  A  dance  among  the  Greeks, 
danced  by  boys  in  armour,  accompanied  on 
the  lyre  or  flute.  In  it  was  much  warlike 
gesticulation  and  rapid  movement.  (2)  A  foot 
consisting  of  two  short  syllables.  [Metre.] 

Pythagoreans.  The  followers  of  the  system 
of  Pythagoras,  in  which  the  consonance  or 
dissonance  of  an  interval  was  judged  by  the 
ratio  of  the  vibrations  without  appeal  to  the 
ear.  The  Aristoxenians,  on  the  other  hand, 
held  that  the  ear  should  be  the  sole  judge  of 
right  or  wrong  in  music.  The  former  were 
called  Canonici,  because  they  appealed  to  the 
monochord  or  harmonic  canon  for  their  laws, 
the  latter  Musici,  because  they  made  the  ear 
and  practice  their  guide. 

I  ) 


QUADRATE  QUATRE  MAINS,  A. 


Q. 


Quadrate  (or  B  quadratum).  The  sign  b, 
used  originally  to  raise  B  rotundum  t»,  one 
semitone.  Hence  arose  its  general  use  for 
the  raising  of  all  flattened  notes,  as  exempli- 
fied in  its  modern  form  of  a  natural,  t|. 

Quadratum  (Lat.)    A  breve,  |til|  . 

Quadrible.  [Quatrible]. 

Quadricinium  or  Quatricinium.  A  com- 
position in  four  parts. 

Quadrille.  A  well-known  dance,  consisting 
of  five  movements  ;  Le  Pantalon,  La  Poule, 
L'Ete,  La  Trenise  (or  la  Pastourelle),  La 
Finale.  [Dancing.] 

Quadruple  Counterpoint.  Counterpoint 
of  four  parts,  so  constructed  that  all  the  parts 
may  be  transposed  among  themselves  without 
transgressing  the  laws  of  progression.  A 
perfect  piece  of  this  kind  of  counterpoint  will 
be  capable  of  twenty-four  different  dispositions 
of  the  parts.  It  is  only  feasible  at  the  interval 
of  the  octave.  [Counterpoint.] 

Quadruple  Croche  (Fr.)    A  hemi-demi- 

semiquaver,  ^ 

Quart.    The  interval  of  a  fourth. 

Quarta.  (It.)    The  interval  of  a  fourth. 

Quarta  (Lat.)  An  interval  of  a  fourth,  as 
major,  minor,  ahiindans  (superflua),  a  major, 
minor,  or  augmented  fourth.  Quarta  modi, 
Quarta  toni,  the  fourth  of  the  scale,  the 
modern  subdominant. 

Quart  de  mesure  {Fr.)    A  crotchet  rest. 

Quart  de  soupir  {Fr.)   A  semiquaver  rest. 

Quarte  de  nazard  {Fr.)  An  organ  stop 
of  2  ft.  length,  so  called  because  it  is  a  fourth 
above  the  nazard  or  twelfth. 

Quarte  du  ton  {Fr.)    The  subdominant. 

Quarter  note.    A  crotchet,  J. 

Quarter  tones.  A  general  name  of 
intervals  less  than  a  semitone,  introduced 
into  enharmonic  instruments. 

Quartet,  (i)  A  composition  in  four  parts, 
or  for  four  performers.  (2)  Part  of  a  move- 
ment sung  by  four  voices  soli  as  opposed  to 
coro.   (3)  A  composition  for  four  instruments, 


in  complete  symphony-form,  consisting  of  an 

introduction  (occasionally),  (i)  allegro,  (2) 
andante  or  adagio,  (3)  minuet  and  trio,  or 
scherzo,  (4)  finale.  Each  of  these  movements 
has  its  form.  [Sonata  form.]  By  far  the 
largest  number  of  instrumental  quartets  are 
composed  for  two  violins,  a  viola,  and 
a  violoncello,  not  only  on  account  of  the 
smoothness  and  evenness  of  their  individual 
and  collective  tone,  but  also  because  of 
the  compass  of  each  instrument  allowing 
an  ever-varying  disposition  of  the  harmony. 
The  complete  quartet,  quintet,  or  sestet,  is 
to  chamber  music  what  the  symphony  is  to 
concert  music.  Both  are,  in  their  way,  the 
highest  production  of  which  instrumental 
music,  apart  from  vocal,  is  capable.  Attempts 
at  a  separation  of  instrumental  and  vocal 
music  were  made  in  this  country  as  early  as 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  by 
John  Jenkins  (b.  1592),  one  of  whose  three-part 
Fancies  has  been  reprinted  by  Hullah,  in  his 
"  Transition  Period  of  Musical  History," 
p.  194.  AUegri,  who  died  in  1652,  composed  a 
quartet  for  two  violins,  a  viola,  and  basso  di 
viola.  But  the  string-quartet  did  not  reach 
its  prime  until  the  time  of  Haydn  and  Mozart, 
simultaneously  with  the  settlement  of  the 
form  of  the  symphony. 

Quartette  {It.)  [Quartet.] 
Quartfagott  {Ger.)    A  kind  of  bassoon,  a 
fourth  lower  than  that  commonly  in  use. 

Quartflote  {Ger.)    A  small  flute,  a  fourth 
higher  in  pitch  than  the  common  flute. 

Quartgeige  {Ger.)    A  small  sized  fiddle. 
Violino  piccolo. 
Quarto  d'aspetto  (//.)     A  semiquaver 
I  rest, 

Quasi  {It.)  As  if,  or  in  the  style  of.  Used 
to  qualify  certain  terms,  as,  quasi  allegretto, 
somewhat  allegretto  ;  quasi  sonata,  a  compo- 
sition very  similar  to  a  sonata,  but  in  which 
sonata  form  is  not  strictly  adhered  to  ;  quasi 
fantasia,  a  piece  in  which  form  is  displaced 
by  the  style  of  a  fantasia, 
j     Quatre  mains,  ^  (Fr.)    For  four  hands. 


(  372  ) 


QUATRIBLE  QUODLIBET. 


Quatrible  {Old  Eng.)     To  descant  by 
singing  fourths  on  a  plain  song  (see  Quinible). 
Quatricinium.  [Quadricinium.] 
Quatricroma   [It.)     [Quadruple  croche 
(Fr.)  ] 

Quattro  mani,  k  {It.)    For  four  hands. 

Quatuor.  [Quartet.] 

Quaver.  The  eighth  part  of  a  semibreve, 
J*    Achtel-note  {Ger.)    Croche  {Fr.) 

Querflote  {Ger.)  Flauto  traverse  {It.) 
The  flute  played  sideways,  as  opposed  to  the 
flute  which  was  blown  at  one  end,  and  held 
straight  in  front  of  the  performer.  [Flute.] 

Querpfeife  {Ger.),  Fiffaro,  Fifre.  The 
Swiss  fife  ;  a  small  kind  of  flute,  with  six 
holes,  but  no  keys.  It  has  an  incomplete 
compass  of  two  octaves. 

Querstand  {Ger.)    [False  Relation.] 

Queue  {Fr.)  (i)  The  tailpiece  of  a  violin 
or  other  instrument.    (2)  The  tail  of  a  note. 

Quick  Step.    A  quick  march. 

Quinible.  {Old  Eng.)  To  descant  by 
singing  fifths  on  a  plain  song  (see  Quatrible). 
In  Chaucer's  "  Miller's  Tale,"  it  is  said  of 
Absolon  : 

"  In  twenty  manere  coud  he  trip  and  dance, 
(After  the  scole  of  Oxenforde  tho) 
And  with  his  legges  casten  to  and  fro ; 
And  playen  songes  on  a  smal  ribible ; 
Thereto  he  song  sometime  a  loud  quinible." 

Quindecima.    [Quinta  decima.] 

Quint,  (i)  The  interval  of  a  fifth.  (2) 
An  organ  stop,  sounding  a  fifth  above  the 
foundation  stops,  of  5^-  ft.  length  on  the 
manuals,  lof  ft.  on  the  pedal.  It  should  not 
be  used  without  a  double  diapason,  to  which 
it  forms  the  second  natural  harmonic,  or 
twelfth.  It  is  sometimes  used  on  the  pedal 
organ  without  a  double  diapason  (32  ft.),  but 
with  questionable  effect. 

Quintabsatz  {Ger.)  A  half  close.  The 
imperfect  cadence,  the  penultimate  chord  of 
which  is  a  tonic  triad ;  the  final  chord,  a 
dominant  triad.  [Cadence.] 

Quinta  decima  {Lat.)  (i)  The  interval  of 
a  double  octave.  (2)  An  organ  stop,  sounding 
the  double  octave  of  the  foundation  stops, 
fifteenth. 

Quinta  modi  {Lat.)  The  fifth  of  the 
scale.    The  modern  dominant. 

Quintaton  {Ger).  An  organ  stop  con- 
sisting of  closed  metal  pipes,  of  a  small  scale, 


so  voiced  that  the  twelfth  is  heard  with  the 

ground-tone. 

Quinta  toni  {Lat.)    [Quinta  modi.] 
Quinte,  Quintsaite  {Ger.)  Chanterelle 
{Fr.)    The  E  string  of  a  violin.    The  lowest 
string   of  violoncello    and   viola    being  C, 
j  A  is  their  fourth  string,  hence  the  higher 
'  string  of  the  violin  came  to  be  called  the 
j  Quinte,  or  Quintsaite. 

I      Quinterna,  or  Chiterna.    A  species  01 
j  gi'itar  not  unlike  a  violin  in  shape,  having 
.  three,  or  four,  or  five  pairs  of  catgut  strings, 
'  and  sometimes  two  single  strings  covered 
!  with  wire  in  addition,  played  with  the  fingers, 
not  with  a  plectrum.    About  two  centuries 
ago  it  was  commonly  used  in  Italy  by  the 
lower  orders  of  musicians  and  comedians. 

Quintet,  (i)  A  composition  in  five  parts, 
or  for  five  performers.  (2)  Part  of  a  move- 
ment sung  by  five  voices  soli,  opposed  to 
coro.  (3)  A  composition  for  two  violins,  two 
tenors,  and  a  violoncello;  or  two  violms,  a 
tenor,  and  two  violoncellos  ;  or  two  violins,  a 
tenor,  a  violoncello,  and  double  bass,  having 
the  same  form  as  a  sonata. 

Quintfagott  {Ger.)    [Basson  quinte.] 
Quintfuge  {Ger.)    A  fugue,  the  subject  of 
which  is  answered  at  the  interval  of  a  fifth. 

Quintole.  A  group  of  five  notes  to  be 
played  in  the  time  of  four — 


J. 


Quinton  {Fr.)    The  five-stringed  viol. 

Quintoyer  {Old  Fr.)  to  descant  at  the  . 
fifth  ;  to  quinible. 

Quintuor.  [Quintet.] 

Quintviola.  An  organ  stop  of  the  gamba 
species,  but  of  the  pitch  of  a  quint,  or  of  a 
twelfth. 

Quire  {Old  Eng.)  The  collective  title  of 
the  body  of  trained  and  authorized  singers  in 
a  church. 

Quirister.  A  member  of  a  Quire,  whether 
man  or  boy.  [Chorister.] 

Quodlibet.  (i)  A  sort  of  Fantasia;  (2) 
a  pot-pourri.    (3)  A  Dutch  concert. 

At  the  annual  re-unions  of  the  members  of 
the  Bach  family  singing  or  improvising  quod- 
libets  was  one  of  the  amusements  indulged 
in. 


C  373  ) 


R  RE. 


ISL 


R,  abb.  for  right,  as  r.h.,  with  the  right 
hand. 

Rabanna,  or  Rabani.  A  kind  of  Indian 
drum,  of  a  small  size,  beaten  by  the  hand. 

Rabbia,  con  {It.)    With  fury. 

Rackett,  Rankett.  (i)  An  obsolete  wind- 
instrument  of  the  double  bassoon  kind,  it  had 
ventages  but  not  keySi  It  was  not  of  an 
extended  compass,  being  incapable  of  pro- 
ducing harmonics.  It  was  a  double-reed 
instrument,  the  reed  being  at  the  end  of  a 
tube  through  which  the  player  blew.  The 
tone  was  nasal  and  produced  with  difficulty. 
The  rackett  was  improved  by  Denner  at  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century,  but  was  not 
ible  to  hold  its  own  against  the  then  much 
superior  dassoon.  (2)  An  organ  stop  of  16  ft. 
or  8  ft.  pitch  now  obsolete. 

Raddolcendo,  Raddolcente  (It.)  With 
gradual  softness  and  sweetness. 

Raddoppiamento,  Raddoppiato  (It.) 
The  doubling  of  an  interval  or  part. 

Radical  bass.  The  fundamental  bass, 
ground  note,  or  root  of  a  chord. 

Ragoke.    A  small  Russian  horn. 

Rags,  Raginees.  Certain  Hindoo  melo- 
dies founded  on  fixed  scales.  They  were  of 
three  kinds,  sumpoornu,  or  those  comprising 
seven  notes  in  a  determined  succession ; 
khadoo,  or  such  as  comprised  six  notes ; 
oodoo,  or  those  comprising  only  five  notes. 

Rail.,  abb.  for  rallentando. 

Rallentamento  {It.)    At  a  slower  pace. 

Rallentando,  Rallentato  {It.)  Getting 
gradually  slower. 

Rank  of  pipes.  A  row  of  pipes  (of  an 
•  organ)  belonging  to  one  stop.  A  stop  is  said 
to  be  of  two,  three,  four,  or  five  ranks,  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  rows  of  pipes  under  the 
control  of  its  one  register. 

Rant.  An  old  dance  ;  a  sort  of  country 
dance.  This  name  is  often  attached  to  tunes 
to  which  country  dances  were  performed.  It 
is  perhaps  a  corruption  of  the  word  coranto. 

Ranz  des  vaches  {Fr.),  Kuhreihen  {Ger.) 
The  tunes  or  flourishes  blown  by  Swiss  shep- 


herds on  their  cow-horns  or  Alpine-horns  (long 
tubes  of  fir-wood),  as  signals  to  the  animals 
under  their  charge,  such  as  the  following : — 


The  notes  marked  are  not  properly  thus 
represented,  they  bemg  the  natural  harmonic 
lymg  between  E  and  G,  consequently  a  sound 
between  F  and  FJ. 

Rapidamente,  Rapidita,  con,  Rapido 
{It.)    With  rapidity. 

Rasgado  {Sp.)  To  sweep  the  strings  of  a 
guitar  with  the  thumb,  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
ducing a  full  chord,  arpeggio. 

Rastral.  [Rastrum.] 

Rastrum  (Lat.)  {Ger.  Harke.)  A  rake. 
The  name  given  to  the  five-pointed  instrument 
for  ruling  the  stave. 

Rathselcanon  {Ger.)  A  riddle-canon. 
Canon  ceniginaticus,  one  part  and  the  number 
of  parts  being  given,  the  student  to  write  it 
out  in  full. 

Ratio  {Lat.)  Relation  or  proportion. 
[Acoustics.]  [Proportio.] 
1  Rattenendo,  Rattenuto  {It.)  Restrain- 
I  ing  or  holding  back  the  time. 
I  Rauscher.  A  passage  of  repeated  notes. 
I  Rauschpfeif,  Rauschquint,  Rausch- 
I  werk,  Rauschflbte,  Ruszpipe.  A  stop  in 
!  old  organs  of  two  ranks  of  pipes,  consisting 
I  of  a  twelfth  and  fifteenth,  or  a  fifteenth  and 
octave  twelfth. 

Ravanastron.  A  stringed  instrument 
played  with  a  bow  in  use  among  the  Budd- 
hists. [Violin.] 

Ravvivando  {It.)  Becoming  again  ani- 
mated. Ravvivando  il  tempo,  quickening  the 
time. 

Re.    The  name  of  the  second  note  of  the 
scales,  in  the  system  of  hexachords,  and  of 
I  the  fixed  sound  D,  in  modern  solmization. 
;  [See  Notation,  early  systems  of.] 


(  374) 


REAL  FUGUE  REED. 


Real  Fugue.  A  strict  fugue.  The  term 
is  now  used  in  opposition  to  a  tonal  fugue. 
The  answer  in  a  real  fugue  being  a  fifth 
higher  or  a  fourth  lower  than  the  subject, 
note  for  note  ;  that  in  a  tonal  fugue  being  so 
far  altered  that  dominant  answers  tonic  and 
vice  versa.  So  that  in  a  tonal  fugue,  a  sub- 
ject occupying  a  compass  of  five  notes, 
namely  from  a  tonic  to  its  dominant,  has  to 
be  answered  in  a  compass  of  four  notes, 
namely  from  the  dominant  to  the  tonic  lying 
above  it.    [Fugue,  §  3.] 

Rebab.  [Rebec] 

Rebec,  or  Rebeck.  The  English  name 
of  a  three-stringed  instrument  played  with  a 
bow.  It  was  of  Arabian  or  Turkish  origin  i 
and  was  introduced  into  Spain  by  the  Moors, 
under  the  name  rabel  or  rebel.  It  found  its 
way  thence,  in  the  ninth  or  tenth  century, 
into  Italy  under  the  name  of  rebica,  and  into 
England  under  the  name  rebec.  In  other 
European  countries  it  was  variously  called 
rebeb,  or  'rebebe,  reberbe,  rebcsbc,  rubebe, 
or  erbeb ;  in  Egypt  and  Asia,  rebab.  In  its 
earliest  form  it  probably  had  a  long  neck  and 
small  round  body,  made  of  cocoa-nut  shell, 
or  some  such  material,  over  which  parch- 
ment was  stretched  to  form  the  sound-board. 
After  its  introduction  into  Europe,  the  third 
string  was  added,  for  although  the  Persians 
have  now  a  three-stringed  rebab,  the  older 
form  was  probably  only  two-stringed.  After 
its  introduction  into  England,  the  rebec 
gradually  assumed  the  form  of  a  viol,  of 
which  instrument  it  was  the  precursor. 
[Violin.] 

Re  bemol  {Fr.)  The  note  D?.  Re  bemol 
majeur,  the  key  of  Dt7  major. 

Rebibe,  Rebible  {Old  Eng.)  A  small 
rebec  or  three-stringed  viol.  [Rebec] 

Recheat.  A  hunting  signal,  which  recalls 
the  hounds. 

Recht  {Ger.)  Right,  as  rechte  Hand,  the 
right  hand. 

Recitando,  Recitante  (It.)  In  the  manner 
of  a  recitative.    As  if  reciting. 

Recitatif  (Fr.)  [Recitative.] 

Recitative.  Musical  declamation.  An 
art  lost  to  Europe  in  the  destruction  of  Greek 
music,  and  not  revived  till  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  It  grew  out  of  the 
aria-parlante  or  monody,  which  was  an 
attempt  on  the  part  of  certain  Florentine 
dilettanti  to  restore  the  ancient  recitation  of 
poetry.  The  names  associated  in  this  work, 
which  exercised  such  a  wonderful  influence 
over  the  art  of  music,  were  Vecchi,  Galilei, 
Caccini,  Peri,  Cavaliere,  and  Montiverde.  It 
is  impossible  to  point  to  any  one  of  these  as 
the  actual  inventor  of  recitative,  because  the 
style  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  perfected 
until  it  had  received  the  free  handling  of 


Carissimi  and  Scarlatti,  but  their  names 
deserve  to  be  held  in  reverence.  Recitatives 
were  for  a  considerable  period  accompanied, 
at  performances  both  of  oratorios  and  operas, 
on  a  harpsichord  with  a  double  bass  support- 
ing the  basso  continuo.  On  the  removal  of 
harpsichords  from  our  theatres  and  concert- 
rooms,  which  took  place  at  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  an  arpeggio  chord  on  the 
violoncello  was  substituted  for  the  harpsi- 
chord-part, a  double-bass  (as  before)  sustain- 
ing the  lowest  note  of  each  chord.  If  a  band 
did  not  possess  a  very  excellent  violoncellist 
these  arpeggio  chords  were  often  cruelly  out 
of  tune.  Hence  modern  composers  had  no 
choice  but  to  use  soft  chords  in  four-parts 
played  by  the  whole  string-band.  This  has 
been  gradually  followed  by  the  use  of  the  full 
band  in  recitatives,  and  as  a  natural  result, 
pure  declamation  is  to  some  extent  merging 
into  a  semi-strict  arioso.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  this  is  what  the  authors  of  aria  parlante 
were  aiming  at  in  their  early  efforts.  [Opera.] 

Recitativo  [Recitative.]  Allarecit., 

in  the  style  of  a  recitative. 

Recit.  accomp.  Recitative  with  accom- 
paniment. 

Recit.  secco.  A  recitative  supported  only 
by  a  chord  from  a  violoncello  or  double  bass, 
or  by  a  cembalo.  [Recitative.] 

Recit.  stromentato.  Recitative  accom- 
panied by  a  band. 

Record,  to.  Recorders  {Old  Eng.)  The 
verb  to  record  is  used  with  reference  to  the 
singing  of  birds,  as  in  Shakspeare  (Pericles, 
Act  IV.) 

 "or  when  to  the  lute 

She  sung,  and  made  the  night-bird  mute 
That  still  records  with  moan 

The  instrument  "  Recorder  "  was  originally 
a  flageolet  or  tibia  minor,  but  tlie  name  was 
afterwards  used  as  synonymous  with  flute, 

Recte  et  retro.    [Per  recte  et  retro.] 

Re  di^se  {Fr.)    The  note  D£. 

Redita  {It.)    A  return.    A  repeat. 

Redondillas  {Sp.)  Roundelays. 

Redoublement  {Fr.)  Raddoppiamento 
{It.)    A  doubling  of  an  interval  or  part. 

Redowa,  Redowak,  Redowazka.  A 
Bohemian  dance,  originally  in  |  and  |  time 
alternately.  The  time  was  afterwards  altered, 
and  the  dance  was  made  into  a  sort  of  polka. 

Reductio  modi  {Lat.)  (i)  The  bringing 
back  a  transposed  mode  to  its  original  pitch. 
(2)  The  conversion  of  an  old  mode  into  its 
corresponding  modern  scale. 

Reed.  A  thin  strip  of  metal  or  cane  set 
in  vibration  by  a  current  of  air  ;  the  vibrations 
so  caused,  at  the  same  time,  dividing  the 
current  of  air  into  rapid  discontinuous  puffs 
which  produce  a  musical  sound.  The  reed 
itself  does  not  produce  the  sound,  but  is  only 


(  375  ) 


REED  INSTRUMENTS  OF  AN  ORCHESTRA  RELATIVE  KEY. 


a  means  of  obtaining  the  sound  from  the 
current  of  air  directed  against  it.  "  It  is 
constructive,  not  generative "  (Tyndall  on 
Sound,  p.  192).  Reeds  are  of  two  kinds, 
striking  and  free.  A  striking  reed  is  rather 
larger  than  the  aperture,  and  is  placed  on 
that  side  of  it  against  which  the  air  is 
directed,  being  slightly  bent  upwards  at  its 
unattached  end.  As  the  current  of  air  attempts 
to  pass  by  it,  the  reed  is  forced  against  the 
sides  of  the  aperture,  and  the  progress  of  the 
air  is  suddenly  checked,  but  the  elasticity  of 
the  reed  causes  it  immediately  to  recover  its 
former  position,  when  the  current  of  air 
again  rushes  through,  and  so  on,  A  free 
reed  is  of  such  size  that  it  will  freely  pass  in 
and  out  the  aperture.  The  current  of  air 
forces  it  upwards,  and  its  own  elasticity 
restores  it  to  its  place  again,  and  so  on. 

The  striking  reed  is  that  commonly  used  in 
an  organ,  the  free  reed  in  a  harmonium. 

The  tone  of  reeds  is  greatly  intensified  by 
the  addition  of  a  pipe  or  tube,  care  being 
taken  that  the  tube  should  contain  a  column 
of  air  whose  vibrations  synchronise  with  the 
note  produced  by  the  reed,  or  with  one  of  its 
overtones.  In  instruments  of  the  horn  or 
trumpet  class,  the  lips  perform  the  function 
of  the  reed,  the  notes  produced  being  the 
fundamental  note  of  the  tube  and  its  har- 
monics or  overtones.  The  human  voice  is  a 
reed  instrument.  [Larynx.] 

Reed  instruments  of  an  orchestra. 
Oboes,  clarinets  and  bassoons,  with  others  of 
their  class. 

Reed  of  harmonium.  [Reed.] 

Reed  of  organ.  [Reed]  and  [Organ,  §  1 5.] 

Reed-stops  [Organ,  §  15.] 

Reel  [Old  Eng.)  Kreol.  A  lively  rustic 
dance,  popularly  supposed  to  be  Scotch,  but 
probably  of  Scandinavian  origin.  The  Danish 
kreols  are  very  similar  to  the  reel.  [Country 
dance.] 

Refrain  [Burden.]  [Chorus.]  [Ballad.] 
Regals,  Rigals,  Rigoles.  These  terms 
seem  to  be  synonymous  with  "  Portative 
Organs,"  although  dLstinguished  by  some 
authors.  The  word  regal  is  supposed  to 
have  come  from  rigabello,  mentioned  in  the 
following  passage :  "  In  .(Ede  Sancti  Raphaelis 
Venetiis,  instrumenti  musici  cujusdam  forma 
extat,  ei  nomen  rigabello;  cujus  in  ecclessiis 
usus  fuerit  ante  organa  ilia  pneumatica  quae 
hodie  usurpantur.  Rigabello  successit  aliud 
quod  tnrcello  dictum  est,  cujus  Venetias  usum 
induxit  homo  Germanus."  Regals  had  gene- 
rally only  one  row  of  pipes,  and  were  probably 
used  to  support  the  treble  voices.  In  an 
inventory  of  the  musical  instruments  of 
Henry  VIII.,  taken  after  his  death  (Sir  Henry 
Ellis's  original  letters.  Second  series.  Vol.1., 
p.  272),  we  read  of  "  thirteen  pair  of  single 


regalls,"  and  "  five  pair  of  double  regalls." 
Double  regals  had  two  rows  of  pipes. 

Bernard  Gates  in  1767  received  a  salary  as 
"tuner  of  regalls"  in  the  Royal  Chapel,  but 
in  1770  he  is  called  "tuner  of  organs." 
Snetzler  the  great  organ  builder  could 
remember  the  regals  in  use  in  Germany. 

Regales  de  bois  (Fr.)  [Claque-bois.] 

Regel  der  Octav.   [Rule  of  the  octave.] 

Register.  An  organ  stop  (i)  in  a  limited 
sense  ;  "  the  handle  on  which  is  written  the 
name  of  the  stop  ;"  (2)  in  a  general  sense — a 
stop  or  "  the  pipes  belonging  to,  and  acted 
upon  by,  one  slider." 

Register  (of  an  organ.)  A  frame  through 
which  long  trackers  pass.    [Organ,  §  8.] 

Register  (of  a  voice.)  Compass. 

Regie  de  I'octave  (Fr.)  [Rule  of  the 
octave.] 

Regular  form.  A  work  is  said  to  be  "  not 
I  m  regular  form,"  if  its  subjects  and  their  dis- 
position depart  from  the  plan  or  form  con- 
ventionally considered  most  suitable  to  a  com- 
position of  its  kind. 

Regular  fugue.  A  strict,  as  opposed  to  a 
free  fugue,  or  one  in  which  the  laws  are  not 
strictly  obeyed.  [Fugue.] 

Regular  motion.  Similar  motion. 
[Motion.] 

Regulation  (of  a  keyed  instrument).  The 
adjustment  of  the  touch  ;  in  the  pianoforte, 
by  means  of  the  regulating-pin  ;  in  the  organ 
by  means  of  leather  buttons  on  a  tap-wire, 
which  when  turned  round  shorten  or  lengthen 
parts  of  the  action. 

Rehearsal.  Probe  {Get.),  Prova  {It.)  A 
general  practice  before  a  performance.  Full 
Rehearsal,  a  rehearsal  at  which  soloists,  band 
and  chorus  are  present.  Public  rehearsal,  a 
rehearsal  to  which  the  public  are  admitted. 

Relatio  non  harmonica  (Lat.)  [False 
relation.] 

Relative  chord.  A  common  chord  made 
up  of  notes  taken  from  the  scale,  e.g.  : 


The  chords  of  D  minor,  E  minor,  F  major, 
G  major  and  A  minor  are  therefore  relative  to 
the  chord  or  scale  of  C,  these  being  the  only 
common  chords  which  can  be  made  from  the 
scale  of  C. 

Relative  key.  A  key  whose  tonic  chord 
is  a  relative  chord ;  that  is  to  say,  a  key 
whose  first,  third,  and  fifth  degrees  form  a 
common  chord  made  up  of  notes  of  the  key 
to  which  it  is  related.  Thus  D  minor,  E 
minor,  F  major,  G  major,  and  A  minor  are 
relative  keys  of  C.  The  first,  third,  and  fifth 
of  each  of  these  scales  forming  one  of  the 
relative  chords  of  C. 


(  376  ) 


RELIGIOSAMENTE  RETARDATION. 


Religiosamente,  Religioso  (It.)  In  a 
religious  or  devotional  manner. 

Remplissage  (Fr.)  A  filling  up.  Inter- 
mediate part. 

Renversement  (Fr.)  Inversion. 

Renvoi  (Fr.)    A  repeat. 

Repeat.  Wiederholungszeichen  (Ger.)  A 
sign  that  a  movement  or  part  of  a  movement 
is  to  be  twice  performed.  That  which  is  to 
be  repeated  is  generally  included  within  the 
sign  of  two  or  four  dots  in  the  spaces,  thus, 


When  the  performer  does  not,  on  repeating, 
go  so  far  as  the  last  dot-sign,  but  finishes  at  a 
previous  cadence,  it  is  usual  to  write  over  the 
repeat.  Da  Capo,  placing  a  pause  and  Jine 
over  the  chord  at  which  the  performer  is  to 
stop.  If  the  signs  of  the  repeat  do  not  coincide 
with  a  well-defined  portion  of  a  movement 
the  sign  %  is  sometimes  added  thus, 


A  few  bars  are  sometimes  marked  bis, 


but  this  sign  is  only  used  over  a  very  short 
phrase. 

R6p6tition  (Fr.)    A  rehearsal. 

Repetizione  (7^.)  Repetition,  as  senza 
repetizione,  without  repeating. 

Replica  {It.)  Repetition,  as  scwza  re/)/zca, 
without  repeating;  con  replica,  with  repetition. 

Replicate  (7^)  Repeated. 

Reply.  The  answer  in  a  fugue,  the  subject 
being  called  principal. 

R6ponse  {Fr.)    The  answer  in  a  fugue. 

Repos  {Fr.)    A  pause. 

Reprise  {Fr.)  (i)  Burden  of  a  song.  (2) 
Reprise  d'un  opera,  the  reproduction  of  an 
opera. 

Requiem  {Lat.)  A  name  given  to  the 
"  Missa  pro  defunctis,"  because  the  words 
"  requiem  eternam  dona  eis,"  occur  in  it. 

Research.  An  extemporaneous  perform- 
ance on  the  organ  or  pianoforte  in  which  the 
leading  themes  or  subjects  in  the  piece  to 
which  it  serves  as  prelude  are  suggested  and 
employed. 

Resin,  or  Rosin.  A  gum,  the  viscid 
exudation  of  certain  trees,  chiefly  of  the  fir 
tribe,  which  is  obtained  in  large  quantities  by 
cutting  away  part  of  the  bark,  a  vessel  being 
placed  below  to  catch  the  gum  as  it  exudes. 
When  purified  and  prepared  it  is  used  to  rub 
over  the  hair  of  a  bow,  the  surface  of  which  it 
renders  rough  and  so  enables  it  to  "  grip"  the 
string.  [Colophony.] 


Resolution,  (i)  The  moving  of  a  discord- 
ant note  to  another  which  produces  a  satis- 
factory effect.  This  is  done  sometimes  by 
taking  the  discord  downwards  one  degree,  as, 


sometimes  by  taking  it  upwards,  as 

Resonance.    [Acoustics,  §  21.] 
Resonance-body,  Resonance-box, 

Resonanzboden  {Ger.)  The  hollow  part  of  a 
stringed  instrument  which  reinforces  the 
sound  of  the  vibrating  strings.  Its  shape  is 
of  the  utmost  importance,  and,  in  the  case  of 
the  violin  has  only  been  definitely  fixed  after 
great  practical  and  scientific  research.  The 
resonance-box  has  certain  openings  to  admi* 
of  the  escape  of  the  reinforcing  vibrations. 

Respiro  {It.)    A  semiquaver  rest. 

Response,  (i)  The  answer  to  a  versicle 
in  the  Church  Service.  The  following  are 
the  signs  for  these  words,  f,  I^- 

Responsorium.  A  response-book  ;  a 
choir-book  containing  the  music  of  the  ver- 
sicles  and  responses. 

Rests.  Signs  enjoining  the  silence  of  a 
performer  for  a  given  length  of  time.  Each 
note  has  its  corresponding  rest,  e.g.  : 

Notes.      \\=\\       0      ^      ^      m      i»      m  » 

ss   g  I 

Corresponding  ]  --"-^^ri^q 

There  is,  unfortunately,  no  distinctive  sign 
for  a  bar's  rest.  If  the  bar  contain  less  than 
a  semibreve,  as  in  f ,  f  times,  &c.,  a  semibreve 
rest  denotes  a  bar's  rest  ;  but,  of  course,  rest 
for  part  of  a  bar  is  denoted  by  its  proper 
signs,  thus  : — 


If  the  bar  contain  more  than  a  semibreve,  a 
bar's  rest  is  usually  denoted  by  the  sign  of  a 
breve  rest,  but  this  is  not  universally  adhered 
to,  as  some  authors  use  a  semibreve  rest  for 
a  bar's  rest  in  f  time. 

Dots  may  be  affixed  to  rests  and  have  the 
same  effects  upon  them  as  upon  notes,  e.g.  : 
f  •  is  equal  to  a  three-quavers'  rest;  f»  •  •, 
equal  to  a  seven-semiquavers"  rest.  For 
an  account  of  earlier  forms  of  rest  see 
Paiisa. 

Resultant  Tones.    [Acoustics,  §  19.] 
Retardation,    (i)  A  gradual  slackening 
of  pace  in  the  performance  of  a  passage. 
(2)  The  holding  on  of  a  concordant  note  into 
the  succeeding  chord,  in  such  a  manner  that 


(  377  ) 


RETRO  RIGADOON. 


it  becomes  a  discord,  which  is  resolved  up- 
wards. A  discord  of  retardation  is  thus 
opposed  to  a  discord  of  suspension,  the 
latter  being  resolved  downwards,  e.g.  : 


(or  a  double  Retardation.)  (or  a  double  Suspension.) 


Three  or  more  parts  may  be  retarded  or  sus- 
pended, and  retardations  and  suspensions 
may  occur  in  the  same  chord. 

Retro.    [Per  recte  et  retro.] 

Retrogrado  {It.)  [Retrogradus.] 

Retrogradus  (Lat.).  Mottis  retrogradus, 
reading  music  backwards.  Iinitatio  retrograda, 
imitation  per  recte  et  retro,  q.v.  Contrapunctus 
retrogradus,  counterpoint  per  recte  et  retro. 

Retto  {It.)  Direct,  as  moto  retto,  direct 
or  similar  motion. 

Reveil,  Reveliy  {Old  Eng.)  Music  which 
wakens  from  sleep.  A  signal  given  by  drum 
to  soldiers  at  dawn  (from  Lat.  revigilare). 

Reveille  {Fr.)  [Reveil.] 

Reverse  motion  or  movement.  Move- 
ment by  inversion  of  intervals. 

Rf.,  abb.  of  Rinforzando. 

Rhapsodes  (pa^t^Soi).  Wandering  min- 
strels in  ancient  Greece,  of  the  Ionian  race, 
who  formerly  recited  epics  in  public  places, 
holding  in  their  hands  a  staff  (pa/j^oc)  as  a 
sign  of  their  calling.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
the  rhapsode  had  always  a  musical  accom- 
paniment to  his  recitation,  as  one  of  his 
hands  would  be  occupied  by  his  staff.  Rhap- 
sodical recitation  must  be  regarded  as  the 
forerunner  of  stage-acting,  and  as  forming 
when  conjoined  with  the  Bacchic  chorus,  the 
complete  Greek  drama. 

Rhapsodic  {Fr.)  {Ger.)  [Rhapsody.] 

Rhapsody.  A  composition  of  irregular 
form,  and  in  the  style  of  an  improvisation. 

Rhythm.  [Metre.] 

Rhythmopoeia  {Gk.)  The  due  arrange- 
ment of  arsis  and  thesis  in  metre.  [Metre.] 

Ribattuta,  Ribattitura  {It.)  A  beat  {w) 
or  passing  note. 

Ricercari  (It.)  (i)  Difficult  passages  or 
flourishes.    (2)  Exercises. 

Ricercata  [It.)  (i)  A  sort  of  fantasia  or 
toccata.  (2)  Fuga  ricercata.  A  fugue  con- 
taining nothing  but  various  treatments  of 
the  subject.  A  fugue  without  episodes. 
[Fugue.  I 

Ridotto  {It.)  Reduced,  arranged  from  a 
full  score. 

Rifacimento  {It.)  A  reconstruction  or 
restoration  of  a  work. 


Rifiorimenti  {It.)  Extemporaneous  em- 
bellishments. 

Rigabellum  (Lat.);  Rigabello  {It.)  [Re- 
gals.] 

Rigadoon.  An  old  lively  dance  performed 
by  a  man  and  a  woman,  as  the  jig  is  danced  in 
some  places.  It  is  said  to  have  been  invented 
in  Provence  by  one  Rigand,  and  from  him  to 
have  taken  its  title,  but  as  there  are  more  ex- 
amples of  melodies  by  English  composers 
than  by  French,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the 
word  is  English,  coming  from  the  same  root 
as  "  Rig,"  which  means  wanton,  lively.  The 
character  of  the  rigadoon  would  justify  thi.s 
derivation. 

The  two  dances  without  authors'  names 
are  from  a  work  entitled  "  The  newest 
Minuets,  Rigadoons,  and  French  Dances, 
perform'd  at  Court  and  Publick  Entertain- 
ments.   London,  1716." 


Rigadoon.    Mr.  H.  Purcell.   Choice  Lesson,  1705. 


(  ) 


RI  liOLS  ROHRWERK. 


Rigols.  [Regals.] 

Rigore  {It.)  Strictness,  as,  al  rigore  di 
tempo,  in  strict  time  ;  con  rigore,  with  exact- 
ness. 

Rigoroso  {It.)    [Con  rigore.] 
Rikk.     A  small  tambourine  of  modern 
Egypt. 

Rilasciando  {It.)    Relaxing  the  time. 

Rilch,  Rilka.    A  Russian  lute. 

Rinf.,  abb.  of  Rinforzando. 

Rinforzando,  Rinforzare,  Rinforzato 
{It.)  Reinforcing,  or  strengthening  the  power 
and  emphasis  of  a  musical  sentence. 

Ringelpauke  {Ger.)  A  sistrum  having 
rings  on  bars,  which  rattled  when  the  instru- 
ment was  shaken,    f  Sistrum.] 

Ripienist.  A  performer  who  only  assists 
in  the  ripieno  parts. 

Ripieno  {It.)  {i]  An  additional  or  filling- 
up  part.  Any  part  which  is  only  occasionally 
required  for  the  purpose  of  adding  to  the  force 
of  a  tutti,  is  said  to  be  ripieno.  (2)  A  mixture 
stop  on  Italian  organs  ;  as,  ripieno  di  due, 
tre,  quattro,  cinque,  &c.  A  mixture  stop  of 
two,  three,  four,  five  ranks,  &c. 


Ripresa  {It.)  (i)  A  reprise  or  burden. 
(2)  A  repeat. 

Risentito  {It.)  With  expressive  energy. 
Risolutamente,  Risoluto,  Risoluzione, 

con  {It.)  With  resolution.  Risolutissimo, 
very  resolutely. 

Risonanza  {It.)  [Resonance.] 

Risposta  {It.)  A  reply  or  answer  to  a 
fugue-subject. 

Ristretto  {It.)    Stretto.  [Fugue.] 

Risvegliare  {It.)  To  rouse  up,  awaken,  re- 
animate; risvegliato,  in  an  animated  manner. 

Rit.,  abb.  oi  Ritardando. 

Ritardando,  Ritardato  {It).  With  gradu- 
ally increasing  slowness  of  pace. 

Ritardo  {It.)  [Retardation.] 

Riten.,  abb.  for  Ritenendo. 

Ritenendo,  Ritenente,  Ritenuto  {It.) 
Holding  back  the  pace. 

Ritmo  di  tre  battute  {It.)  In  the  rhythm 
of  three  beats,  or  triple  measure.  An  ex- 
pression used  when  the  group  of  accents  is 
formed  by  three  bars  in  rapid  time,  e.^ 


The  above  passage  is  marked  by  Beethoven 
(Choral  Symphony)  ritmo  di  tre  battute,  but, 


is  in  ritmo  di  quattro  battute.  The  former  is 
practically  in  compound  triple  time,  the  latter 
in  compound  common  time. 

Ritornello.  [Interlude.] 

Riverso.  [Rovescio.] 

Rivolgimento  {It.)  The  inversion  or 
transposition  of  the  parts  in  double  counter- 
point. 

Rivoltato  {It.)  Inverted  or  transposed  as 
in  double  counterpoint. 

Rivolto  {It.)  [Rivolgimento.] 

Roccoco,  Rococo  (7^.)  Old  fashioned, 
queer. 

Rock  harmonicon.  An  instrument,  the 
sounds  of  which  are  produced  by  striking 
graduated  lengths  of  rock  -  crystal  with  a 
hammer. 

Rohr  {Ger.)    A  reed. 

Rohrflote  {Ger.)    Reed-flute.    An  organ 
stop  consisting  of  closed  pipes,  the  tone  of 
which  is  slightly  reedy  in  quality,  but  very 
i  sweet. 

Rohrwerk  {Ger.)  Reedwork,  the  collec- 
I  tive  name  of  the  stops  consisting  of  reed- 
I  pipes,  as  opposed  to  flue-work  or  stops 
I  consisting  of  flue-pipes.  [Reed.]  [Flute.] 
I  [Organ.] 


(  379  ) 


R6LE  ROSALIA. 


R61e  (Fr.)  The  extract  from  a  drama 
which  an  actor  has  to  commit  to  memory. 
From  Lat.  rotula.  The  part  assigned  to  an 
actor. 

Roll.  The  regular  and  rapid  beating  of  a 
drum  by  two  sticks  so  as  to  make  the  sound 
as  far  as  possible  continuous.  It  is  commonly 
expressed  thus  : 


In  the  case  of  a  tambourine,  the  roll  is  pro- 
duced by  a  rapid  succession  of  blows  from 
the  knuckles,  as  the  hand  is  swung  backwards 
and  forwards. 

Rolle  (Ger.)  A  run,  a  group  or  series  of 
groups  of  short  notes.  In  vocal  music  they 
are  mostly  sung  to  one  syllable  of  a  word, 
e.g.  : 

'  '  eaa — 

Rollo,  Rollando  {It.)  Roll  of  a  drum  or 
tambourine.  [Roll.] 

Romance  {Eng.,  Fr.,  Sp.),  Romanza 
(It.),  Romaunt  {Old  Eng.)  The  dialect 
spoken  in  the  south  of  France,  in  parts  of 
Spain  and  of  Italy,  and  elsewhere  in  the 
south  of  Europe  during  the  middle  ages  ;  so 
called,  because  it  was  founded  on  the  Roman 
or  Latin  language.  In  the  Romance  dialect 
the  greater  portion  of  Troubadour  poetry  was 
recited,  hence  the  term  *'  Romance  "  came  to 
be  applied  to  any  touching  love-story,  and  in 
music  is  now  frequently  given  to  any  simple 
rhythmical  melody  which  is  suggestive  of 
such  a  story.    [Troubadour  ] 

Romanesca  (7^.)  An  Italian  dance,  a 
galliard. 

Romanesque  {Fr.)    A  galliard. 

Roman-strings.  Fiddle-strings  made  of 
the  intestines  of  lambs,  although  commonly 
called  ''  cat-gut."  Italy  still  supplies  the 
finest  quality  of  strings,  hence  called  Roman. 

Romantique  (Fr.)  In  the  style  of  a 
romance,  imaginatively. 

Romera.    A  Turkish  dance. 

Romischer  Gesang  {Ger.)  Catholic  Plain 
Song.  Not  correctly  called  Rotnan,  because 
common  to  the  whole  church.  England  had 
its  own  old-established  uses,  before  any  Roman 
Plain  Song  had  entered  the  country,  [Plain 
Song.] 

Romanzesco  (It.)  [Romantique.] 

Ronde  (Fr.)  The  round  note,  i.e.,  a  semi- 
breve.  [Nomenclature.] 

Rondeau  (Fr.)  [Rondo.] 

Rondiletta,  Rondinetta,  Rondino, 
Rondoletta  (It.)    A  short  rondo. 

Rondo.  [Form.] 

Root,  called  also  fundamental  note,  gene- 


rator, and  ground-note,  (i)  A  note  which, 
besides  its  own  sound,  gives  over-tones  or 
harmonics.  (2)  That  note  from  amongst 
whose  over-tones  any  chord  may  be  selected, 


is  produced  from  the  vibration  of  the  lowest 
note  C,  therefore  C  is  said  to  be  the  root  of 
this  chord.  An  attempt  to  reduce  chords  to 
their  roots  forms  the  chief  part  of  many 
treatises  on  harmony,  but  almost  insuperable 
difficulties  are  met  with  in  consequence  of 
certain  over-tones  being  omitted  in  our  scale 
and  other  sounds  being  introduced  which  can 
only  be  obtained  by  a  minute  sub-division  of 
the  monochord.  The  flat  seventh  and  the 
eleventh  of  nature  are  unused,  and  various 
notes  are  arbitrarily  inserted  in  the  modem 
scale  in  order  to  obtain  more  or  less  of 
temperament  {q.v.)  Some  authors  derive  all 
their  chords,  or  rather  all  those  called  funda- 
mental (which  constitute  but  a  very  small 
number  of  the  chords  actually  in  use),  from 
three  roots — the  tonic,  sub-dominant,  and 
dominant.  Others,  again,  insist  on  only  two 
roots,  the  tonic  and  dominant.  Not  a  few 
modern  musicians  use  the  word  root  without 
reference  to  any  mathematical  laws,  and  only 
as  describing  a  note  on  which,  when  either 
expressed  or  implied,  a  chord  is  built  up. 

Rosalia  (It.)  The  repetition  of  a  phrase 
or  passage,  raising  the  pitch  one  note  at  each 
repetition.  Ex.  i  is  from  Beethoven's  Sjm- 
phonia  Eroica,  Ex.  2  is  from  a  Litany  by 
Mozart.  In  the  first  the  passage  mounts  by 
semitones,  in  the  second  by  tones. 


(  3S0  ) 


ROSIN  RULE. 


y —  »  *~ 

Rosin.  [Resin.] 

Rota  {Lat.)  A  Round,  but  the  word  is 
sometimes  applied  to  anything  with  frequent 
repeats,  as  for  instance  a  Hymn  tune. 

Rote  {Old  Eng.)    [Hurdy  Gurdy.] 

Rotondo  [It.)  Round  or  full,  with 
reference  to  quality  of  tone. 

Rotruenges.   Roundelays  of  the  minstrels. 

Rotulae  [Lat.)  lit.  little  rounds.  A  term 
applied  to  Christmas  Songs  or  Carols. 

Roulade  {Fr.)  An  embellishment,  a 
flourish,  ornamental  passage  of  runs. 

Round.  A  composition  in  which  several 
voices  starting  at  stated  distances  of  time  from 
each  other,  sing  each  the  same  music,  the 
combination  of  all  the  parts  producing  correct 
harmony.  It  differs  from  a  Canon  therefore 
in  that  it  can  only  be  sung  at  the  unison  or 
octave.  It  differs  from  a  Catch,  which  is  like 
it  in  construction,  only  in  the  character  of  the 
words.  The  catch  should  be  amusing,  the 
round  may  be  even  sacred.  A  round  may 
be  written  out  in  the  form  of  a  canon,  if  it  is 
of  an  elaborate  construction,  or  has  an  inde- 
pendent accompaniment.  When  sung  at  the 
unison,  a  Round  is  said  to  be  for  equal  voices. 

Travers. 


Roundel.  A  dance  in  which  all  joined 
hands  in  a  ring.  It  was  sometimes  called  a 
Round  and  a  Roundelay.  Minshew  explains 
the  latter  word  to  mean  "  Shepheards' 
daunce." 

"When  that  Arcite  had  romed  all  his  fill, 
And  songen  all  the  roundel  lustily. 
Into  a  studie  he  fell  sodenly." 

Chaucer,  Knight's  Tale. 
"  And  arm  in  arm 
Tread  we  softly  in  a  Round." 
Beaumont  &  Fletcher,  The  faithful  Shepherdess. 
Roundelay,    (i)  A  poem,  certain  lines  of 
which  are  repeated  at  intervals.     (2)  The 
tune  to  which  a  Roundelay  was  sung. 
Round  O.    A  Rondo.  [Minuet.] 
Rovesciamento.  [Rovescio.] 
Rovescio,  al  rovescio,  alia  riverso  {It.), 
motus  contrariiis  {Lat.)    By  inversion.  The 
contrary  motion  between  two  parts,  caused 
when  one  ascends  the  exact  diatonic  intervals 
which  the  other  descends,  e.g.  : 

The  above,  the  commencement  of  the  chorus 
"Egypt  was  glad  at  their  departing,"  {Israel 
in  Egypt,)  is  said  to  be  a  subject  answered  al 
rovescio.  Imitation  al  rovescio  is  when  the 
converse  of  the  intervals  is  not  rigidly  adhered 
to.  Fugue  subjects  when  treated  by  inversion 
are  still  often  amenable  to  the  laws  which 
regulate  the  use  of  the  plagal  and  authentic 
portions  of  the  scale.  A  Canon  hy  inversion 
is  formed  when  the  answer  is  in  contrary 
motion  to  the  subject  throughout  the  wove- 
ment.  Perhaps  the  most  ingenious  specimen 
of  this  difficult  construction  is  by  Purcell,  in 
the  Gloria  to  his  "  Deus  Misereatur"  in  B?. 

Ruana.  A  Hindoo  instrument  of  the 
violin  class. 

Rubato  {It.)  lit.  stolen  or  robbed.  Tempo 
rubato  represents  the  alteration  made  in  the 
time,  when  some  notes  are  held  for  more,  and 
others  for  less  than  their  strict  duration. 

Riickung  {Ger.)  [Syncopation.] 

Riickfall  {Ger.)  A  back-fall,  a  kind  of 
grace  note,  e.g.  : 


Riickpositiv  {Ger.)  A  back  choir  organ, 
i.e.,  a  choir  organ  which  is  behind  the  player, 
the  connecting  mechanism  of  which  passes 
under  his  feet. 

Ruhepunkt,  Ruhezeichen  {Ger.)  A 
point  of  rest,  i.e.,  a  pause. 

Ruhig  (Ger.)    Quiet,  tranquil,  calm. 

Rule  {Old  Eng.)  A  line  of  the  stave,  e.g. : 
"There  standeth  the  F  fa  ut  cliefe  on  the 
fourth  rule  from  below."  (Morley's  Intro- 
duction.)   "And  so  distinguish  the  cleffs  and 


(  iSi 


RULE  OF  THE  OCTAVE  RYMOUR. 


notes  as  they  stand  in  rule  or  space;  for 
knowing  the  notes'  places,  their  names  are 
easily  known."  (Playford,  Introduction  to  the 
skill  of  musick.) 

Rule  of  the  Octave.  A  name  given  to 
a  system  of  adding  harmonies  to  the  diatonic 
scale,  using  it  as  the  lowest  part.  From  the, 
nature  and  relation  of  the  chords  added,  many 
laws  as  to  progression  and  modulation  were 
deduced ;  in  fact  it  was  formerly  taught  as  a 
formula  for  the  assistance  of  students,  who 
committed  to  memory  the  harmony  or  har- 
monies which  each  degree  was  capable  of 
bearing. 


666S66  66$  66 


5  5 

The  above  shows  the  simple  form  of  these 
harmonies,  to  which  great  importance  was 
once  attached. 

Rullante  [It.)  Rolling,  as,  tamburo 
rullante,  the  small  military  drum,  the  side 
drum. 

Run.  A  rapid  succession  of  notes.  In 
vocal  music  usually  sung  to  one  syllable, 
hence  called  in  the  German  "  Silbendehnung." 
Except  for  the  purpose  of  training  the  voice, 
runs  may  be  said  to  be  out  of  fashion  in  this 
half-century.  In  writing  the  words  under  a 
run  in  vocal  music,  it  is  usual  now  to  place 
under  the  first  note  as  much  of  the  word  as 
will  show  what  the  whole  consists  of.  This 
was  not  formerly  the  custom,  and  in  one  of 
the  songs  in  Blow's  "  Amphion  Anglicus,"  the 
words  under  a  lengthy  run  are  thus  divided, 

"  f/j  MS    Jl  J," 

an  absurd  division,  as  the  combination  of 
letters  to  which  the  run  is  supposed  to  be 
sung  closes  the  mouth  effectually.  The 
word  run  being  English,  is  avoided  in  fashion- 
able critiques  and  roulade  is  generally 
adopted. 

Running.  The  improper  sounding  of  an 
organ  pipe  or  pipes  from  a  defect  in  the 


sound-board,  or  other  causes.  A  running  is 
not  heard  until  keys  are  held  down.  The 
most  common  way  of  testing  the  workman- 
ship of  a  sound-board  is  to  put  in  all  the 
registers,  and  hold  down  full  chords.  If  there 
is  any  fault  in  its  construction,  a  running 
will  then  be  immediately  heard. 

Ruollo  [It.)  Lit.  a  roll ;  according  to 
some  an  Italian  dance,  a  waltz,  from  which 
the  expression  used  by  children  "  rowly 
powly  "  is  derived.  {Fr.  rouler,  to  roll,  and 
poulie,  anything  which  rolls  round,  a  pulley.) 

Russian  horn-band.  A  band  of  players 
whose  instruments  are  so  designed  that  each 
produces  a  single  note  only.  For  the  perfor- 
mance of  a  simple  theme  at  least  twenty 
horns  are  required,  but  the  complete  band 
numbers  thirty-seven,  comprising  a  compass 
of  three  octaves,  the  tones  and  semitones,  in 
their  relative  degrees,  being  gained  by  the  use 
of  instruments  of  various  lengths,  the  longest 
being  more  than  twelve  feet,  and  the  small- 
est nine  inches.  The  effect  of  the  music 
played  is  said  by  those  who  have  heard  it  to 
be  extremely  fine  and  of  pure  tone.  As  each 
player  can  give  no  more  than  his  one  note, 
his  attention  is  fully  engaged  during  the 
performance.  The  effort  of  mind  needful 
being  purely  mechanical,  similar  to  that 
required  for  hand-bell  ringing,  the  players 
are  not  necessarily  men  of  a  high  intellectual 
order.  The  invention  of  this  horn  music  is 
assigned  to  J.  A.  Maresch,  a  Bohemian  in  the 
service  of  Prince  Narischkin  in  1751,  who 
being  permitted  for  the  purposes  of  his  ex- 
periments to  employ  serfs,  did  not  scruple  to 
use  severity  in  order  to  make  them  perform 
with  accuracy,  rapidity,  and  distinctness. 
Having  drilled  his  forces  for  four  years, 
Maresch  conducted  the  first  performance  in 
the  presence  of  the  Imperial  Court  in  1755, 
and  the  tradition  he  then  established  has 
been,  or  was  until  recently,  strictly  main- 
tained. A  Russian  horn-band  visited  England 
in  the  year  1834. 

Rusticano.  Rustico  (It.)  In  a  simple, 
rustic  manner. 

Rutscher  (Ger.)  Lit.  the  slider,  the 
galopade. 

Rymour  {Old  Eng.)    A  bard  or  minstreL 


( 


-SALTARELJLO. 


s. 


S.  Abb.  of  sinistra,  left ;  subito,  suddenly ; 
segno,  sign  ;  solo,  &c. ;  as  M.S.,  tnanu  sinistra, 
with  the  left  hand  ;  V.S.,  volti  subito,  turn 
over  quickly;  D.S.,  dal  segno,  to  the  sign; 
V.S.,  voce  solo,  voice  alone,  &c. ;  also  Abb. 
for  (i)  scriptus,  written,  as  MS.,  manuscript, 
hand-written;  (2)  senza,  as  S.  Fed.,  without 
the  pedal  or  pedals,  5.  Sordini,  without  the 
dampers,  or  without  mutes. 

K  A  sign  used  to  point  the  extent  of  a 
repeat,  as  al  segno  (K)  go  back  to  the 
sign  K,  dal  segno  (K),  repeat  fron  the  sign 
K.  The  word  Jine  (It.)  is  generally  placed 
over  the  last  chord  of  a  movement  repeated 
by  the  above  directions. 

Sabeca.  One  of  the  musical  instruments 
mentioned  in  Dan.  iii.  5,  7,  10,  15.  It  is 
generally  supposed  to  have  been  identical 
with  sainbuka,  a  large  species  of  harp,  perhaps 
the  large  Egyptian  harp.  In  the  authorised 
version  it  is  unfortunately  rendered  sackbut, 
an  utterly  unwarranted  translation. 

Saccade  (Fr.)  Strong  pressure  of  a  violin 
bow  against  the  strings,  which  by  forcing 
them  to  a  level  enables  the  player  to  produce 
three  or  four  notes  simultaneously. 

Sackbut.  (i)  One  of  the  Babylonian 
musical  instruments  mentioned  by  Daniel  in 
chap.  iii.  v.  5,  7,  10,  15.  It  is  the  translation 
in  the  English  version  of  the  Bible  of  the 
word  sabeca.  Some  authors  identify  it  with 
the  sambuka  (ira^/jucij)  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  a  kind  of  harp.  [Sambuka.]  (2)  The 
old  English  sackbut  or  sagbut  was  a  bass 
trumpet,  with  a  slide  like  the  trombone.  "  As 
he  that  plaies  upon  a  sagbut  by  pulling  it  up 
and  down  alters  his  tones  and  tunes." — 
Burton's  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy." 

Sackpfeife  {Ger.)  [Bagpipe.] 

Sacnng  bell.    [Sanctus  bell.] 

Sailours.    A  word  used  in  Chaucer  which 
has  given  some  trouble  to  commentators, 
"  There  was  many  a  timbestere, 
And  sailours,  that  I  dare  well  swere 
Yeothe  ther  craft  full  parfitly." 

Romaunt  of  the  Rose. 
It  probably  signifies  dancers,  and  is  derived 
from  the  Fr.  saillir,  Lat.  salio. 

Saite  {Ger.)  [String.1 

Saitenhalter  {Ger.)  [Tail-piece.] 

Salamanie.    An  oriental  flute. 

Salicional,   Salicet,    Salcional,  Sol- 


cionell.  A  term  derived  from  the  Latin  salix 
(a  willow).  An  organ  stop  of  soft  and  delicate 
quality,  supposed  to  be  similar  in  character 
with  the  salicis  fistula,  or  withy-pipe.  It  is 
generally  placed  in  the  choir  organ,  but  some- 
times in  the  swell,  in  either  case  taking  the 
place  of  the  dulciana,  to  which  it  bears  a 
strong  resemblance. 

Salii.  Priests  of  Mars  Gradivus,  twelve 
in  number,  who  had  the  care  of  the  twelve 
Ancilia,  and  who,  during  the  feast  of  that  God, 
were  accustomed  to  go  through  the  city 
carrying  the  Ancilia,  singing  and  dancing, 
whence  their  name. 

Salpinx.    An  ancient  Greek  trumpet. 

Saltarello  (//.)  (i)  A  dance  in  which 
leaping  steps  are  introduced,  similar  to  the 
Siciliano  and  Forlana  of  Italy,  and  the  Jig 
of  England.  It  is  triple  in  time,  with  a  triplet 
always  at  the  commencement  of  each  phrase. 
Saltarelli  are  frequently  found  as  movements 
or  separate  pieces  in  harpsichord  and  piano- 
forte music.  (2)  A  harpsichord  jack,  so-called 
because  it  jumps  when  the  note  is  struck. 
(3)  Counterpoint  is  said  by  old  authors  to  be 
"  in  Saltarello,"  when  six  quavers  of  the 
accompaniment  are  given  to  each  minim  of 
the  Canto  fermo,  e.g. : 

Gerlach. 


C  3S3  ) 


SALTERIO  SARABAND. 


Salterio|(/f.)  The  Psalter,  or  book  of 
Saltero  j  psalms. 

Salto  (It.)  (i)  A  dance  in  which  there  is 
much  leaping  and  skipping.  (2)  A  leap,  or 
skip  from  one  note  to  another  beyond  the 
octave. 


(3)  Counterpoint  is  said  to  be  di  salto  when 
the  part  added  moves  in  skips. 


Sambucistria  {Lat.)  A  player  on  the 
sambuka. 

Sambuka  (Gk.)  aafifivini.  This  word, 
though  applied  sometimes  to  several  musical 
instruments  of  different  kinds,  such  as  a  lyre, 
a  dulcimer,  a  triangular  harp  or  trigon,  and  a 
large  Asiatic  harp,  seems  to  have  been  chiefly 
used  as  a  term  for  the  last-named  instrument. 
By  some  authors  it  has  been  identified  with 
the  large  Egyptian  harp,  illustrations  of  which 
are  so  familiar  to  all  of  us  as  to  render  one 
unnecessary  here.  It  is  generally  thought 
that  the  sabeca  mentioned  in  the  book  of 
Daniel,  iii.  5,  7,  10,  15,  and  which  is  im- 
properly rendered  sackbut  in  our  version,  was 
a  sambuka  or  large  harp.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  "sambuka"  was  used  as  a 
general  term  for  instruments  made  of  elder- 
wood  (sambucus);  but  the  best  authorities 
will  not  allow  any  relationship  between  the 
two  words. 

Sampogna,  Zampugna.  [Bag-pipe.] 

Sancho.  A  negro  instrument  of  the  guitar 
species,  made  of  hollowed  wood  and  furnished 
with  a  long  neck.  It  is  strung  with  the 
tough  fibres  of  a  creeping  plant.  It  is  tuned 
by  means  of  sliding  rings. 

Sanctus  {Lat.)  Ter  Sanctus,  or,  Trisagion 
(Gk.)  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  &€.  A  part  of  the 
Communion  Servicein  the  Church  of  England, 
and  a  part  of  the  Mass  in  the  Church  of  Rome. 
In  many  cathedrals  where  it  is  not  usual  to 
celebrate  the  Holy  Eucharist  chorally,  the 
Sanctus  is  used  as  an  Introit,  a  custom  which 
cannot  be  too  strongly  condemned.  [Cathedral 
Music] 

Sanctus  bell,  Saints'  bell.  A  small  bell 
which  is  rung  in  order  to  mark  the  progress 
of  the  office  of  the  mass.  In  some  churches 
bells  of  this  kind  are  placed  outside  the  church, 
so  that  those  unable  to  be  present  inside  may 
be  reminded  of  important  parts  of  the  service. 

Sanft  (Ger.)  Soft.  Mit  sanften  Stimmen, 
with  soft  stops. 

Sans  (Fr.)  Without;  as,  sans  p^dales,  with- 
out the  pedals. 

Santoral  (Sp.)    Church  choir  book. 


Saquebute  (Fr.)  [Sackbut.] 

I     Saraband,  Sarabanda,  Zarabanda  {Sp.) 

j  Sarabande  (Fr.)  A  Spanish  dance  of  Moorish 
origin,  forasingleperformer,  who  accompanies 
himself  with  the  castanets.  The  tune  is  in 
f  time,  but  slow  and  stately,  and  with  a 
strong  accent  on  the  second  beat  in  the  bar. 
This  peculiarity  would  identify  it  with  the 
Moresca.  In  olden  times  it  was  accompanied 
with  singing  the  coplas  or  cancioties,  poetry  of 
a  trivial  sort.  Jenkins,  Purcell,  Blow,  Bach, 
Handel  and  Scarlatti,  in  their  suites  for  the 
harpsichord  or  clavichord,  frequently  employed 
the  saraband  as  a  movement. 

There  is  a  Spanish  proverb  with  reference 
to  weak  verses,  that  "  they  are  not  worth  as 
much  as  the  couplets  of  the  saraband."  "  No 
vale  las  coplas  de  la  sarabanda." 


Saraband.  (From  E.  Roger's  Virginal  book.) 


Saraband.  _  H.  Purcell. 


(  3«4  ) 


SAROH  SCALE. 


Saroh.  Indian  instruments  played  with 
a  bow. 

Sattel  (Ger.)  [Nut.] 

Satz  (Ger.)  A  theme,  a  subject,  a  com- 
position, a  piece. 

Saut  (Fr.)  [Salto.] 

Sautereau  (Fr.)  The  old  name  for  the 
jack  of  a  spinet. 

Sauterie  {Old  Eng.)    A  psaltery. 

Sax-horns.  Cylinder  horns  invented  by 
Antoine  (usually  called  Adolph)  Sax.  They 
have  3,  4  or  5  cylinders,  so  that  each  horn 
is  capable  of  playing  all  the  notes  of  its  scale 


i  without  difficulty.     A  sax-horn  band  com- 
!  prises  seven  instruments,  a  small  high  horn, 
i  a  soprano,  an  alto,  a  tenor,  a  baritone,  a  bass, 
and  a  double-bass.   [Metal  wind  instruments.] 
Saxophones.     Brass  wind  instruments, 
the  invention  of  M.  Sax.  They  are  played  with 
a  single  reed  and  a  clarinet  mouth-piece.  The 
quality  of  tone  is  soft,  yet  telling  and  ex- 
pressive.   They  are  six  in  number,  the  high, 
soprano,  alto,  tenor,  baritone  and  bass. 

Saxtrombas.  Brass  cylinder  wind  instru- 
ments with  wide  mouth-pieces,  of  a  shrill  and 
piercing  tone,  a  combination  of  the  trumpet 
and  the  bugle  quality.  The  complete  set  i". 
six,  divided  as  the  saxophones. 

Saxtuba.  Deep-toned  brass  bass  instru- 
ments of  similar  character  to  the  saxtrombas. 

Saynetes  {Sp.)     Interludes  or  entremeses, 
introduced  between    the  prologue  and  the 
principal  comedy  in  the  Spanish  drama,  in 
I  which  music  and  dancing  form  prominent  fea- 
I  tures.    Saynetes  are  generally  of  a  burlesque 
'  or  humorous  character. 

Sbalzo  [It.)    A  leap,  a  skip. 
;      Sbarra   [It.)     A   bar.     Sbarra  doppia. 
Double  bar. 

Scala  {It.)    A  scale  or  gamut. 
!      Scald.  [Skald.] 

j      Scale.    The  graduated  series  of  sounds 

used  in  music. 
I      To  give  a  history  of  the  scale  would  be  to 
j  give  a  history  of  music  itself ;  it  must  suffice, 
therefore,  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  growth 
I  of  the  scale  to  its  present  shape.    Nothing  is 
known  with  certainty  of  the  nature  of  tha 
scales  of  any  of  the  most  ancient  nations. 
If  it  be  admitted  that  the  Greeks  obtained 
;  their  notions  of  music  from  the  Egyptians,  it 
j  may  be  hazarded,  merely  as  a  supposition, 
that  the  Egyptian  scale  was  tetrachordal,  that 
i  is,  consisting  of  groups  of  four  notes. 
[      In  the  article  Greek  Music  the  reader  will 
[  find  a  lull  explanation  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  octave  system  became  practically  a  part 
I  of  the  ancient  tetrachordal  system,  which  it 
j  was  destined  afterwards  to  supersede  entirely, 
j  Although  our  modern  scale  was  unquestion- 
I  ably  a  development  of  the  diatonic  scale  of  the 
I  Greeks,  yet,  for  several  centuries,  a  hexa- 
chordal  system  was  in  use,  a  full  account  of 
which  will  be  found  under  the  head  "  Nota- 
tion."   The  Church  modes  were  probably  the 
connecting  link  between  the  ancient  Greek 
music  and  the  modern  diatonic  scale.  [Plain 
[  Song.]  The  division  of  the  octave  into  twelve 
I  parts,  called  semitones,  each  of  which  can  be 
used  as  a  key-note,  became   only  feasible 
when  keyed  instruments  were  tuned  on  the 
system  known  as  equal  temperament.  [Tem- 
[  perament.]  This  gives  to  the  chromatic  notes 
■  of  our  scale  a  far  greater  value  than  the 
chromatic  or  enharmonic  notes  of  the  an- 


(  385  ) 


2  B 


SCAGNELLO  SCHALLBECKEN. 


cients,  as  it  is  probable  they  were  never  used 
but  as  passing  or  auxiliary  notes.  The  whole 
system  of  music  hangs  upon  the  relationship 
of  the  sounds  used  to  a  tonic,  which,  in 
modern  music,  is  always  the  first  note  of 
whatever  octave  system  (key)  is  chosen,  but 
in  Greek  music  and  early  Church-song  was  a 
note  at  or  near  the  middle  of  the  scale. 

The  old  Church  mode  corresponding  to  the 
modern  scale  was  the  Ionic  or  lastian,  but 
when  this  was  finally  adopted  as  the  normal 
scale,  a  still  older  form  was  retained  for  use 
with  it,  founded  on  the  Dorian  and  Hypo- 
Dorian  modes,  to  which,  now  slightly  modi- 
fied, we  give  the  name  minor  mode,  and  by 
starting  from  any  one  note  in  the  semitonal 
scale,  we  can  have  twelve  minor  modes.  As 
a  minor  mode  largely  consists  of  the  notes  of 
the  major  scale  beginning  on  its  third  degree, 
it  is  said  to  be  relative  to  that  scale.  The  form 
of  the  minor  mode  has  varied  from  time  to 
time,  and  even  now  cannot  be  said  to  be 
definitely  settled. 

Ex.  I. 


Ex.  3. 


Oldest  form  of  minor  mode. 


Form  of  minor  mode  sometimes  used  melodically. 
Ex.  4. 


Modern  minor  mode, 


The  scale  shewn  in  Ex.  2  is  by  no  means 
obsolete.   The  revival  of  old  Church-song  has 
caused  many  composers  to  study  its  forms, 
and   their  works   are,    perhaps  insensibly, 
tinctured  with  its  influence.    The  somewhat 
odd  descent  of  the  scale  in  Ex.  3  is  to  be  met 
with  in   Handel,  Bach,  and  other  writers. 
When  this  descending  scale  is  harmonized,  it 
is  generally  founded  on  the  following  bass  : — 
AEBEGftAEA 
5    5    C5    5     6     5     5  5 
3    It     5   «     5  3^3 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  descending 
F$  of  the  scale  is  made  part  of  a  chord  of 
B  major,  a  sort  of  new  dominant  to  E,  the 
dominant  of  A  minor. 


The  form  of  Ex.  4  is  familiar  to  all,  and 
has  not  yet  been  entirely  superseded  by  that 
of  Ex.  5,  which  always  presents  both  har- 
monic and  melodic  difficulty  in  its  augmented 
second  from  Ft]  to  G^.  There  seems  to  be 
no  reason  why  one  particular  form  of  the 
minor  scale  should  be  used  to  the  exclusion 
of  another ;  all  are  at  times  useful  and  beau- 
tiful. Perhaps  the  great  importance  of  the 
form  given  in  Ex,  5  arises  from  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  veritable  source  of  the  chord  of  the 
diminished  seventh — 

F 
D 

B 
G» 

The  musical  scales  of  extra  -  European 
countries  are  so  varied  in  character  that  it  is 
impossible  to  draw  any  reliable  conclusions 
from  their  form.  The  Arabs,  Indians,  and 
many  uncultured  tribes  in  all  quarters  of  the 
globe  have  more  than  twelve  divisions  in  the 
octave,  that  is,  use  enliarnionic  scales.  The 
Chinese  have  the  old  -five-note  scale,  called 
by  Engel,  Pentatonic. 


This  scale  is  associated  also  with  Scotch 
and  other  Celtic  melodies. 

In  some  nations  the  natural  harmonic, 
known  as  the  sharp  eleventh,  which  we  dis- 
card, is  in  use,  probably  because  it  is  produced 
upon  their  simple  tube  instruments. 

The  degrees  of  the  ascending  scale  are 
distinguished  in  harmony  by  the  following 
names. 

First    Tonic. 

Second   Supertonic. 

Third    Mediant. 

Fourth   Subdominant. 

Fifth    Dominant. 

Sixth    Superdominant. 

Seventh      ...J  Subtonic  or  leading 
(  note. 

Scagnello  {It.)  The  bridge  of  a  stringed 
instrument. 

Scemando  {It.)  An  equivalent  to  diminu- 
endo, gradually  decreasing  in  power. 

Scena  {It.)  (i)  A  scene.  (2)  A  solo  for  a 
single  voice,  in  which  various  dramatic 
emotions  are  displayed. 

Scenario  {It.)  The  plot  or  main  incidents 
of  an  opera  or  drama. 

Scenici  (Lat.)  Games  instituted,  accord- 
ing to  Livy,  B.C.  364.  They  were  the  germ 
of  the  Roman  play. 

Schaferlied,  Schaferspiel  {Ger.)  A 
pastoral. 

Schallbecken  (Ger.)  Cymbals.  Lit. 
Sound-cups.  [Cymbals.! 


(  386  ) 


SCHALLHORN  SCHLEIFER. 


Schallhorn  \{Ger.)  Bell  of  a  horn,  cornet, 

Schallstiick)     trumpet,  &c. 

Schalmey.  [Chaiameau.] 

Scharf  {Ger.)  Lit.  Sharp.  A  mixture 
stop  of  an  organ,  formed  of  a  combination  of 
acute  harmonics. 

Scherz  (Ger.)    Drollery,  fun. 

Scherzando,  Scherzandissimo,  Scher- 
zante,  Scherzevole  Scherzevolmente, 
Scherzoso  (It.)  (i)  Playful,  lively,  jokingly, 
merry.  (2)  A  movement  of  a  lively  and  droll 
character. 

Scherzhaft  (Ger.)    Droll,  funny. 

Scherzo  (It.)  A  term,  meaning  literally 
a  jest,  applied  to  a  movement  in  a  Sonata  or 
Symphony  of  a  sportive,  playful  character. 
Beethoven  introduced  it  in  the  place  of  the 
minuet,  and  sometimes  in  addition  to  it,  and 
it  has  been  supposed  that  the  credit  of  its 
invention  is  due  to  him.  But  Haydn  had 
previously  done  a  similar  thing  in  his  quar- 
tetts,  and  J.  S.  Bach  had  also  called  one  of 
the  pieces  in  a  suite,  by  the  name.  Other 
writers  had  directed  certain  movements  to  be 
played  "  Scherzando,"  but  only  in  connection 
with  some  other  word  descriptive  of  the 
general  character  of  the  movement.  Thus 
Schobert,  1724- 1768, marked  the  second  move- 
ment of  his  Sixth  Sonata,  "  Badinage  Scher- 
zando." In  1734  George  Philip  Telemann 
published  at  Hamburg  "  Schcrzi  melodichi, 
per  divertimentodi  coloroche  prendono  I'acque 
minerali  in  Pirmonte,  con  ariette  semplici  e 
facili,  a  violono,  viola  e  fondamento,"  and 
nearly  130  years  before,  Monteverde  issued  at 
Venice  "  Scherzi  musicale  a  tre  voci."  These 
were  similar  in  style  to  the  "  Cantici  "  or 
humorous  songs  in  parts,  the  predecessors 
of  the  Catch.  Though  they  cannot  fairly  be 
considered  as  belonging  to  the  class  of  com- 
position included  under  the  general  term 
Scherzo,  yet  they  serve  to  show  that  Monte- 
verde believed  music  to  have  a  merry  as  well 
as  a  serious  side.  The  Scherzo  of  Bach, 
alluded  to  above,  is  here  added  : 


Sc 

erzo.                                                       J.  S.  Bach. 

m 

Schiettamente  {It.)    Pure,  simple,  neat. 

Schietto  (/i.)    Pure,  neat. 

Schisma  (^G^.J  (r)(ia\ia.  An  approximate 
half  of  a  Pythagorean  comma,  that  is,  half  of 
the  difference  between  twelve-fifths  and  seven 
octaves. 

Schlag  {Ger.)  A  stroke  or  beat,  (i)  of 
time,  (2)  of  a  vibrating  reed,  (3)  of  an  instru- 
ment of  percussion. 

Schlagfeder  {Ger>i  [Plectrum.] 

Schleifbogen,    HG^r.)    Lit.  Slide-bow. 

Schleifezeichen  )    A  slur.    The  sign  ^. 

Schleifen  (Ger.)    To  slide,  to  glide. 

Schleifer  (Ger.)    Slurred  note. 


(  387  ) 


SCHLUSS  SCORE. 


Schluss  {Ger.)    The  conclusion,  finale. 

Scklttssclior,  final  chorus. 

Schliissel  (Ger.)    A  clef. 

Schlussfall  (Gey.)  Cadence. 

Schlussreim  (Ger.)  The  burden  or 
refrain  of  a  song. 

Schluss-stiick  {Ger.)  Finale. 

Schmelzend  (Ger.)  Lit.  Melting  away. 
Dying  away,  diminishing. 

Schmerz  {Ger.)  Grief.  Schmerzha/t, 
sorrowful,  dolorous. 

Schnabel  {Ger.)  The  mouth-piece  of  the 
clarinet,  flute  a  bee,  and  instruments  blown 
in  like  manner. 

Schnarrpfeifen,  Schnarrwerk  (Ger.) 
Reed  pipes  or  stops  in  an  organ. 

Schnell  {Ger.)  Quick.  Nach  und  nach 
schneller,  quicker  and  quicker.  Etwasbewegter 
schnell,  a  little  quicker. 

Schneller  or  Schnelzer  {Ger.)    A  trill. 

Schophar  or  Shophar.  A  Hebrew  trumpet. 

Schottische  {Ger.),  Ecossaise  {Fr.)  Lit. 
The  Scotch  dance.  A  slow  dance  of  modern 
introduction,  written  in  f  time. 

School,  (i)  A  method  or  system  of  teach- 
ing ;  as.  Rink's  organ  school,  Crivelli's  vocal 
school,  Spohr's  violin  school,  &c.  (2)  Style  ; 
as,  the  madrigal  school,  ecclesiastical  school, 
operatic  school,  &c.  (3)  The  manner  or 
characteristics  of  a  composer,  or  performer ; 
as,  Handel's  school,  Rossini's  school.  (4)  A 
group  of  composers  whose  works  mark  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  music.  Such  a  school 
is  generally  named  after  the  place  where  such 
composers  resided ;  as,  the  Venetian  school, 
the  Neapolitan  school,  &c. 

Schreibart  {Ger.)  Style. 

Schrittmassig  {Ger.)    Slowly.  Andante. 

Schultergeige  {Ger.)  The  shoulder-fiddle, 
or  common  violin,  as  opposed  to  the  Kniegeige, 
or  viola  da  gamba,  the  viol  played  between 
the  legs. 

Schusterfleck  {Ger.)  A  facetious  name 
for  a  Rusalia. 

Schwach  {Ger.)    Weak,  feeble,  soft. 

Schwarmer  {Ger.)  Bombo.  An  old  name 
given  to  four  or  more  notes  repeated  rapidly 
on  the  same  degree  of  the  scale. 

Schweigezeichen  {Ger.)    A  rest. 

Schweinskopf  {Ger.)  Lit.  Pig's  head.  A 
name  given  to  pianofortes  because  of  theirout- 
line,  as  viewed  from  the  side  of  the  instrument. 

Schweizerpfeife,  Schweizerflote,  Feld- 
pfeife.  The  name  given  in  Germany  to  the  old 
fiaiito  traverso  ox  Querpfeife,  which,  when  in- 
troduced into  this  country,  was  known  as  the 
German  flute. 

Schweller  {Ger.)    The  swell  organ. 

Schwermiithig  {Ger.)    Sad,  pensive. 

Schwingungen  {Ger.)  Vibrations.  [Acous- 
tics.] 

Scioltarr.ente,  Scioltezza,  con,  Sciolto 


{It.)  Freely,  with  agility,  easily.  Fuga  Sciolta, 
a  free  fugue. 

Scolia.   Short  songs  of  the  Greeks.  They 
were  distinct  from  the  religious  hymns,  as 
they  were  frequently  sung  during  feasts  or 
banquets.    Though  at  first  they  were  like  the 
Paeans  sung  by  the  whole  company  assembled, 
they  were  afterwards  performed  by  each  guest 
;  alone,  holding  in  his  hand  a  myrtle  branch, 
i  which,  at  the  conclusion,  he  passed  to  his 
I  neighbour,  and  so  on  in  turn.  Sometimes 
they  were  sung  to  an  accompaniment. 

Scolia  were  of  three  kinds  :  (i)  Moral 
songs,  like  some  of  those  preserved  by 
Atheuccus.  (2)  Mythological  hymns  and 
historical  songs.  (3)  Miscellaneous  songs, 
chiefly  on  love  and  wine. 

Scordato  {It.)    Out  of  tune. 
I     Scordatura  {It.)    The  mis-tuning  of  an 
j  instrument.     When   a  violinist   alters  the 
accordatura  of  his  instrument  for  a  special 
purpose,  he  is  sometimes  said  to  make  a 
scordatura.  [Accordatura.] 
i      Score.     Partitur  {Ger.),  Partition  [Fr.), 
j  Partizione,  Partitnra,  Sparta,  a  pariito  {It.) 
I  A  copy  of  a  musical  work  in  which  all  the 
component  parts  are  shewn,  either  fully,  or 
in  a  compressed  form,    (i)  A  sliort  or  com- 
pressed score   is  when  all  the   parts  are 
arranged  or  transcribed  so  that  they  shall 
appear  in  two  staves.    Such  scores  are  com- 
monly used  for  hymn  tunes,  and  also  (espe- 
cially in  Germany)  for  part-songs.  When 
counterpoint  is  introduced  into  vocal  music, 
or  when  the  parts  frequently  cross,  short- 
scores  become  too  complicated  for  general 
I  use.  But  in  simple  vocal  music,  more  or  less 
I  note  against  note,  they  effect  a  great  saving 
i  of  space.    In  transcribing  four  part  music 
into    short  score,  the  two  upper  parts  are 
I  arranged  in  the  treble  stave  ;  the  two  lowest 
j  in  the  bass,  the  tails  to  the  notes  of  the  first 
I  and  third  parts  being  invariably  turned  up, 
those  of  the  second  and  fourth  parts  down. 
(2)  A  pianoforte  or  organ  score  is  one  in 
which  the  voice-parts  are  written  out  in  full 
on  separate  lines,  and  the  instrumental  ac- 
companiment is  arranged  in  two  lines,  treble 
and  bass,  for  performance  on  a  pianoforte  or 
organ.    (3)  A  vocal  score  is  (or  was  formerly, 
understood  to  be)  one  in  which  the  voice- 
parts  are  written  out  in  full,  and  the  accom- 
paniment (if  any)  is  indicated  by  a  figured 
bass.    (4)  A  full  score  is  one  in  which  each 
part  is  written  on  a  separate  line  one  over  the 
other,  subject,  however,  to  the  modification 
that  the  parts  to  be  played  by  two  wind  in- 
struments of  the  same  name  and  compass 
may  be  included  on  one  line.    For  example, 
the  parts  of  the  two  oboes,  two  flutes,  two 
clarinets,  &c.,  and,  sometimes,  of  the  alto 
and  tenor  trombones  are  written  on  one  line; 


(388) 


SCORRENDO-  SCOTCH  SNAP. 


the  tails  of  the  notes  to  be  played  by  the 
first  instrument  being  uniformly  turned  up- 
wards ;  those  to  be  played  by  the  second, 
downwards.  The  first  and  second  violin  parts 
are  never  written  on  the  same  line  unless 
they  are  to  play  in  unison  ;  but  the  violoncello 
and  double-bass  parts  are  usually  written  on 
one  line.  The  parts  of  similar  instruments 
are  not  necessarily  written  on  the  same  line, 
unless  it  is  desirable  to  economise  space. 
The  order  in  which  the  instrumental  parts  are 
arranged  in  a  score  has  from  time  to  time 
varied  considerably,  the  only  point  of  uniformity 
being  that  voice  parts  are  nearly  always 
placed  immediately  above  the  line  or  lines  set 
aside  for  the  violoncello  and  double-bass  part. 

The  following  are  a  few  examples  of  the 
manner  of  grouping  instruments  and  voices  : 

I  Flauti 
I  Oboi 


Ex.  1. 
Trombe 
Tympani 
Corni 
Flauti 
Oboi 
Fagotti 
Violino  imo. 
Violino  2do. 
Viola 
fi 

Voci 

(Violoncello 
[e  Basso 
Organo 

Ex.  2. 
Violino  imo. 
Violino  2do. 
Viola 
Fagotti 
Oboi 


j  Organo  e 
jtutti  Bassi 

Ex.  3. 
I  Violino  imo. 
jViolino  2do. 

(in  unison  and  on 

one  line.) 
Oboe 
Viola 


Ex.  4. 

Tympani 

Trombe  (or)  Clarini 

Corni 

Clarinetti 


Fagotti 
Violino  imo. 
Violino  2do. 
Viola 

(Violoncelli  (e) 
(Bassi 

Ex.  5. 

Pauken 

Trompeten 

Horner 

Floten 

Hoboen 

Clarinetten 

Fagotte  ' 

Alt  und 
Posaunen  ■  Tenor 

Bass 
Violine,  iste 
Violine,  2te 
Bratsche 
Violoncell 
Contrabass 

Ex.  6. 

Flutes 

Oboes 

Clarinets 

Bassoons 

Horns 

Trumpets 

Trombones 

Drums 

Violins,  I 

Violins,  2 

Violas 

II 
^  Voices 
4 

Violoncellos  and 

Basses 
Organ 


Exs.  I,  2,  and  3  illustrate  a  disposition 
often  followed  by  Handel ;  Ex.  4  the  arrange- 
ment often  found  in  the  works  of  Mozart, 
Haydn,  and  others.  Ex.  5  shows  the  ar- 
rangement sometimes  followed  by  Schumann, 
which  is  peculiar  as  separating  the  trombones 
(Posaunen)  from  the  trumpets.  The  above 
examples  (i  to  6)  show  only  a  few  of  the 
many  arrangements  sometimes  found.  The 
disposition  of  the  parts  now  most  generally 
followed  is  shown  in  Ex.  6. 

Where  more  than  the  usual  number  of 
instruments  are  employed,  this  last  disposi- 
tion may  be  indefinitely  extended,  if  only  the 
instruments  are  grouped  into  classes,  as 
follows  : 

1.  Wood  wind  instruments. 

2.  Soft-toned  brass  instruments. 

3.  Loud  brass  instruments. 

4.  Instruments  of  percussion. 

5.  String  instruments  (excepting  the  bass 

part). 

6.  Voices. 

7.  Bass  string  instruments. 

8.  Organ  or  pianoforte. 

Modern  scores  owe  much  of  their  apparent 
intricacy  to  the  individual  existence  which  is 
now  given  to  almost  every  separate  instru- 
ment in  an  orchestra,  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  constant  change  of  "  colour,"  as  it 
has  been  called.  In  the  scores  prior  to  the 
commencement  of  this  century,  it  is  no  un- 
common thing  for  the  first  oboe  to  be  directed 
to  play  throughout  a  whole  movement  with 
the  first  violins,  the  second  oboe  with  the 
second  violins,  the  bassoons  with  the  violon- 
cellos. It  is  still  more  remarkable  that  the 
viola  should  often  have  been  made  to  play 
the  bass  part  in  unison,  or  (when  below  its 
compass)  at  the  octave  ;  for  the  power  and 
beauty  of  the  "string-quartet"  was  thus 
wantonly  destroyed. 

Printers  of  music  use  the  word  score  to 
denote  any  lines  (two  or  more)  united  by  one 
brace. 

Scorrendo  {It.)  Gliding  from  one  sound 
to  another.  [Glissando.] 

Scorrevole  (7^)  Running, flowing,  gliding. 

Scotch  Scale.    [Pentatonic  Scale.] 

Scotch  Snap.  A  peculiarity  of  the  com- 
paratively modern  Scotch  melodies  in  which 
a  short  note  precedes  a  long  one  : 


It  is  the  characteristic  of  Strathspey  tunes. 
Reels  and  jigs  are  distinguished  from  the 
Strathspey  by  the  absence  of  the  snap.  The 
best  informed  among  the  Scotch  writers  on 
music  declare  it  to  be  the  mark  of  imitations 
of  Scotch  melodies,  such  as,  "  Within  a  Mile 
of  Edinboro'  Town "  and  the  Scherzo  in 


(389) 


SCOZZESE  SEGUIDILLA, 


Mendelssohn's  Scotch  Symphony,"  as  none 
of  the  ancient  tunes  contain  any  examples  of 
its  use.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  its  intro- 
duction into  Scotland  is  due  to  the  Hungarian 
gipsies,  as  the  snap  is  characteristic  of 
their  tunes. 

Scozzese  (It.)  Scotch,  as,  alia  scozzese, 
in  the  Scotch  style. 

Scriva  (It.)  Written.  Si  scriva,  as 
written. 

Sdegno,  con  ;    Sdegnosamente,  Sde- 

gnoso  {It.)    Scornfully,  disdainfully. 

Sdrucciolando  (It.)  Sliding. 

Sdrucciolare  {It.)  (i)  To  slide,  by  press- 
ing down  the  keys  of  a  pianoforte  in  rapid 
succession  and  lightly,  with  the  finger  nails. 
Scales  upon  the  harpsichord  were  frequently 
played  thus. 

Se  {It.)    As,  if;  se  bisogno,  if  required. 

Sec  {Fr.),  Secco  {It.)  Dry,  unadorned, 
plain,  as,  recitativo  secco,  plain  recitative,  that 
is,  without  band  accompaniments.  [A  table 
sec] 

Seccarara  (It.)    A  Neapolitan  dance, 

Sechsachteltakt  {Ger.)  Six-eight  time,  |. 
Sechsvierteltakt,  \  time. 

Sechssaitig  {Ger.)    Six  stringed. 

Sechstheilig  {Ger.)    In  six  parts. 

Sechszehnfiissig  {Ger.)  Of  sixteen  feet. 
The  unison  pitch  of  the  pedal  organ. 

Sechszehntheilnote  {Ger.)  A  semiquaver. 
The  sixteenth  part  of  a  semibreve. 

Second,  Chord  of  the.  An  old  ahl  i  .- 
ation  of  the  chord  4    [Figured  Bass.] 

Second,  Interval  of  a.  [Interval.] 

Second  {Fr.)  Second  ;  as,  second  dessus, 
the  second  treble ;  seconde  fois,  the  second 
time. 

Secondo  {It.)  Second ;  as,  violino  secondo, 
second  violin  ;  seconda  parte,  the  second 
part ;  seconda  volta,  the  second  time. 

Secund  {Ger.)  The  interval  of  a  second. 
Die  kleine  Secund,  the  minor  second  ;  tiber- 
mdssige  Secund,  an  augmented  second. 

Secundakkord  {Ger.)  [Second,  chord  of 
the.] 

Sedecima  {Lat.)  A  sixteenth.  A  name 
formerly  given  improperly  to  the  fifteenth  stop 
of  an  organ. 

Seg  :    Abb.  of  segue  ;  also,  of  segno. 

Segno  {It.)    The  sign       [Al  segno.] 

Segue  {It.)  Follows,  succeeds,  comes 
after ;  as,  segue  il  coro,  the  chorus  follows  ; 
segue  il  aria,  the  aria  follows. 

Seguendo,  Seguente  {It.)  Following,  as, 
attacca  subito  il  seguente,  begin  the  following 
at  once. 

Seguenza  {It.)    A  sequence, 

Seguidilla  {Sp.)  A  lively  Spanish  dance, 
similar  to  the  country  dance  ;  the  tune  is  in  \ 
or  I  time. 


SEGDIDILLA. 


(  ) 


SEGUITE  SEQUENCE. 


Seguite  (It.)  [Segue.] 
Sehnsucht  (Ger.)  Ardour,  desire,  fervour, 
longing. 

Sehr  [Ger.)  Very,  much,  extremely;  as. 
sehr  lebhaft,  very  lively ;  sehr  langsam,  very 
slow. 

Sei  [It.)  Six  ;  as,  sei  stromenti,  six  instru- 
ments. 

Seitenbewegung  [Ger.)  Oblique  motion. 
[Motion.] 

Seizieme  de  soupir  [Fr.)  A  semiquaver 
rest. 

Semeia  [Gk.)  ar)fitia.  The  musical  cha- 
racters. 

Semibreve.  [Nota.] 

Semichorus.  A  direction  that  the  passage 
so  marked  is  to  be  sung  by  half  the  chorus, 
or  a  selected  portion  of  it. 

Semicroma.    A  semiquaver 

Semidemisemiquaver.  A  half  demi- 
semiquaver,  the  64th  part  of  a  semibreve. 

Semi-diapason  {Lai.)  An  imperfect 
octave.    Octava  deficiens. 

Semi-diapente  (Lat.)  An  imperfect  or 
diminished  fifth.    Qiiinta  deficiens. 

Semi-diatessaron  (Lat.)  An  imperfect 
or  diminished  fourth.    Quarta  deficiens. 

Semi-ditonus  {Lat.)  A  minor  third. 
Semi-ditonus  cum  diapente.  A  minor  seventh. 

Semifusa  (Lat.)    A  semiquaver. 

Semiminima  {Lat.)    A  crotchet. 

Semiquaver.  The  i6th  part  of  a  semi- 
breve. 

Semiquaver  rest.  The  sign  ^  repre- 
senting silence  for  the  length  of  a  semi- 
quaver. 

Semisuspirium  (Lat.)    A  quaver  rest. 

Semitone.  A  half  a  tone,  or  an  approxi- 
mate half  of  a  tone.  [Temperament.] 

Semitonium  {Lat.)  A  semitone.  Semi- 
tonium  modi.  The  leading  note,  sensible, 
master  note,  or  major  seventh,  called  also 
subsemitonium  modi. 

Semituono  {It.)    A  semitone. 

Semplice  {It.)  Pure,  plain,  simple,  un- 
adorned. 

Semplicemente  {It.)  Purely,  plainly, 
simply,  without  ornament. 

Semplicit^,  con  {It.)  With  simplicity, 
unaffectedly. 

Sempre  {It.)  Always,  ever,  continually  ; 
as,  sempre  forte,  loud  throughout ;  sempre 
legato,  smooth  throughout  ;  sempre  piano, 
always  soft ;  sempre  piti  affrettando  il  tempo, 
continually  hastening  the  time ;  sempre  piii 
forte,  continually  increasing  in  loudness  ; 
sempre  ritardando,  continually  slackening 
the  time ;  sempre  staccato,  staccato  through- 
out. 

Sennet,  Synnet,  Signet,  Synet.  (i)  A 
word  chiefly  occurring  in  the  stage  directions 


of  the  old  plays,  indicating  the  sounding  of  a 
note  seven  times  : 


(2)  A  flourish  consisting  of  a  phrase  made  ot 
the  open  notes  of  a  trumpet  or  other  tube- 
instrument. 

Sensible  {It.)  Expressive. 

Sensibilita  (7^.)    Sensibility,  feeling. 

Sensibile  (Fr.)  The  leading  note  of  a 
scale,  the  major  seventh,  note  sensible. 

Sentie  {Fr.)  Expressed ;  melodic  bien 
sentie,  the  melody  well  expressed  or  marked. 

Sentimental.  A  term  applied  to  all  songs 
havingwordsthat  are  not  positively  humorous, 
comic,  or  bacchanalian,  whether  they  express 
a  special  sentiment  or  not. 

Senza  {It.)  Without ;  as,  senza  accom- 
pagnameuto,  without  accompaniment  ;  senza 
bassi,  without  the  basses  ;  senza  fiori,  without 
ornaments,  plainly,  simply ;  senzn  internizione, 
without  interruption,  go  on  without  stopping; 
senza  oboe,  without  the  oboe  ;  senza  organo, 
without  organ ;  senza  ornamenti,  without 
embellishments  or  ornaments  ;  senza  pedale, 
without  the  pedal ;  senza  repetizione,  senza 
replica,  without  repetition  ;  senza  rigore, 
not  in  strict  time  ;  senza  sordini,  without  the 
dampers  in  pianoforte  playing  ;  senza  sordino, 
without  the  mute  of  a  violin  ;  senza  stromenti, 
without  instruments;  senza  tempo,  without 
time,  in  no  definite  or  exactly  marked  time. 

Separation.  An  old  name  for  a  grace  or 
passing  note  "  not  reckoned  in  the  measure 
or  time,  put  between  two  real  notes  rising  a 
third,  and  only  designed  to  give  a  variety  to 
the  melody." 

Se  place  {It.)  At  will,  as  it  pleases  the 
performer. 

Septet,  Septetto  (/<.),  Septuor  (Fr.)  (i) 
A  composition  for  seven  voices  or  instruments. 
(2)  A  piece  in  seven  parts. 

Septieme  {Fr.),  Septime  {Ger.)  The 
interval  of  a  seventh. 

Septimenakkord  {Ger.)  The  chord  of 
the  seventh. 

Septimole.  A  group  of  seven  notes  to  be 
played  in  the  time  of  four  or  six. 

Sequence.  The  recurrence  of  a  harmonic 
progression  or  melodic  figure  at  a  different 
pitch  or  in  a  different  key  to  that  in  which  it 
was  first  given.  Ex.  i  shows  the  repetition 
(five  times)  of  the  progression  from  a  minor 
common  chord  to  the  major  common  chord 
of  the  third  below  : 


(  391  ) 


SERAPHINE  SERVICE. 


In  Ex.  2  will  be  found  the  recurrence  of  a 
short  phrase  at  the  interval  of  one  note  higher: 

  Bach. 

Ex.  2. 


In  modern  music  a  striking  effect  is  often 
obtained  by  the  repetition  of  a  phrase  or  theme 
at  the  interval  of  one  semitone,  (Ex.  3) : 


Sometimes  a  striking  melodic  figure  and 
a  harmonic  progression  are  combined  in  the 
formation  of  a  sequence  : 

Beethoven. 


m 

;i3 

 r 

Some  authors  divide  sequences  into  tonal 
and  real;  others  make  a  like  division  but 
term  them  diatonic  and  chromatic.  A  tonal 
or  diatonic  sequence  is  when  no  modulation 


takes  place  (see  also  Exs.  i  to  4  of  Suspensions). 
A  chromatic  or  real  sequence  takes  place 
when  the  recurrence  of  a  phrase  at  an  exact 
interval  causes  a  change  of  key,  as  Exs.  i,  2, 
3  above. 

Seraphine.  An  instrument  introduced  in 
the  early  part  of  this  century,  the  sounds  ol 
which  were  produced  by  free-reeds,  but  being 
very  coarse  and  unpleasant  in  tone,  it  rapidly 
disap-peared  on  the  introduction  of  the 
harmonium. 

Serenade.  Originally  a  vocal  or  instru- 
mental composition  for  use  in  the  open  air  at 
night,  generally  of  a  quiet,  soothing  character. 
The  term  in  its  Italian  form,  sercnata,  came- 
to  be  applied  afterwards  to  a  cantata  having 
a  pastoral  subject,  and  in  our  own  days  has 
been  applied  to  a  work  of  large  proportions  in 
the  form,  to  some  extent,  of  a  symphony. 
Serenades  were  sometimes  called  Standchen 
(Ger.) 

Serena  {It.)  An  eveningsong ;  an  A  hendlied. 

Serene  {It.)    Calm,  serene,  tranquil. 

Seria  {It.)  Serious,  grave,  tragic,  as,  Opera 
seria,  a  tragic  opera. 

Serinette  (Fr.)    A  bird-organ. 

Serioso  {It.)  In  a  serious,  thoughtful 
manner. 

Serpent.  Serpente  (//.  1  A  bass  instru- 
ment of  a  powerful  character.  It  is  of  wood, 
twisted  into  a  curved  form,  and  covered  with 
leather,  with  a  mouth-piece  like  a  horn  or  trom- 
bone, with  keys  for  the  several  notes  to  be 
produced.  It  was  invented  by  a  French  priest 
at  Auxerre  in  1590,  and  is  frequently  used  in 
the  orchestra  to  strengthen  the  bass  part ;  but 
it  requires  to  be  very  skilfully  blown,  as  it  is 
capable  of  producing  a  quarter  tone  above  or 
below  the  note  intended,  and  there  are  three 
notes  in  its  compass 


of  greater  power  than  the  rest  of  its  scale, 
which  ranges  from 


with  every  intermediate  tone  and  semitone. 
The  serpent  is  a  transposing  instrument, 
being  in  B  flat,  and  the  part  it  is  to  take  is 
therefore  written  a  note  higher  than  its  real 
sound.  [Ophicleide.] 

Serpentono  {It.)  [Serpent.] 

Serrata  {It.)    A  concluding  performance. 

Service.  As  a  term  used  in  church  music, 
this  word  signifies  a  musical  setting  of  those 
portions  of  the  offices  which  are  sung  by  the 
choir,  such  as  the  Canticles,  Sanctus,  Gloria 
in  excelsis,  &c.  A  "Burial  Service"  is  a 
setting  of  those  portions  of  the  Office  for  the 


(  392  ) 


SERVI  SYMPHONIACI  SEVENTH,  CHORDS  OF  THE. 


Burial  of  the  Dead  which  may  be  sung  by  a 
choir. 

Servi  Symphoniaci,  or  Pueri  Sympho- 
niaci.  The  band  of  musicians  kept  by 
persons  of  rank  among  the  Romans. 

Sesquialtera.  (i)  Numbers  in  the  pro- 
portion 3:2.  [Proportio.]  (2)  An  organ 
stop  consisting  of  several  ranks  of  pipes, 
sounding  high  harmonics  for  tlie  purpose  of 
strengthening  the  ground  tone.  [Organ.] 

Sesta,  Sesto  {It.)    A  sixth. 

Sestet,  Sestetto  (It.)  A  composition  for 
six  voices  or  instrum.ents. 

Settima,  Settimo  (7^.)  The  interval  of 
a  seventh. 

Setzkunst  {Ger.)  The  art  of  musical 
composition. 

Seventh.  [Interval.] 

Seventh,  Chords  of  the.  Chords  are 
named  on  two  principles:  (i)  by  the  largest 
interval  contained  in  their  component  notes  ; 
(2)  by  the  largest  interval  they  contain  when 
referred  to  their  supposed  fundamental-bass 
or  root. 

On  the  former  of  these  principles  sevenths 
have  been  divided  into  primary  and  secondary ; 
primary  being  those  which  have  the  tonic  or 
dominant  for  their  bass  note ;  secondary, 
those  which  have  the  second,  third,  fourth, 
sixth,  and  seventh  of  the  scale  for  their  bass, 
e.g.: 

123456  7 

-5?- 


(i)  The  inversions  of  No.  i  are 


and  its  most  common  resolutions,  as  follows ; 

Ex.  I.  Ex.2.  Ex.3. 


(3rd  Inv.)  (3rd  Inv.) 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
seventh  from  the  tonic  sometimes  ascends, 
sometimes  descends.  In  the  former  case 
(Exs.  I,  3,  5,  7),  it  is  called  the  suspended 
leading-note  or  sub-tonic  ;  in  the  latter,  the 
chord  of  the  tonic  seventh. 

(2)  The  next  primary  seventh 


is  called  the  chord  of  the  dominant  seventh,  or 
minor  seventh,  and,  by  some,  the  fundamental 
seventh.    It  has  three  inversions,  namely: 


It  is  only  possible  to  give  a  few  of  its  many 
possible  resolutions  : 

Ex.  9.  Ex.  10. 


These  resolutions  have  been  divided  into 
diatonic,  chromatic,  and  enharmonic  ;  also, 
into  simple  and  compound  ;  and  into  related 
and  extraneous,  ifcc,  &c. 

(3)  The  secondary  sevenths  are  generally 


(  393  ) 


SEVENTH,  CHORDS  OF  THE, 


named  after  the  degree  of  scale  on  which 
they  occur ;  thus,  chord  No.  3  (Ex.  25)  is 
called  the  "seventh  on  the  supertonic;"  No.  4 
(Ex.  26)  "seventh  on  the  mediant;"  No.  5 
(Ex.  27)  "seventh  on  the  subdominant  ;" 
No.  6  (Ex.  28)  "seventh  on  the  submediant;" 
No.  7  (Ex.  29)  "  seventh  on  the  leading- 
note." 


(Chord  No.  3.)        ist  Inv. 


The  following  are  the  most  common  reso- 
lutions of  chord  No.  3,  the  seventh  on  the 
supertonic  : 


Ex.  30. 


Ex.31 


^   r                -  r 

...  J  .  «j  J  .  „  ..  w 

7  1 

Ex.32.     ,  Ex 

6 
5 

33-  • 

6 
3 

"  6 
4 
2 

The  first  inversion  of  the  supertonic  seventh 
(Ex.  31)  is  also  known  as  the  chord  of  the 
added  sixth,  q.v.  By  some  authors,  the  chord 
No.  3  (Ex.  25)  is  said  to  be  derived  from  G, 
it  becomes  therefore  the  chord  of  the  11,  9, 
7,  5,  of  that  fundamental  bass.  On  this 
principle,  the  chord  *  (Ex.  30)  is  the  second 
inversion  of  the  chord  of  the  eleventh  on  G  ; 
the  chord  »  (Ex.  31)  the  third  inversion  of 
the  same  chord,  and  so  on. 


(4)  The  resolutions  of  chord  No.  4  (Ex.  26) 

are  commonly  as  follow : 

Ex.  35- 


Most  authors  treat  this  as  part  of  the  chord 
of  the  ninth  on  C  ;  namely,  C,  E,  G,  B,  D, 
with  the  C  omitted.    [Ninth,  chord  of.] 

(5)  The  resolutions  of  chord  No.  5  (Ex.  27) 
are  generally  as  follow : 


Many  authors  call  the  above  the  third  (Ex. 
34),  fourth  (Ex.  35),  fifth  (Ex.  36),  and  sixth 
inversions  of  the  chord  of  the  dominant 
thirteenth  of  G,  of  which  fundamental  bass 
they  form  the  intervals  of  the  7th,  9th,  iith, 
and  13th. 

(6)  The  following  are  common  resolutions 
of  chord  No.  6  (Ex.  28)  : 

Ex.  ;8.   ,  Ex.39.  • 


This  chord  is  by  some  authors  considered 
as  a  derivative  of  the  subdominant  F. 
From  this  point  of  view  the  chords  *  (Exs. 
38,  39,  40,  41)  become  the  first,  second,  third, 


(  394  ) 


SEVERAMENTE  SHIFT. 


and  fourth  inversions  respectively  of  a  funda- 
mental F.  Others  look  upon  this  chord  as  a 
thirteenth  from  G,  and  as  analogous  to  that 
described  in  No.  5. 

(7)  The  following  are  the  common  resolu- 
tions of  chord  No.  7  (Ex.  29),  known  as  the 
"  seventh  on  the  leading-note." 


This  chord  is  attributed  by  almost  universal 
consent  to  the  fundamental  note  G,  and  is 
called  the  chord  of  the  "dominant  ninth,"  or 
"added  ninth,"  or  "fundamental  ninth,"  or 
"  major  ninth." 

Chords  of  the  seventh  are  also  called  four- 
fold chords,  because  in  their  full  form  they 
are  made  up  of  four  sounds. 

The  chord  of  the  diminished  seventh  will 
be  found  described  under  the  chord  of  the 
minor  ninth. 

Severamente  (It.)  Severely,  strictly, 
exactly. 

Severitll  (It.)  Severity,  strictness,  exact- 
ness. 

Sexquialtera  (Lat.)  [Sesquialtera.] 

Sext  {Ger.)  (i)  A  sixth.  (2)  The  name 
of  an  organ  stop  of  two  ranks,  having  the 
interval  of  a  sixth  between  them,  namely,  a 
twelfth  and  tierce. 

Sextetto.  [Sestetto.] 

Sextolet.  or  Sextuplet.  A  double  triplet, 
six  notes  to  be  performed  in  the  time  of  four. 


Sextuor.    A  composition  in  six  parts. 

Sf.  or  Sfz.    Abb.  of  Sforzando  or  Sforzato. 

Sforzando  {It.)  [Sforzato.] 

Sforzato  {It.)  Forced.  A  term  signifying 
that  the  note  or  notes  pointed  out  by  the  sign 
sf.  are  to  be  emphasised  more  strongly  than 
they  would  otherwise  be  in  the  course  of  the 
rhvthm. 

Sfz.  p.  Abb.  for  Sforzato  piano,  a  sudden 
forte  followed  by  a  diminuendo  or  piano. 
Also  indicated  by  the  sign 

Sfuggito  {It.)  Avoided,  shunned,  as 
Cadenza  sfuggita,  an  interrupted  cadence. 

Shading  of  pipes.  The  placing  of  any- 
thing so  near  the  top  of  an  organ  pipe  as  to 
affect  the  vibrating  column  of  air  which  it 
contains. 

Shake.  Trillo  {It.),  Pralltriller  {Ger.) 
An  ornament  produced  by  the  rapid  alter- 
nations of  two  notes,  either  a  tone  or  semitone 
apart,  as  the  case  may  be.    The  sign  of  a 


shake  is  tr.  (the  first  two  letters  of  the  word 
trillo)  placed  over  the  chief  note : 
Written.  Performed. 


an  indefinite  number  of  times  according  to 
the  fancy  of  the  performer  or  the  duration  of 
the  note.  A  shake,  preceded  by  an  appoggia- 
tura  is  generally  finished  with  a  turn  : 


A  succession  of  shakes  is  called  a  chain, 
Catena  di  trilli.  A  shake  which  commences 
with  a  turn  is  called  a  prepared  shake.  In 
harpsichord  music  a  shake  was  written  thus  : 
// 

— J —  and  played  thus  ; 
a  plain  note  and  shake,  written  thus : 
J  played 


a  turned  shake  written  thus  : 
// 


played 


Sharp.  (i)The  sign  which  raises  a  note  one 
semitone  above  the  normal  or  natural  scale. 
A  note  so  affected  is  restored  to  its  normal 
pitch  by  the  use  of  a  natural.  In  old  music 
sharps  were  often  used  to  raise  notes  which 
had  been  previously  flattened,  for  which  pur- 
pose a  natural  is  always  now  used.  (2)  An 
augmented  interval  is  said  by  some  to  be 
sharp.  In  old  writers  a  major  third  is  called 
a  sharp  third.  (3)  Out  of  tune,  by  being 
higher  in  pitch  than  is  just.  (4)  Shrill  or 
acute,  as  sharp  mixture,  an  organ  stop. 

Shawm.  [Chalameau.] 

Shift.  A  change  of  the  position  of  the 
hand  in  violin  playing,  by  which  the  first 
finger  of  the  player  has  to  temporarily  be- 
come the  nut.  Shifts  are  complete  changes 
of  four  notes  ;  thus,  the  first  shift  on  the 
violin  is  when  the  first  finger  is  on  A  of  the 
first  string  ;  the  second  shift,  when  it  is  on 
D  above.  The  intermediate  points  on  which 
the  first  finger  can  be  placed  are  called  posi- 
tions ;  thus,  the  first  position  (called  also  the 
half  shift)  is  when  the  first  finger  is  on  G  ; 
the  second  position  is  the  first  shiit ;  the  third 
position  is  when  the  first  finger  is  on  B  ; 


(  395  ) 


SHORT  OCTAVES  SIGNATURE. 


the  fourth  when  it  is  on  C  ;  the  fifth  position 
becomes  the  second  shift,  &c. 

Short  octaves.  In  old  organs,  in  order 
to  avoid  the  expense  of  large  pipes  which 
were  not  frequently  used,  only  the  most  im- 
portant notes  between  c  c  and  g  g  g  were 
employed.  The  following  was  a  common 
system  of  arranging  the  four  lowest  sounds 
in  English  organs  : — 


O     C  I  D 


8ve  lower. 

The  keys  as  above  appeared,  of  course,  to 
be  B,  C.  a,  D. 

Si.  The  name  of  the  seventh  degree  of  the 
scale  of  Do.  It  was  first  suggested  as  a  sol- 
feggio syllable  by  Ericius  Puteanus,  of  Dod- 
recht,  in  1580,  and  again  by  Lemaire,  of  Paris, 
about  the  year  1 690.  In  the  scale  as  divided  into 
hexachords  by  Guido,  the  seventh  note  as  the 
first  was  called  Ut ;  but  the  use  of  solmisation 
rendered  a  seventh  name  necessary.  Za  and 
Sa  were  both  suggested  at  different  times, 
the  latter  because  it  was  a  portion  of  the 
first  syllable  of  the  word  sancte,  one  of  the 
concluding  words  of  the  verse  of  the  hymn 
which  gave  the  names  to  the  other  notes. 
[Aretinian  syllables.] 

Andreas  Lorente,  in  a  part  of  his  book, 
"  El  porque  de  la  musica,"  1673,  suggested 
the  syllable  Bi  for  the  leading  note  of  the 
scale,  but  the  syllable  adopted  by  Puteanus 
and  Lemaire  took  firmer  hold  of  the  musical 
mind  of  the  public,  from  a  supposed  notion 
that  the  sibilant  sound  indicated  to  some 
extent  the  peculiarity  of  the  tone. 

Si  bemol  {Fr.)    The  note  B7. 

Siciliana,  Siciliano  (It.)  A  graceful 
dance  of  the  Sicilian  peasantry,  set  to  a 
melody  in  f  or  ^-^  time,  of  a  simple  pastoral 
character.  Compositions  or  movements  of 
like  character  are  so  named. 

Side-drum.  A  small  military  drum  fre- 
quently used  in  the  orchestra.  It  is  sus- 
pended at  the  side  of  the  player  and  beaten 
with  two  wooden  sticks  on  the  upper  head  or 
surface,  the  lower  having  catgut  strings  called 
snares,  stretched  across  to  check  the  rever- 
beration. Rossini  was  the  first  to  employ 
the  side-drum  as  an  orchestral  instrument. 
See  the  score  of  the  overture  to  La  Gazza 
Ladra.  [Drum.] 

Siebenklang  (Ger.)  (i)  A  chord  of  the 
seventh.  (2)  A  heptachord  or  scale  of  seven 
notes. 


Siebenpfeife  des  Pan.    [Pan's  pipes.] 
Siegeslied  (Ger.)    A  song  of  triumph. 
Siegue.  [Segue.] 
Sifflote,  Sufflote  (Ger.)  [Flute.] 
Signa.    (i)  An  old  name  for  large  Church 

bells.    (2)  Characters  and  signs  in  mediaeval 

music. 

Signalist  {Ger.)  A  military  trumpet 
player. 

Signatur  (Ger.)  [Signature.] 

Signature.  The  signs  placed  at  the  com- 
mencement of  a  piece  of  music.  There  are 
two  kinds  of  signature,  the  time-signature 
and  the  key-signature,  the  latter  requiring  a 
clef  to  show  the  pitch,  (i)  The  key  signa- 
tures, including  the  clefs,  are  usually  written 
on  every  stave  ;  the  time-signature  only  at 
the  commencement  of  the  first  line  and  where 
changes  occur.  It  would  be  more  proper  to 
call  the  time-signature  the  measure-sign,  as  it 
shows  the  contents  of  a  bar  but  not  the  pace 
at  which  the  music  should  be  performed. 

The  signatures  of  minor  keys  are  the  same 
as  those  of  their  relative  majors.  This  leads 
to  some  inconvenience,  as  it  is  often  neces- 
sary to  look  into  a  piece  before  determining 
whether  it  is  in  the  major  or  minor  Various 
remedies  have  been  proposed  for  this,  the 
most  important  of  which  is  to  mark  the  raised 
leading-note  and  minor  sixth  in  the  signa- 
ture, e.g.  : 

A  minor.  E  minor.  B  minor.  FJ  minor.  CJ  minor.    G>  minor. 


Dj5  minor.         AJ  minor. 


D  minor.  G  minor.  C  minor  F  minor.  Bh  minor.  Eb  minor.  fA  minor. 

It  is  remarkable  that  writers  before  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  frequently 
placed  one  sharp  less  in  the  signature  than 
was  absolutely  necessary,  and  consequently 
were  obliged  to  use  an  accidental  at  every 
recurrence  of  the  leading-note.  It  seems 
difficult  to  account  for  this  custom,  unless 
such  writers  thought  it  wrong  to  acknow- 
ledge that  the  force  of  the  leading-note  over- 
threw the  old  church  modes.  Some  writers 
consider  that  it  was  done  in  order  not  to 
disturb  the  proper  position  of  the  mi  and  fa 
in  sol-faing.  [Sol-faing.] 

(2)  Time-signatures  are  expressed  by  frac- 
tional parts,  of  a  semibreve.  But  the  signs 
C  and  are,  it  is  to  be  regretted,  still  much 
in  vogue  in  common  time.  The  former  is  a 
corruption  of  the  semicircle  C,  which  was 
used  to  denote  duple  or  imperfect  measure, 


(  396  ) 


SIGN  SIM. 


the  whole  circle  O  being  used  to  denote  per- 
fect or  triple  measure.  The  stroke  through  the 
sign  ^,  has  two  distinct  meanings,  namely, 
^^i)  a  halving  of  the  contents  of  the  bar ;  (2) 
a  halving  of  the  pace  of  the  music.  Thus,  C 
formerly  denoted  four  tninivis  in  a  bar  ;  and  0 
two  minims  in  a  bar,  that  is,  half-measure. 


But  in  modern  music  (f,  generally  indicates 
four  minims  in  a  bar,  allegro,  that  is  half  the 
pace.  There  is  not  the  smallest  necessity 
for  the  use  of  either  of  these  signs,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  following  excellent  tables,  drawn 
up  by  the  Rev.  J.  Troutbeck,  M.A.  (Troutbeck 
and  Dale,  Music  Primer.) 


DUPLE. 

TRIPLE. 

QUADRUPLE. 

or  ^     c}  J 

i  ^ 

1    d     cJ  d 
1    J      J  J 
1    /  ^ 

or    ^      J       J       J  J 

c  or  ^  J   ;   ;  J 

4            s"^  J' 

6    J.  J. 

i    J-  J- 

,% 

9     cJ.    d.  d. 
1  J- 

.^  .^ 

12    J.    J.  J. 

I32      J.      J.      J.  J. 

12    .\    ,\  .^ 

1 

An  excellent  suggestion  is  thrown  out  by  i  crotchets)  instead  of  ^,  and  so  on.    Not  only 

the  above  writer,  the  adoption  of  which  would  ^^e  the  number  of  beats,  and  consequently, 

pomt  out  where  the  accent  falls  m  compound  ;  ^^^g  position  of  accents  in  this  way  shewn, 

times.     He  proposes^  to  say  2-  (two  dotted  j  but  a  simple  and  uniform  table  can  be  drawn 

minims)  instead  of  |,  and   |.  (two  dotted  |  up  thus  {Music  Primer,  p.  41)  : 


1       Compound.  Simple. 

DUPLE. 

TRIPLE. 

QUADRUPLE. 

g  i-  J- 

3    J     J  J 

3  .    J  ; 

3  / 

4     J      cJ      J  d 

4  J    J    J  ; 

4  ^ 

Id.  d. 
I  '■ 
§.  ^- 

3    J.    J.  J. 
3    w.    J.  J. 
§. 

4  J.  J.  J.  J. 
4:  J.  J.J.J. 

4  J^. 

In  ancient  music,  when  the  semibreve  was 
really  a  short  note,  a  duple  measure  of  2 
(Cs  ^) ;  a  triple  measure  of  3  ('^  <2s  <2>)  ;  a 
quadruple  measure  of  4  ('^  o  Cb)  ;  with 
compound  measures  ^  (<2)  .  <d  •  )  and  | 
(C>  •  «2>  •  o  .)  ;  are  to  be  found. 

Sign.  A  note  or  character  employed  in 
music. 


Signe  (Fr.)    The  sign  %.  [Segno.] 

Siguidilla.  [Seguidilla.] 

Silence  {Fr.)    Silenzio  (7^.)    A  rest. 

Si  leva  il  sordino  {It.)  A  direction  that 
the  mute  (sordino)  is  to  be  taken  off. 

Silver  strings.  The  covered  strings  used 
on  violins,  tenors,  violoncellos,  guitars,  &c. 
[String.] 

Sim.    Abb.  of  simile. 


(  397  ) 


SIMICION  SIX  POUR  QUATRE. 


Simicion  or  Simicon  (Gk.),  aifiUiov.  A 
harp  with  thirty-five  strings,  known  to,  and 
occasionally  used  by  the  Greeks. 

Similar  motion.  [Motion.] 

Simile  (It.)  Like  ;  in  the  same  manner. 
A  direction  that  a  method  of  performance 
previously  ordered  is  to  be  adhered  to  in  all 
similar  passages. 

Simpla  [low  Lat.)  Semiminima.  A 
crotchet. 

Simple,  (i)  Not  florid  ;  as,  simple  counter- 
point. (2)  Not  developed  ;  as,  simple  imita- 
tion. (3)  Not  exceeding  an  octave ;  as, 
simple  interval.  (4)  Containing  only  one 
group  of  notes  ;  as,  simple  measure,  simple 
time.  (5)  Without  valves  or  pistons ;  as, 
a  simple  tube.  (6)  That  which  cannot  be 
resolved  into  constituents  ;  as,  a  simple  tone. 

Sin'  al  fine  {It.)    To  the  end. 

Sinfonia  [It.)  Sinfonie  [Fr.)  [Sym- 
phony.] 

Singakademie,  Singschule  [Ger.)  An 
academy  or  school  for  singing. 

Singend  {Ger.)  [Cantabile.] 

Singetanze  {Ger^  Song-dances.  Ballads. 

Singhiozzando  {It.)    In  a  sobbing  style. 

Single  action.    [Pianoforte.]  [Harp.] 

Single  chant.  [Chant.] 

Single  fugue.  A  composition  in  which 
only  one  subject  is  employed.  [Fugue.] 

Single  relish.  An  old  ornament  in  harpsi- 
chord music,  violin  playing,  or  singing.  It 
was  also  called  a  cadent. 


Written. 
Played. 


Singschule  {Ger.)  A  school  for  teaching 
vocal  music.    A  song-school. 

Singspiel  {Ger.)  [Opera.] 

Singstimme  {Ger.)    A  vocal  part. 

Sinistra  {It.)    The  left  hand. 

Sinkapace.  [Paspy.] 

Si  place  {It.)    At  pleasure,  ad  libitum. 

Si  replica  {It.)    To  be  repeated. 

Si  scriva  {It.)  As  written,  without  im- 
promptu embellishment  or  alteration. 

Si  segue  {It.)    As  follows,  go  on. 

Sister  {Ger.)  An  old  German  guitar 
having  seven  gut  strings,  the  three  lowest 
covered.    It  was  tuned  to  G  c  f  g  c'  e'  g'. 

Sistro  {It.)    A  triangle. 

Sistrum  {Gk.),  atiarpov  (from  atiw  to  shake). 
A  rattle  used  by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  the 
Greeks,  and  Romans.  It  is  not  improbable 
sistrums  were  known  also  to  the  Hebrews,  if 
the  word  menaaneim  is  correctly  traced  to  a 
root  signifying  to  "  rattle."  Its  common 
form  was  that  of  a  handle  surmounted  by  a 
loop  of  metal  having  cross-bars  on  vi  Hich 
ringr,  were  sometimes  placed.    (Fig.  i.) 

(  ■ 


Fig.  I. 


Others  had  bars  of  unequal  length  without 
rings,  a  fact  which  has  led  some  writers  to 
suppose  that  they  were  struck  with  a  piece  of 
metal  held  in  the  other  hand.    (Fig.  2.) 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3  shows  Egyptiar  ladies  rattling  sis* 
trums  at  a  religious  ceremony. 

Fig-  3- 


Sitole.  [Citole.] 

Si  tace  {It.)    Be  silent. 

Si  volta  {It.)    Turn  over. 

Sixieme  {Fr.)    The  interval  of  a  sixth. 

Six  pour  quatre  {Fr.)    A  sextuplet,  q.v. 


SIXTE  SOL-FAING. 


Sixte  (Fr.)    The  interval  of  a  sixth. 

Sixteen  feet.  The  length  of  the  open 
pipe  which  gives  the  unison  of  the  pedal 
organ  and  the  double  of  the  manuals. 

Sixteenth  note.  A  semiquaver,  the  six- 
teenth part  of  a  semibreve. 

Sixth,  added.    [Added  sixth.] 

Sixth,  chord  of  the.  The  first  inversion 
of  the  common  chord  ;  it  consists  of  a  note 
with  its  minor  third  and  minor  sixth. 

Sixth,  chord  of  the  French,  German, 
Italian.    [Extreme  Sixth.] 

Sixth,  Neapolitan.    [Neapolitan  Sixth.] 

Skald  or  Scalld.  A  Gothic  poet,  priest, 
or  bard.  According  to  Percy  the  word 
denotes  '*  smoothers  and  polishers  of  lan- 
guage," but  others  derive  it  from  gala  to 
sing,  whence  galld,  enchantment,  and  sgalld, 
skalld,  an  enchanter.  The  root  "gala" 
appears  in  the  termination  gall  in  the  word 
nightingale.  The  name  was  especially  ap- 
plied to  those  who,  in  addition  to  natural 
gifts,  possessed  some  degree  of  education, 
that  is  to  say,  a  knowledge  of  versification, 
mythical  imagery,  and  the  traditions  of  their 
country.  Skaldic  poetry  had  for  its  object 
the  celebration  of  the  deeds  of  living  war- 
riors or  their  ancestors.  The  Skalds  were 
attached  to  the  courts  of  the  Scandinavian 
princes,  it  being  accounted  honourable  to  be 
possessed  of  the  most  skilful  of  these  poets. 
There  are  few  complete  poems  of  the  Skalds 
extant,  but  a  large  number  of  fragments  are 
preserved,  partly  by  the  younger  Edda,  partly 
in  the  Sagas  and  the  Heimskringla.  The 
Eddas  are  songs  as  old  as  the  6th  century, 
the  Sagas  are  historical  and  legendary  tales. 
The  Heimskringla,  or  Mythic  ring  of  the 
world,  records  the  history  of  the  kings  of 
Norway  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  year 
1 177,  the  year  in  which  the  historian  Snorri 
Sturleson  was  born. 

Skip.  A  movement  from  any  one  note  to 
another  which  is  at  a  greater  interval  than 
one  degree.    [Disjunct  motion.] 

Skitzen  {Ger.)  Sketches.  Short  pieces, 
sometimes  suggestive  of  some  particular  sub- 
ject, not  in  any  prescribed  form. 

Slancio,  con  (7^.)  With  eagerness,  im- 
petuosity ;  from  slanciare,  to  rush  upon. 

Slargando,  Slargandosi  [It.)  Widening, 
jpening,  extending.  Used  as  an  equivalent 
for  rallentando. 

Slentando  (It.)  Slackening  the  time, 
becoming  slower  by  degrees. 

Slide,  (i)  An  arrangement  in  the  trumpet 
and  trombone,  by  means  of  which  the  tube 
can  be  lengthened  so  as  to  generate  a  new 
series  of  harmonics.  (2)  To  slide  is  to  pass 
from  one  note  to  another  without  any  cessa- 
tion of  sound,  or  distinction  between  the  in- 
tervals.   (3)  A  slider  of  an  organ. 


Slider.  [Organ.] 

Sliding  relish,  Coulc  (Fr.)  A  grace  in 
old  harpsichord  music. 


Written,  g^^^^  Played. 


Slur.  A  curved  line  placed  over  notes 
directing  that  they  are  to  be  played  legato. 
[Bind.]  A  slur  is  often  used  in  modern  music 
to  shew  the  phrasing.  In  violin  music  a  slur 
directs  that  the  notes  under  it  are  to  be  played 
with  one  bow.  [Bowing.] 

Small  Octave.  The  name  given  by  the 
Germans  to  the  notes. 


and  their  intermediate  semitones.  It  is  also 
called  the  lesser  octave,  and  is  described  by 
the  small  letters  c,  d,  e.  [Pitch.]  [Tabla- 
ture.] 

Smaniante,  Smaniare,  Smanioso  (It.) 
Furious,  frantic,  with  rage. 

Smanicare  (It.)    To  shift.  [Shift.] 

Sminuendo,  Sminuito,  Smorendo  (It.) 
Diminishing,  decreasing  gradually,  lessening 
the  time  and  tone. 

Smorfioso  (It.)    Affected,  coquettish. 

Smorzando,  Smorzato  (It.)  Gradually 
fading  away. 

Snap.    [Scotch  Snap.] 

Snare  Drum.    [Side  Drum.] 

Soave,  Soavemente  (It.)  Agreeably, 
delicately,  gently,  softly,  sweetly. 

Sobb.  An  old  word  for  damping  in  lute 
playing.  "  Cause  them  (the  strings)  to  sobb, 
by  slacking  your  stopping  hand  so  soon  as 
they  are  struck  ;  yet  not  to  unstop  them,  but 
only  so  much  as  may  dead  the  sound  on  a 
sudden.  This  gives  great  pleasure  in  such 
cases."    Mace,  1676. 

Soggetto  (It.)  Subject,  theme,  motive, 
proportion  of  a  fugue. 

Sol.    The  note  G.  [Sol-faing.] 

Sol-bemol  (Fr.)  The  note  G  flat.  Sol- 
bemol  majeur,  the  key  of  G  flat  major.  Sol- 
beinol  mineur,  the  key  of  G  flat  minor.  Sol- 
diese,  the  note  G  sharp. 

Solennemente  (7^.)  Solemnly. 

Solennita  [It.)    Solemnity,  pomp. 

Sol-fa  (7^.)  A  general  name  for  the  notes 
in  music.  [Sol-faing,  Solfeggi,  Tonic  Sol- 
fa.] 

Sol-faing.  A  system  of  singing;  a  com- 
position in  which  the  names  of  the  notes  are 
employed  instead  of  the  words  to  which  it 
may  be  set.  Formerly  only  four  of  the  seven 
names  of  the  notes — Ut,  Re,  Mi,  Fa,  Sol,  La, 
Si,  were  used,  namely.  Mi,  Fa,  Sol,  La. 
These  were  applied  to  every  note  in  the  scale, 


(  399  ) 


SOLFEGE  SONATA. 


on  the  principle  that  it  is  naturally  divided 
into  two  halves  of  similar  proportions. 


Thus,  from  i  to  2  is  a  tone,  from  2  to  3  is 
also  a  tone,  and  from  3  to  4  a  semitone, 
whether  the  upper  or  lower  series  be  the  first 
reckoned.  So,  as  in  the  scale  of  C,  from  Fa 
to  Sol  and  from  Sol  to  La  are  each  a  tone 
apart,  and  from  Mi  to  Fa  only  a  semitone ; 
ail  tones  in  the  scale  were  distinguished  by 
these  names  for  the  purpose  of  Sol-faing. 


Fa  Sol  La  Mi 

Mi  was  always  used  for  the  leading,  or 
master  note.  This  series,  repeated  to  any 
extent,  was  supposed  to  express  all  the 
different  orders  of  tones  and  semitones  in  the 
diatonic  scale.  "  Above  Mi  will  stand  Fa, 
Sol,  La,  and  below  it  the  same  inverted  La, 
Sol,  Fa,  and  one  Mi  is  always  distant  from 
another  an  octave,  which  cannot  be  said  of 
any  other  of  them,  because  after  Mi  ascending 
come  always  Fa,  Sol,  La,  Fa,  which  are 
repeated  invertedly,  descending." 

The  old  rules  for  remembering  Mi  in  all 
keys  were  thus  set  forth,  the  positions  of  the 
notes  being  called  by  the  seven  letters  of  the 
alphabet  in  use  then  as  now ; 

If  that  no  flat  is  set  in  B, 
Then  in  that  place  standeth  y' 


If  these  be  flat,  E,  A  and 
Then  Mi  alone  doth  stand  in  D  : 


Learn  this,  and  learn  it  well  by  rote. 
That  Mi  is  aye  the  last  sharped  note 
For  if  a  sharp  on  F  be  set, 
To  call  that  Mi,  do  not  forget: 


And  if  anothei"  on  C  be  found. 
Remember  there  your  Mi  to  sound: 


And  if  one  more  be  set  on  G, 

Then  in  that  place  will  stand  your  Mi; 


If  all  be  sharp,  F,  C,  G,  D, 
Then  Mi  alone  will  stand  in  D : 


In .  the  modern  method  of  Sol-faing  no 
distinction  is  made  between  tones  and 
semitones  by  the  use  of  a  fixed  nomencla- 
ture for  the  proportions  of  the  scale,  but  the 
notes  in  any  key  are  called  by  the  names 
they  bear  in  the  key  of  Do  or  C. 

Thus,  a  piece  in  E  or  E  flat  would  be  Sol- 
faed  by  calling  the  scale  notes — Mi,  Fa,  Sol, 
La,  Si,  Do,  Re,  Mi,  whether  they  were  sharp, 
flat,  or  natural.  The  Tonic  Sol-fa  method 
calls  all  scales  starting  from  any  one  of 
the  twelve  semitones  by  the  same  names  as 
it  gives  to  the  notes  of  the  scale  of  C,  namely. 
Dob,  Ray,  Me,  Fah,  Soh,  Lah,  Te,  Dob. 

Solfege  {Fr.)  A  vocal  exercise  in  which 
the  notes  are  called  by  the  several  names  Do, 
Re,  Mi,  Fa,  Sol,  La,  Si.  [Sol-faing.] 

Solfeggiamenti  {It.)  Solfeggi. 

Solfeggiare  {It.)    To  practice  solfeggi. 

Solfeggio.  [Solfege.] 

Solist.  [Soloist.] 

Solito  {It.)  Usual,  used,  accustomed. 
In  the  ordinary  manner. 

Sollecito  {It.)  Careful ;  a  word  directing 
a  careful  and  attentive  manner  of  performance. 

Solmisare  {It.),  Solmizare  {It.),  Solmi- 
siren(Ger.)  To  Sol-fa.  [Sol-faing.  Solfeggio.] 

Solmisation.  [Sol-faing.] 

Solo  {It.)  Alone.  Soprano  solo,  the 
soprano  alone  ;  voci  soli,  voices  alone,  &c. 

Soloist.  One  who  sings  or  performs  alone, 
with  or  without  the  aid  of  accompaniment. 

Solo  pitch.  The  tuning  of  an  instrument 
a  little  higher  than  the  ordinary  pitch  in  order 
to  obtain  brilliancy  of  tone  with  a  certain 
amount  of  ease  to  the  player.  [Accordatura.] 

Solospieler  {Ger.)    A  solo  player. 

Solostimme  {Ger.)    A  solo  part. 

Son  {Fr.)    Sound,  tone. 

Sonabile  {It.)    Sounding,  resonant. 

Sonare  {It.)  To  sound,  to  play  upon. 
Sonare  alia  mente  to  play  extempore.  Sonare 
il  violino  {It.)    To  play  upon  the  violin. 

Sonata.  The  word  Sonata  is  supposed  by 
some  to  be  derived  from  the  Italian  word 
sonare,  to  sound,  but  by  others  from  sonetto, 
a  sonnet. 


(  400  ) 


SONATA. 


The  term  Sonata  or  Suonata,  as  applied 
to  a  musical  composition,  was  iirst  used  about 
the  beginning  of  the  17th  century.  Those  of 
that  time  so  called,  had  but  one  movement ; 
they  were  in  fact,  simply  airs  arranged  in  parts, 
for  an  instrument  or  instruments.  But  the  title 
of  airs  was  given  to  some  Sonatas  as  late  as 
1770,  for  in  Hoyle's  "  Dictionarium  musicEe"  of 
that  date,  voce  "Suonata,"  we  read  "  of  Corelli's 
Musick,  the  first  and  third  operas  are  Church 
Sonatas,  and  the  second  and  fourth,  Chamber 
Sonatas  ;  though  the  common  distinction 
among  us  is  made  by  the  name  of  airs." 

Other  terms  were  occasionally  used  to 
describe  Sonatas,  such  as  Consorts,  Ayres, 
Lessons,  Fantasies  or  Fancies,  "  so  made 
as  they  must  be  plaid  and  not  sung,"  and 
"Ayerie  Fancies  that  may  be  as  well  sung 
as  plaid." 

Sir  John  Hawkins,  in  his  "  History  of 
Music,"  says  these  titles  were  disused  about 
the  middle  of  the  17th  century,  when  new  forms 
of  concerted  pieces  of  a  more  elegant  character 
came  into  vogue ;  these  were  called  "  the 
Sonata  di  Chiesa  and  the  Sonata  di  Camera." 
The  first  of  these,  as  being  adapted  to  Church 
Service,  was  grave  and  solemn,  consisting  of 
slow  movements,  intermixed  with  fugues;  the 
other  admitted  of  a  variety  of  airs  to  regular 
measures,  such  as  the  Allemande,  the  Courant, 
the  Sarabande,  &c. 

The  slow  movements  "intermixed  with 
fugues,"  arose  from  the  introduction  of  the 
Canzona.and  Sir  John  Hawkins  in  mentioning 
this  as  a  characteristic  of  the  Sonata,  uncon- 
sciously proves  that  the  influence  of  the 
Canzona  style  had  not  weakened  or  faded  at 
the  time  he  wrote. 

The  connection  of  the  Canzona  with 
the  Sonata  is  to  a  certain  extent  indicated 
in  the  pieces  by  Frescobaldi,  published  at 
Venice  (1634).  "  Canzone  da  Sonare  a  una, 
due,  tre,  et  quattro,  con  il  basso  continue," 
which  are  exactly  similar  in  style  to  the  com- 
positions recorded  in  early  times  as  Sonatas. 
When  in  subsequent  compositions  of  this  kind 
two  or  more  movements  were  employed,  those 
most  favoured  were  a  Canzona  or  something 
in  Canzona  style,  and  a  dance  tune,  such  as  a 
Pavan,  an  Allemande,  or  a  Coranto.  The 
Canzona  was  probably  selected  by  the  com- 
poser as  a  vehicle  for  the  display  of  art  and 
skill,  and  the  dance  tune  was  offered  as  a 
conciliation  to  the  taste  of  his  hearers.  Long 
after  the  form  was  fixed,  compositions  bearing 
the  name  of  Sonatas,  constructed  on  the 
principles  and  according  to  the  models  of 
o.der  times,  were  published,  some  as  late  as  the 
end  of  the  last  century,  as  intimated  above. 

Frescobaldi's  Canzone  consist  of  only  one 
movement,  with  various  changes  of  time. 
A  short  analysis  of  the  whole  piece  from 


which  the  illustration  to  the  word  Canzona 
is  taken,  will  give  an  idea  of  the  character 
of  these  early  Sonatas.  The  first  phrase 
of  ig  bars  is  in  fugal  style,  then  follow 
12  bars  in  f,  after  which  are  27  bars  in  duple 
time  in  which  free  imitation  is  employed, 
then  g]  bars  in  f  again,  the  music  of  a  different 
character  to  that  in  the  former  movement,  of 
the  same  pulse  measure,  then  2  bars  by  way 
of  a  coda  or  conclusion,  in  common  time. 
No  portion  is  marked  for  repetition,  but  the 
whole  thing  goes  straight  on  from  the  first  note 
to  the  last. 

The  earliest  compositions  to  which  the 
title  of  Sonata  or  Suonata  was  attached, 
were  written  by  Bonifacio  Graziani  (1609- 
1672),  Marc  Antonio  Cesti  (1624- 1675),  and 
Paolo  Colonna  (1630- 1690),  among  others. 
It  is  presumed  that  some  of  the  works  of 
these  musicians  were  those  brought  to  Eng- 
land by  John  Jenkins  (1592-1680),  who  after- 
wards, upon  the  models  so  suggested,  pub- 
lished in  1660  in  London  "Twelve  Sonatas 
for  two  vioHns  and  a  bass,  with  a  thorough 
bass  for  the  organ."  These  were  the  first 
compositions  of  the  kind  by  an  Englishman. 
Jenkins  was  already  well  known  as  an  agree- 
able writer  of  "fancies  for  viols,"  and  his 
Sonatas  show  a  certain  amount  of  artistic 
progress  in  the  arrangement  of  contrasted 
movements.  Most  writers  on  musical  history 
declare  that  Francis  Henry  Biber  (1648- 
1698),  was  the  first  who  published  a  wor): 
with  tlie  title  of  a  Sonata,  butliis  compositions 
did  not  appear  until  1681,  more  than  twenty 
years  after  those  by  Jenkins  with  the  same 
title  ;  and  there  were  also  the  still  earlier  Italian 
writers  named  above,  from  whom  Jenkins 
confessedly  obtained  the  idea.  Considering  the 
variety  of  the  German  tongue,  and  the  un- 
willingness of  the  German  people  to  use  a 
foreign  term  when  a  native  equivalent  can  be 
found,  it  is  scarcely  likely  that  the  term  Sonata 
would  be  first  attached  to  a  German  composi- 
tion by  a  German  composer  ;  therefore  it  is 
reasonable  to  assume  that  the  word  would 
have  been  adopted  by  the  musicians  of  the 
country  to  which  it  belongs.  Graziani,  Cesti, 
and  Colonna,  who  died  before  the  time  Biber 
published  his  Sonatas,  used  the  term  to  describe 
certain  of  their  compositions  ;  but  supposing 
the  honour  of  first  using  it  belonged  to  a 
German,  then  Johann  Rosenmiiller,  who  pub- 
lished at  Venice  "  XII.  sonate  a  camera,  a  5 
stromenti,"  in  1667,  has  a  prior  claim  to 
Biber. 

Henry  Purcell  (1658- 1695),  who  was  one 
of  the  earliest  English  writers  of  Sonatas,  has 
almost  as  strong  a  claim  to  an  early  use  of 
the  word  as  Biber.  Purcell  composed 
Sonatas  which  were  published  in  1683,  with 
the  title  of  "  Twelve  sonatas  of  three  parts, 


(  401  ) 


SONATA. 


two  violins  and  a  base,  to  the  organ  or  harp- 
sychord."  These  were  issued  in  separate 
parts,  and  in  the  sixth  Sonata  of  this  set  is 
the  melody  whose  character  has  given  rise  to 
the  erroneous  statement  that  Purcell  com- 
posed the  air  upon  which  "  God  save  the 
King"  is  founded.  Furthermore,  some  writers 
declare  that  there  is  evidence  in  the  con- 
struction of  this  set  of  Sonatas,  that  Purcell 
was  indebted  to  Corelli  for  his  ideas.  If 
there  is  a  sufficient  similarity  of  style  to 
warrant  the  assertion,  there  still  remains  the 
doubt  whether  Purcell  could  have  seen  the 
work  of  his  Italian  contemporary  before  his 
own  was  published,  as  both  sets  were  issued 
in  the  same  year,  and  communication,  espe- 
cially with  a  foreign  country,  was  not  so 
rapid  then  as  now. 

In  the  preface  to  this  book  of  Sonatas, 
Purcell  states  that  "  he  has  faithfully  endea- 
voured a  just  imitation  of  the  most  famed 
Italian  masters,  principally  to  bring  the 
seriousness  and  gravity  of  that  sort  of  musick 
into  vogue  and  reputation  among  our  country- 
men, whose  humour  'tis  time  now  should 
begin  to  loath  the  levity  and  balladry  of  our 
neighbours."  He  further  states,  "  He  is  not 
ashamed  to  own  his  unskilfulness  in  the 
Italian  language,  but  that  is  the  unhappiness 
of  his  education,  which  cannot  justly  be 
counted  his  fault;  however,  he  thinks  he  may 
warrantably  affirm  he  is  not  mistaken  in  the 
power  of  the  Italian  notes,  or  elegancy  of 
their  compositions."  If  Purcell  benefited  by 
the  writings  of  any  Italian  musician,  it  could 
hardly  have  been  by  those  of  Corelli. 

Purcell  also  composed  a  second  set  about 
the  same  time,  but  they  were  not  printed 
until  after  his  death.  Among  this  second 
set  was  one  well-known  by  the  name  of  the 
"  Golden  Sonata,"  and  as  it  is  a  very  fair 
example  of  Purcell's  compositions  of  this  kind, 
and  indeed  of  most  others  of  the  period,  a 
short  description  may  not  be  out  of  place  here. 
It  is  written  in  three  parts,  for  two  violins 
and  a  figured  bass.  The  key  is  F,  and  the 
first  movement,  only  twenty-six  bars  in 
length,  is  a  largo  in  common  time  of  four 
crotchets.  The  subject,  proposed  by  the  bass 
and  imitated  by  the  trebles,  is  repeated  in  the 
key  of  the  dominant  at  the  8th  bar,  but  by 
the  bass  only,  the  trebles  having  a  second 
subject.  At  the  12th  bar  the  subject  is  in- 
verted in  the  bass  and  answered  according  to 
the  inversion  by  the  other  parts  in  fugal 
form,  modulating  into  the  key  of  the  relative 
minor,  in  which  key  the  subject  re-appears, 
having  for  counterpoint  an  inversion  of  the 
first  and  second  subjects  ;  and  with  an  imita- 
tion of  the  first  episode  as  coda  the  move- 
ment ends. 

There  are  altogether  five  movements,  a 


largo  of  great  beauty  of  melody,  the  second 
an  adagio  in  §  time,  with  all  the  notes  not 
in  the  key  of  F  major  written  as  acciden- 
tals, the  third  called  canzuna  allegro  is  in  F 
major  (duple  time),  the  fourth  a  grave  in  D 
minor  (duple  time),  and  the  fifth  is  an  allegro 
in  F  major  |.  No  portion  of  any  one  move- 
ment is  marked  for  repetition.  The  move- 
ments are  each  short,  the  last  being  the 
longest,  and  there  is  but  little  indication  of 
that  which  is  known  as  Sonata  form  in  any, 
though  each  is  written  in  a  form  regular 
enough  in  itself.  Every  device  of  imitation, 
inversion,  and  augmentation  of  the  subjects 
proposed  is  employed  freely,  though  not  to  a 
great  extent.  Lully  [1634-1687],  Pachelbel 
[1653-1706],  Buononcini  [1658-1702],  the 
great  Arcangelo  Corelli,  and  Kiihnau 
[1667-1722],  may  be  mentioned  as  Sonata 
writers  contemporary  with  Purcell.  Kiih- 
nau being,  perhaps,  next  to  Corelli,  the 
most  remarkable.  His  early  Sonatas  were 
in  three  movements,  an  allegro,  andante,  and 
allegro,  and  for  this  reason  his  claim  to  merit 
as  the  suggestor  of  the  modern  form  has 
been  made  out.  One  of  these  Sonatas  or 
suites  (No.  3)  in  E  minor,  may  be  taken 
as  an  example  not  only  of  the  rest  of  his 
works,  but  of  the  form  the  Sonata  had  as- 
sumed in  his  day.  Commencing  with  a 
Praeludium  of  22  bars  in  which  sentences 
given  out  by  the  right  hand  are  imitated  in 
the  left,  there  follows  an  Allemande  with 
the  half  close  in  B  minor,  a  Courante  and  a 
Sarabande  with  the  first  sections  ending  in  B 
major ;  in  none  are  the  subjects  developed, 
but  the  Gigue  with  which  the  suite  concludes 
contains  the  nearest  approach  to  modern 
form,  in  that  the  second  section  commences 
with  the  subject  first  proposed,  though  by  in- 
version, and  oddly  enough  the  second  half  of 
the  Gigue  contains  two  bars  less  than  the 
first,  a  very  unusual  circumstance — as  in 
nearly  all  other  instances  the  latter  portion  of 
a  Gigue  is  the  longer.  There  is  not  any  at- 
tempt in  either  movement  to  introduce  a 
subject  of  sufficiently  marked  character  to 
justify  its  being  called  a  second  or  distinctive 
theme. 

The  yearning  after  a  fixed  form,  and  the 
suggestion  of  the  treatment  which  became 
expanded  into  the  Sonata  form  may  certainly 
be  traced  in  Kuhnau's  "  Frische  Clavier- 
friichte,"  seven  Sonatas,  published  in  1703 
(not  in  1696,  as  some  say).  In  melodic 
treatment  and  expansion  of  subject  these 
show  a  decided  advance.  That  which  in 
Frescobaldi  appeared  to  be  a  mere  capricious 
change  of  tempo,  in  Kiihnau  became  de- 
veloped into  movements  of  respectable 
length,  but  still  without  any  remarkable 
development  of  chosen  themes.  Kiihnau  often 


(  402  ) 


SONATA. 


makes  the  first  subject  of  some  of  his  move- 
ments heard  in  the  dominant  (whether  the 
suite  is  in  a  major  or  a  minor  key)  in  the 
middle  of  a  movement,  but  does  not  call,  as 
it  were,  special  attention  to  the  fact  by  means 
of  a  double  bar  or  a  repeat.  Johann  Matthe- 
son  (1681-1722)  frequently  imitates  his  first 
subject  in  the  second  movement  by  inversion, 
and  occasionally  shows  that  he  contributed 
something  towards  the  settlement  of  form  by 
the  manner  in  which  he  treats  his  "Gigues," 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  example  quoted  stcb 
voce  "jig."  His  Sonata,  published  in 
1713,  and  dedicated  "to  the  person  who 
shall  best  perform  it  "  is  in  one  movement 
only,  and  is  capriccio-like  in  treatment.  It 
may  be  here  mentioned  as  an  interesting  fact 
that  in  the  majority  of  the  suites  a  Gigue  is 
chosen  as  the  concluding  movement,  and  in 
its  lively  character  as  well  as  in  the  style  of 
its  construction  is  more  in  accordance  with 
modern  Sonata  form  than  any  other  portion  ; 
this  was  the  method  often  employed  by  Bach, 
Handel,  and  others  to  a  later  time.  The 
thirty  Sonatas  of  Alessandro  Scarlatti 
(1659-1725),  the  next  writer  of  importance 
after  Mattheson,  have  each  two  movements, 
in  which  may  be  discerned  a  still  further  at- 
tempt to  fix  the  style,  and  to  impart  some 
degree  of  unity. 

Contemporary  with  Scarlatti  was  Tomaso 
Albinoni  [1674-1745],  whose  Sonatas  were 
at  one  time  so  popular  in  England,  that  the 
i  common  fiddlers  were  able  to  play  movements 
!  from  them  ;  but  there  is  little  indication  of 
Sonata  form  in  any  one  of  his  compositions. 
Domenico  Alberti  [1705- 1739],  whose  name 
is  associated  with  the  arpeggio  bass,  said  to 
have  been  invented  by  him,  was  one  among  the 
first,  if  not  the  very  first  who  employed  the 
nearest  approach  to  modern  Sonata  form  that 
had  as  yet  been  made.  In  his  "  VIII.  Sonate 
per  Cembalo  "  (1737),  each  one  has  two  move- 
ments, and  nearl}'  each  movement  two  well- 
defined  subjects,  properly  introduced.  With 
the  exception  of  an  occasional  opening  or 
closing  chord,  the  whole  of  these  movements 
are  written  in  two-part  harmony,  and  they 
are  pleasingly  effective.  C,  F,  G  major  and 
minor,  and  A  are  the  keys  selected  in  obedience 
to  the  usual  custom  of  the  time  of  avoiding  ex- 
treme keys,  but  Alberti  employs  accidentals 
freely  for  his  bold  and  advanced  modulations. 

In  the  works  of  these  earlier  writers  an 
advance  towards  the  Sonata  form  may  be 
traced,  for  in  more  than  one  there  is  a  close 
upon  the  dominant  in  the  first  section,  and 
the  original  subject  is  announced  in  the  key 
of  the  dominant  at  the  commencement  of  the 
second  section;  but  there  is  little  indication,  if 
any  at  all,  of  what  might  be  called  a  second 
or  subsidiary  theme. 


In  five  out  of  eight  of  the  Sonatas  of 
Domenico  Alberti,  the  Sonata  form  is  nearly 
observed  in  the  first  movement,  and  often  in 
the  second,  and  there  are  few  composition;, 
of  better  construction,  either  for  voices  or  in- 
struments, of  earlier  date  than  his  "  Sonata  in 
stilo  nuovo  "  (1737). 

Alberti's  Sonatas  are  in  two  movements 
only,  like  those  of  many  of  those  of  his  con- 
temporaries and  immediate  successors,  par- 
ticularly those  by  Dr.  Croft  (1679-1727),  Nicolo 
Porpora  (1685-1767),  Dr.  Boyce  (17 10-1779), 
Fedeli  (1715-1762),  Carlo  Tessarini  (1715- 
1765),  Frederic  Theodor  Schumann  (1729- 
1760),  Valentin  Roeser  (1740-1787),  &c. 
Francesco  Durante  (1684-1755),  who,  as  a 
teacher,  enjoyed  a  high  and  honourable 
reputation,  as  a  writer  of  Sonatas  displays 
a  refined  and  correct  taste,  but  very  little 
originality  of  conception,  many  of  his  thoughts 
being  based  upon  the  ideas  of  Scarlatti  his 
master.  The  Sonatas  and  clavecin  composi- 
tions of  Domenico  Scarlatti  (1683-1757),  were, 
according  to  Burney,  "  the  wonder  and 
delight  of  every  hearer  who  had  a  spark  of 
enthusiasm  about  him,  and  could  feel  new 
and  bold  effects,  intrepidly  produced  by  the 
breach  of  almost  all  the  old  and  established 
rules  of  composition,"  but  they  contribute 
little  towards  a  settlement  of  form. 

It  is  probable  that  Handel  noted  the  growth 
of  the  form,  and  occasionally  employed  it, 
some  of  the  movements  in  his  "Suites" 
having  the  orthodox  first  and  second  subject, 
while  others  have  only  a  single  subject  in 
each  section.  Some  of  the  songs  in  his 
Italian  operas  are  almost  in  Sonata  form, 
wanting  only  the  observance  of  certain  details. 

Some  of  the  Sonatas  of  Christopher 
Wagenseil  (1688- 1779)  are  in  correct  form, 
though  the  second  subject  is  timidly  in- 
troduced and  employed.  The  lingering  fond- 
ness for  the  same  tonality,  which  is  the 
characteristic  of  the  Suites,  and  the  earliest 
Sonatas,  is  to  be  found  in  Wagenseil ; 
one  of  his  Sonatas  in  the  key  of  F,  a  fair 
specimen  of  his  work  in  this  style,  has  an 
allegro  assai  as  the  first  movement,  an 
andante  grazioso  as  the  second,  and  a  juinnet 
as  the  third.  The  first  and  last  movements 
are  in  F  major,  and  the  andante  in  F  minor. 
The  collection  'in  which  this  Sonata  is  to  be 
found  was  published  between  1740  and  1750. 

The  changes  of  tempo  in  the  earliest  com- 
positions of  this  kind,  probably  suggested 
a  division  into  separate  movements.  In- 
herent musical  feeling  would  doubtless 
prompt  the  composer  to  make  the  several 
movements  offer  as  much  contrast  as  pos- 
sible, and  the  variety  thus  introduced  would 
be  accepted  as  the  first  canon  of  this  class 
of  composition. 


(  403  ) 


SONATA. 


The  arrangement  of  the  earhest  "  Suites 
des  pieces  "  may  be  studied  with  advantage 
in  reference  to  this  point.  In  the  "Pieces  de 
Clavecin"  by  Fran9ois  Couperin,  1713,  there  is 
a  set  in  C  minor,  consisting  of  an  AUemande, 
followed  by  a  first  and  second  Courante,  then 
a  Sarabande,  a  Gavotte,  and  finally  a  Minuet, 
each  movement  varying  in  tempo  as  well  as 
in  character,  though  not  in  key.  The  number 
of  movements  in  a  Suite  alternated  between 
five  and  seven  for  many  years,  but  by  degrees 
they  became  lessened  in  number.  Although 
the  names  of  dance  tunes  ceased  to  be  attached 
to  the  several  movements,  it  was  easy  to  see 
that  much  of  their  character  was  retained  ;  for 
as  composers  began  to  feel  that  the  measure 
of  the  dance  tune  had  a  tendency  to  cramp 
their  musical  thoughts,  their  models  were 
altered  or  abandoned,  and  they  expanded 
their  movements  at  pleasure,  without  reference 
to  the  needs  of  the  dance.  Later,  when  three 
movements  were  adopted,  the  dance  tune  was 
restored,  a  preference  being  given  to  the 
Minuet  or  something  in  its  kind,  and  this, 
with  a  slow  and  a  quick  movement,  for  a  long 
'ime  made  up  the  recognised  constitution  of  a 
Sonata.  Beethoven  added  a  fourth  movement, 
the  Scherzo,  which  he  used  sometimes  instead 
of,  sometimes  in  addition  to,  the  Minuet  ;  but 
he  was  not,  as  some  say,  the  inventor  of  that 
movement,  as  Haydn  in  his  quartets,  and 
Bach  in  his  Suites  had  previously  employed  a 
movement  called  Scherzo. 

The  "  Clavier-Uebung,"  of  J.  S.  Bach,  pub- 
lished singly  between  1726  and  1730,  marked 
in  Hoffmeister's  edition  as  CEuvre  I.,  No.  i, 
containing  six  Suites  in  various  keys,  offers  a 
very  remarkable  series  of  studies,  inasmuch 
as  they  show  the  master  mind  yielding  to  the 
custom  of  his  time  in  the  order  and  style  of 
the  arrangements  of  his  suites  or  Sonatas,  but 
as  free  from  conventionality  as  possible,  and  | 
pointing  in  the  direction  so  worthily  followed 
by  later  writers.  In  the  first  number  there  are 
six  movements,  all  in  the  key  of  B  flat,  namely, 
a  prelude,  an  allemande,  a  courante,  a  sara- 
bande, a  minuet  and  gigue.  Each,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Prelude,  is,  as  near  as  possible, 
in  Sonata  form,  though  the  second  subject 
is  not  always  treated  in  the  tonic  in  the  second 
section.  As  usual,  there  is  a  second  Minuet 
in  the  place  now  occupied  by  the  trio,  of 
which  more  presently.  The  second  Suite  is 
in  C  minor,  and  commences  with  a  svmphony 
or  overture  of  two  contrasted  movements,  but 
free  in  form ;  the  next  movement  is  an 
allemande,  the  first  section  closing  on  the 
dominant  (G  major) ;  the  third  movement  a 
courante,  similarly  written  ;  the  fourth  a  • 
sarabande,  with  the  first  close  in  the  relative 
major;  the  fifth  is  a  rondeau,  in  the  form  proper  I 
to  such  pieces ;  the  last  is  a  caprice,  the  second  i 


section  having  the  first  subject  inverted.  The 
third  Suite,  in  A  minor,  opens  with  a  fantasia, 
followed  by  an  allemande,  which  is  succeeded 
by  a  courante,  more  or  less  free  in  treat- 
ment. The  next  piece  is  a  sarabande  in  good 
form,  then  a  burlesca,  next  a  scherzo  in  duple 
time  (given  as  an  illustration  to  the  article 
"Scherzo"),  lastly  agiguein  fantasia  style.  The 
fourth  Suite,  in  D  major,  begins  with  an  over- 
ture of  some  length ;  then  comes  a  cc  nrante  not 
in  form,  then  an  alleniande,  then  an  aria,  then 
a  sarabande,  the  three  last  named  obeying  the 
rules  of  form  ;  then  there  is  a  short  minuet  oi 
two  movements,  and  the  last  is  a  gigue.  The 
fifth  Suite,  in  G  major,  opens  with  what  he 
calls  a  preamble,  after  which  an  allemande, 
a  courante,  a  sarabande,  a  tempo  di  minuetto, 
a  passepied  and  a  gigue,  the  saraband  only 
of  all  these  movements  answering  to  any 
extent  the  requirements  of  form.  The  sixth 
Suite,  in  E  minor,  the  most  remarkable  and 
difficult  of  the  whole  set,  begins  with  a  long 
and  beautiful  toccata,  having  next  an  alle- 
mande with  the  close  of  the  first  section  on 
the  dominant  B  major,  next  a  courante,  treated 
in  like  fashion,  then  an  air  in  rondo  form, 
then  a  gavotte  in  Sonata  form,  a  sarabande, 
written  in  fantasia  style,  and  a  gigue  in  the 
somewhat  unusual  tempo  "  alia  breve,"  the 
first  bar  of  which  is  quoted  under  the  head 
"  alia  breve."  In  the  third  book  of  the-second 
set,  "  Zweiter  Theil  der  Clavier-ubung,"  there 
is  a  minuet  in  B  minor  which,  instead  of  a 
second  minuet  in  the  relative  major,  according 
to  custom,  has  a  "trio"  in  B  minor;  this  is 
noteworthy,  as  it  is  probably  the  earliest 
instance  of  this  use  of  the  word.  The  con- 
struction and  arrangement  of  this  second  set 
is  so  similar  to  the  first,  that  with  the  ex- 
ception just  now  pointed  out,  there  is  little 
or  no  point  of  difference  to  call  for  special 
remark. 

The  "  Sechs  leichte  Clavier-Sonaten,"  oi' 
C.  Philipp  Emanuel  Bach  (171 1-1788),  pub- 
lished at  Leipsic,  1766,  contain  each  the 
orthodox  three  movements,  a  moderate,  a 
slow  and  a  quick ;  and  the  first,  and  sometimes 
the  last  movement  of  each  is  written  in 
Sonata  form,  with  the  exception  of  No.  6, 
which  begins  with  a  movement  in  rondo 
form.  Not  one  has  the  name  of  a  dance 
tune  attached,  though  there  are  several  which 
would  answer  all  needs,  were  they  so  named. 
Many  of  the  Sonatas  of  his  brother  Wilhelm 
Friedemann  Bach  (17 10 -1784)  though, 
cleverly  and  ably  written,  show  a  less  regard 
for  the  symmetrical  form  so  characteristic 
of  the  works  of  Philipp  Emanuel.  More 
than  one  of  Friedemann's  Sonatas,  like  those 
of  the  older  writer,  consist  of  a  continuous 
movement  with  a  frequent  change  of  time, 
rhythm  and  tonality.      Some  portions  fulfil 


(  404  ; 


SCNATA. 


all  the  requirements  of  form,  but  they  are 
not  marked  for  repetition.  There  are  no 
separate  and  distinct  movements,  and  the 
form  chosen  might  be  called,  if  not  a  caprice, 
at  all  events  an  original  idea  of  the  rondo, 
for  after  many  and  varied  contrasts  of  time 
and  subject,  the  Sonata  often  concludes  with 
the  phrase  originally  given  out. 

Schobert's  Sonatas,  published  in  1741,  are 
especially  remarkable,  because  the  second  sub- 
jects are  introduced  in  proper  keys,  after  due 
preparation,  although  they  are  not  so  fully  de- 
veloped as  those  by  later  writers.  There  is  an 
evident  design  in  expanding  the  subjects  to 
a  greater  extent  than  that  which  had  been  the 
custom  before  his  time.  So  many  of  the 
Sonatas  by  E.  Bach  and  Schobert  are  con- 
structed according  to  Sonata  form  as  now 
accepted,  that  the  honour  of  having  fixed  the 
form  may  fairly  be  divided  between  these  two 
composers. 

Schobert's  works  were  at  one  time  the  most 
popular  of  any  performed  in  England,  Dr. 
Burney  having  introduced  them  here  in  1766. 
This  writer  makes  a  mistake  when  he  says 
that  Schobert  published  nothing  until  1764, 
for  he  was  already  well  known  as  a  composer 
when  he  was  invited  to  become  "  Musician  to 
the  Prince  de  Conti  "  in  1760,  and  copies  of 
his  Sonatas  were  in  the  hands  of  every  harp- 
sichord player  before  that  time.  Emanuel 
Bach  knew  Schobert's  value  as  a  musician, 
for  Dr.  Burney  states  that  "his  (Bach's) 
party  allowed  Schobert  to  be  a  man  of  genius, 
but  spoiled  by  his  affectation  of  a  new  and 
extraordinary  style.  They  further  accused 
him  of  frequently  copying  himself."  His 
writing  is  perfectly  individual,  is  fresh  and 
novel,  and  more  like  an  anticipation  of  Haydn 
and  Mozart  than  Bach,  from  whom  all 
the  musicians  of  the  time  were  wont  to 
copy. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  pursue  the 
question  further,  or  to  enter  into  any  elaborate 
argument  in  support  of  the  claim  of  any 
particular  musician  to  the  invention  of  that 
to  which  probably  all  have  contributed  more 
01  less.  For  at  the  period  of  time  to  which  our 
inquiries  have  now  led,  the  Sonatas  of  Haydn 
and  Mozart  became  the  recognised  form  of 
this  species  of  composition,  and  they  are 
happily  so  well  known  that  a  particular 
description  is  unnecessary.  But,  notwith- 
standing the  existence  of  such  noble  models, 
not  every  composer  of  a  Sonata  cared  to  use 
the  recognised  or  Sonata  form  ;  even  Cheru- 
bini,  with  his  love  for  form,  sometimes  wrote 
Sonatas  not  in  true  form. 

It  is  unnecessary,  perhaps,  to  say  that 
the  Sonata  was  brought  to  its  present  per- 
fection by  Beethoven.  The  works  of  Clementi, 
the  father  of  pianoforte  -  playing,  Dussek, 


Hummel,  Weber,  Field,  Onslow,  Moscheles, 
and  Schubert  show  no  further  advance  in  pro- 
gress in  development. 

A  modern  Sonata  is  generally  constructed 
upon  the  following  plan: — 

The  first  niovenietit  is  an  allegro,  some- 
times with  an  introduction,  but  more  fre- 
quently without  one;  the  second  tnovetnent, 
ordinarily  called  "the  slow  movement,"  is 
set  in  any  time,  between  adagio  and  andante, 
and  the  final  movement  is  an  allegro,  written 
either  in  Sonata  or  in  rondo  form.  If  there 
is  a  fourth  movement,  it  is  usually  placed  after 
the  slow  movement,  and  is  either  a  scherzo 
or  minuet  and  trio.  This  is  the  broad  out- 
line; the  details  require  a  little  more  particulai 
description. 

The  first  movement  shouldhavetwothemes, 
unlike  each  other  in  character ;  for  example, 
one  vigorous  and  spirited,  the  other  tender 
and  expressive;  and  each  should  be  capable  of 
varied  treatment.  After  the  first  subject  has 
been  well  announced,  a  modulation  into  the 
key  of  the  dominant,  if  the  subject  starts  i» 
the  major,  and  into  the  relative  major  if  the 
subject  commences  in  the  minor,  should  be 
made.  In  either  case  the  second  subject 
must  be  heard  in  the  changed  key  before  the 
half  close  or  perfect  cadence  concludes  the 
first  part  of  the  allegro.  In  the  second  portion 
of  the  allegro,  a  greater  amount  of  license  is 
permitted,  this  section  often  partaking  of  the 
nature  of  a  free  fantasia.  The  two  principal 
themes  are  subjected  to  all  kinds  of  treatment, 
and  are  introduced  in  various  keys  at  the 
will  of  the  composer.  Having  exhausted  all 
chosen  devices,  the  first  subject  must  now 
enter  in  its  entirety,  then  the  second  subject 
should  be  heard,  this  time  in  the  tonic  or  key 
in  which  the  movement  is  written,  if  that 
mode  be  major  ;  or  it  may  appear  in  the 
key  of  the  tonic  major,  if  the  mode  be  minor  ; 
but  the  episode  and  cadence  which  are  to  usher 
in  the  conclusion  of  this  section,  must  be  in 
the  tonic  key.  Sometimes  a  coda,  formed  of 
a  portion  of  the  first  subject,  is  added,  and 
the  movement  ends  in  the  key  first  proposed. 
This  method  of  treatment  is  called  the 
"  Sonata  "  or  "  Binary  "  form. 

The  second  movement  may  be  written  in 
several  different  ways,  that  is  to  say,  treated 
like  the  first  movement  with  two  principal 
themes,  or  with  only  one  principal  theme. 

Whatever  be  the  precise  form  selected,  the 
style  of  the  music  should  afford  a  great  con- 
trast to  that  of  the  allegro. 

The  style  of  the  last  movement  should  afford 
a  still  greater  contrast  by  its  character,  what- 
ever be  the  form  selected  ;  if  it  is  a  Rondo,  it 
should  be  lighter  than  the  first  or  second 
movements.  Many  instances  could  be  quoted 
in  which  the  final  movement  is  made  the 


r  405  } 


SONATA  DA  CHIESA  SOUND-BOARD. 


vehicle  for  the  expression  of  quaint  musical 
humour. 

Sonata  da  chiesa  (It.)  A  church  sonata, 
an  organ  sonata. 

Sonate  {Fr.)  [Sonata.] 

Sonatina  {It.),  Sonatine  (Fr.)  A  short 
sonata.  One  in  which  the  subjects  are  not 
developed  at  length. 

Sonatore  (It.)  An  instrumental  performer. 

Sonevole  (It.)  Sonorous,  sounding,  re- 
sonant. 

Song,  (i)  A  short  poem  intended  for 
music.  (2)  A  musical  setting  of  a  short  poem 
or  portion  of  prose.  The  word  is  generally 
applied  to  solos,  but  sometimes  also  to  com- 
positions for  two  or  more  voices.  (3)  The 
second  subject  of  a  sonata  is  sometimes 
called  the  "  Song."  [Air.]  [Ballad.]  [Lied.] 

Sonometer.  An  instrument  for  measur- 
ing the  vibrations  of  sounds. 

Sonoramente  (It.)  Sonorously. 

Sonore  (Fr.),  Sonoro  (It.)  Sonofous, 
resonant,  harmonious. 

Sonorita  (It.)  Harmony,  resonance,  sono- 
rousness. 

Sonorophone.  A  metal  wind  instrument 
of  the  Bombardon  class. 

Sons  (Fr.)  The  name  given  by  the  Pro- 
ven9al  poets  to  their  lyrical  productions. 

Sons  etouffes  (Fr.)  Stifled,  veiled,  or 
muffled  tones.  Sounds  produced  by  a  muted 
instrument. 

Sons  harmoniques  {Fr.)  Harmonic 
tones  or  sounds. 

Sons  plains  {Fr.)  Full  tones,  applied  to 
the  production  of  full  round  tones  by  a  voice 
or  instrument. 

Sonus  {Lat.)  Sound. 

Sopra  {It.)  Above,  before,  over,  upon, 
upper,  as  Di  sopra,  as  above  ;  Come  sopra,  as 
above  or  before  ;  Nella  parte  di  sopra,  in  the 
upper  or  higher  part ;  Contrappunto  sopra  il 
soggetto,  counterpoint  over  the  subject. 

Sopran  {Ger.),  Soprano  {It.)  The  highest 
kind  of  female  or  boy's  voice.  Also  the 
singer  possessing  that  voice, 

Soprana  corda  {It.)  The  highest  string 
on  the  fiddle,  chanterelle. 

Soprano  clef.  The  C  clef  upon  the  first 
line  of  the  stave.  [Clef.] 


Sorda  {It.)  Muffled,  veiled,  muted, damped. 

Sordamente  {It.)   Softly,  gently,  silently. 

Sordini  {It.)  (i)  Mutes.  Small  instru- 
ments of  metal,  bone,  or  wood  made  to  fix 
upon  the  bridge  of  a  violin  to  damp  or  deaden 
the  sound,  by  intercepting  the  vibrations. 
Mutes  of  wood  covered  with  leather,  of  a  pear 
shape,  are  sometimes  used  to  check  the  sound 
of  horns,  trumpets,  cornets,  clarinets  and 


oboes,  the  mute  being  inserted  in  the  bell. 
(2)  When  mutes  are  required  during  a  per- 
formance, the  direction  con  sordini  is  placed 
above  the  part  so  to  be  played,  the  contrary 
direction  being  senza  sordini. 

Sordino  {It.)  A  small  pocket  fiddle,  a 
pochette  or  kit,  formerly  used  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  the  pitch,  &c.,  at  music  parties. 

Sordo,  sorda  {It.)  Damped  with  a  mute  ; 
as,  clarinetto  sordo,  troniba  sorda,  &c. 
[Sordini.] 

Sordun,  Sordono  {It.)  (i)  An  old  form 
of  wood  wind  instrument,  having  a  double 
reed,  with  twelve  ventages  and  two  keys. 
(2)  A  sort  of  mute  for  a  trumpet.  (3)  An 
organ  reed  stop  of  16  ft.  pitch. 

Sortisatio  {Lat.)  Counterpoint  alia  mcnte. 
[Alia  mente.]    [Chant  sur  livre.] 

Sortita  {It.)  (i)  A  word  applied  to  the  first 
piece  sung  by  any  one  character  in  an  opera. 
Thus,  "  Come  per  me  "  is  the  aria  sortita,  aria 
d'entrata,  or  entrance  air  for  Amina  in  La 
Sonnambida.  (2)  A  concluding  voluntary, 
played  as  the  congregation  leaves  the  church. 

Sospensivamente  {It.)  Doubtfully,  irreso- 
lutely, waveringly. 

Sospirando,  Sospirante,  Sospirevole, 
Sospiroso  {It.)  Sighing,  subdued,  wretched, 
doleful. 

Sospiro  {It.)  A  crotchet  rest.  In  old 
music  a  minim  rest. 

Sost.    Abb.  of  Sostenuto. 

Sostenendo,  Sostenuto  (7^.)  Sustaining. 
Maintaining  the  tone  for  the  full  duration  of 
the  notes  written. 

Sotto  (/i.)  Below,  under;  as,  sotto  voce,  in 
an  undertone  ;  sotto  il  soggetto,  below  the 
subject. 

Soubasse  {Fr.)  Sub-bass.  A  stop  in 
the  organ,  of  32  ft.  pitch. 

Soubrette  {Fr.)  A  serving  maid.  A 
female  singer  in  a  minor  part  of  a  comic  opera. 

Souchantre  {Fr.)  Succentor. 

Souffarah  {Persian.)  The  general  name 
among  the  Persians  and  Arabs  for  wind 
instruments  without  reeds. 

Soufflerie  {Fr.)  The  apparatus  connected 
with  the  bellows  of  an  organ.  [Organ.] 

Souffleur  {Fr.)  (i)  A  prompter  in  a 
theatre.    (2)  An  organ  blower. 

Soum.    A  Burmese  harp. 

Sound.  [Acoustics.] 

Sound-waves.    [Acoustics  §  3.] 

Sound-board,  (i)  A  piece  of  fir  or  other 
resonant  wood  placed  behind  the  strings  of  a 
pianoforte  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the 
power  of  the  sounds.  [Pianoforte.]  (2)  In 
an  organ,  the  sound-board  is  that  chamber  of 
air  into  which  the  feet  of  the  pipes  are  placed. 
[Organ.]  (3)  A  wood  screen  placed  behind 
a  pulpit  for  the  purpose  of  "  reflecting  "  the 
preacher's  voice  ;  or  over  it,  to  prevent  the 


(  406  ) 


SOUND-BODY  STACCATO. 


sound  from  ascending  into  a  lantern-tower,  or 
a  dome. 

Sound-body.  Sound-box.  [Body.]  [Re- 
sonance Box.] 

Soupir  (Fr.)    A  crotchet  rest  T. 

Soupir  de  croche  (Fr.)    A  quaver  restl. 

Soupir  de  double  croche  {Fr.)  A  semi- 
quaver rest  ^. 

Soupir  de  triple  croche  (Fr.)  A  demi- 
semiquaver  rest  ^. 

Sourdeline  {Fr.)  A  small  kind  of  bagpipe, 
or  musette.  [Bagpipe.] 

Sourdine  {Fr.)  (i)  A  mute  (Sordino.) 
(2)  A  stop  on  the  harmonium,  which  by 
limiting  the  supply  of  wind  to  the  lower  half 
of  the  instrument,  enables  the  performer  to 
play  full  chords  piano. 

Sous  {Fr.)  Under;  as,  Sous-dominante, 
the  sub-dominant  or  fourth  of  the  scale. 
Soiis-7nediante,  the  sub-mediant,  or  sixth  of 
the  scale.  Sous-tonique,  the  sub-tonic  or 
seventh  of  the  scale;  the  leading  or  note 
sensible. 

Spaces.  The  intervals  between  the  lines 
of  the  stave.  The  stave  consists  of  five  lines 
and  includes  four  spaces,  but  notes  in  spaces 
between  leger  lines  above  and  below  the  stave, 
are  employed.  [Stave.] 

Spagnoletta  {It.)  A  dance  in  the  Spanish 
style. 

Spanisches-Kreuz  {Ger.)    The  Spanish 
cross,  the  sign  of  a  double  sharp,  x. 
Spanish  guitar.  [Guitar.] 
Spart.  [Sparto.] 

Sparto  (it.)  Scattered,  distributed;  hence, 
a  Score,  as  the  parts  are  arranged  on  several 
lines.  [Score.] 

Spartito  (7^.)  Scored. 

Spassapensiere  {It.)    Jew's  harp. 

Spatium  {Lat.)\    (i)  A  space  on  the  stave, 

Spazio  {It.)      ]     (2)  an  interval. 

Spianto  [It.)    Smooth,  level,  even. 

Spiccatamente  [It.)    Brightly,  brilliantly. 

Spiccato  {It.)  Distinct,  detached,  pointed. 
The  direction  for  this  is  by  dots  over  notes. 
[Bowing.] 

Spielart  {Ger.)  Manner  of  playing, 
method  of  performance. 

Spielen  {Ger.)  To  play  upon  an  instru- 
ment. 

Spieler  {Ger.)    A  player. 
Spielmanieren  {Ger.)  Ornaments,  graces, 
broderies. 

Spinae  {Lat.)  Lit.,  thorns.  A  name 
given  to  the  quills  and  jacks  of  a  spinet,  and 
sometimes  to  the  instrument  itself. 

Spinet.  Couched  harp.  Spineit  {Ger.) 
Spinetta  {It.)  Epinette  (Fr.)  An  ancient 
keyed  instrument  similar  in  construction  to, 
but  smaller  in  size  than,  the  Harpsichord. 
The  strings,  which  were  placed  at  an  angle 


with  the  keys,  were  sounded  by  means  of 
leather  or  quill  plectra  (Spinae.)  [Clarichord.] 
[Harpsichord.]    [Pianoforte.]  [Virginals.] 

Spirito,  con,      ]  {It.)       In    a  spirited, 

Spiritosamente  [lively,   animated,  brisk 

Spiritoso  j  manner. 

Spirituale  {It.)    Sacred,  spiritual. 

Spirituel  {Fr.)    Ideal,  pure,  ethereal. 

Spissa  (Lai.)  Close,  (i)  Intervals  in  the 
enharmonic  and  chromatic  genus  were  said  to 
be  spissa,  (ttwco.)  (2)  In  mediaeval  music  a 
pycnon  [irvKvov)  or  spissum  was  a  semitone. 

Spitzflbte,  Spindelflote  [Ger.)  Cnspida, 
flauto  cuspido  {It.)  An  organ  stop  of  8  ft.  or 
4  ft.  pitch,  consisting  of  open  flue-pipes,  of  a 
conical  shape.  Its  tone  is  thin  and  reedy. 
Spitzquint,  a  quint-stop  or  twelfth  of  conical 
pipes. 

Spondalium,  or  Spondaulium  {Lat.)  A 
Hymn  sung  during  a  sacrifice,  accompanied 
by  a  flute. 

Spondee  {Lat.)  A  musical  foot  consisting 
of  two  long  syllables.  [Metre.] 

Sprung  {Ger.)    A  skip. 

Square-piano.  [Pianoforte.] 

Squillante  {It.)  Ringing,  sounding,  bell- 
like in  tone,  from  squilla,  a  little  bell. 

Sroutis.  The  name  of  the  twenty-two 
parts  into  which  the  Hindu  scale  is  divided. 

Sta  {It.)  As  it  stands  ;  to  be  performed  as 
written. 

Stabat  Mater.  A  well  -  known  Latin 
Hymn  on  the  crucifixion,  sung  during  Passion 
week  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
Jacopone,  a  Franciscan  who  lived  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  author  of  the  words.  In  addition  to  the 
ancient  setting,  probably  contemporary  with 
the  words,  many  composers  have  written 
music  to  the  Stabat  Mater,  but  the  com- 
positions which  are  best  known  are  those  by 
Palestrina,  Pergolesi,  the  last  effort  of  his  life, 
and  Rossini.  The  first  of  these  three  is  a 
noble  work,  the  second  is  full  of  pathos  and 
expression,  and  the  last  is  a  quaint  unison  of 
operatic  eff"ects  and  florid  vocal  writing. 

Stabile  (It.)    Firm,  steady. 

Stacc.    Abb.  of  Staccato. 

Staccare  {It.)    To  make  staccato. 

Staccatissimo  {It.)  As  staccato  as 
possible. 

Staccato  {It.)  Detached,  taken  off,  sepa- 
rated. In  music  the  word  signifies  a  detached, 
abrupt  method  of  singing  or  playing  certain 
notes,  by  making  them  of  less  duration  than 
they  otherwise  would  be.  A  small  dash  over 
a  note  signifies  that  it  is  to  be  played  staccato. 


Written.  Played. 


Sometimes  a  dot  over  a  note  is  called  a 


(  407  } 


STADTMUSIKANTEN  STEM. 


staccato  mark,  but  it  is  more  properly  the  sign 
of  a  spiccato.  Staccato  notes  are  played 
shorter  than  those  marked  spiccato. 

Stadtmusikanten,  Stadtpfeiffer,  Stadt- 
zinkenisten,  Kunstpfeiffer,  Hausleute 
{Ger.)    Town  musicians.    [Waits. 1 

Staff.  [Stave.] 

Stammakkord  {Ger.)  A  key-chord  or 
fundamental  chord. 

Stampita  {It.)    A  sonata,  an  air,  a  song. 

Standard  pitch.  [Pitch.] 

Standchen  {Ger.)    A  serenade. 

Standhaft  {Ger.)    Firm,  steady,  steadfast. 

Stanghetta  (/!!.)  A  bar-line.  The  vertical 
line  placed  on  the  stave  to  mark  the  division 
of  bars. 

Stanza  {It.)  Lit.,  A  station  or  resting 
place,  (i)  A  series  of  metrical  lines  forming 
a  verse  or  subdivision  of  a  poem,  (2)  A 
strophe. 

Stark  {Ger.)  Strong,  loud;  &s,mit  star  ken 
Stimincn,  with  loud  stops. 

Stave.  Linien-system  {Ger.)  Port6e  {Fr.) 
(i)  A  term  applied  to  the  five  horizontal  and 
parallel  lines  in  music,  upon  which  the  notes 
or  rests  are  supported. 


(2)  Kircher  describes  a  Greek  manuscript 
which  he  found  in  the  Jesuits'  library  of 
S.  Salvator  at  Messina,  the  age  of  which  he 
declared  to  be  more  than  seven  hundred 
years,  in  which  hymns  are  set  to  music, 
written  on  staves  of  eight  lines,  no  use 
being  made  of  the  intermediate  spaces, 
Guido  dArezzo,  to  whom  the  invention  of  the 
stave  is  usually  assigned,  may  only  have 
reduced  the  number  of  the  lines,  by  making 
use  of  the  spaces  as  steps  in  representing 
diatonic  degrees.  In  the  thirteenth  century 
the  number  of  lines  was  further  reduced  to 
four,  a  number  still  found  sufficient  for  the 
purposes  of  the  Plain  Song. 

Staves  of  various  numbers,  from  three  to 
six  lines,  are  found  in  mediaeval  music,  and 
in  fact  it  was  not  until  the  invention  of 
printing  that  the  number  of  lines  was  settled 
at  five.  It  is  by  no  means  an  unusual  thing 
to  find  six  lines  ruled  in  manuscript  music 
books  of  the  seventeenth  and  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  centuries,  and  in  some  of  the 
early  printed  books  a  variable  number  of  lines 
is  occasionally  found.  Frescobaldi  in  his 
"Tocate,  canzone  versi  d'Hinni  Magnificat, 
Gagliardi,  Correnti,  et  Altri  Partite  di  Cimbalo 
et  organo,"  which  was  printed  from  copper 
plates  in  1637,  employs  a  stave  of  eight  lines. 

The  stave  of  eleven  lines,  called  also  the 
"  grand  stave,"  has  been  in  use  for  many 
generations  ;  the  following  from,  "  LArmo- 
nica  pratico  el  Cimbalo  di  Francesco  Gaspa-  | 


rini,"  Venice,  1729,  shows  the  form  with  the 
clefs  then  in  use  in  Italy. 


Sir  John  Hawkins,  in  his  "  History  of  the 
Science  and  Practice  of  Music,"  quotes  a 
canzona  from  Frescobaldi's  collection,  but  he 
has  modernised  the  stave.  Although  five  is  now 
the  general  number  of  lines  employed  as  the 
stave  for  all  voices  and  instruments,  yet  it  is 
by  no  means  an  unfrequent  thing  to  find  a 
stave  of  one  line  only  for  pulsatile  instru- 
ments with  a  single  unvarying  tone,  as 
cymbals,  gongs,  triangle,  great  drum,  &c, 

(3)  In  modern  music  the  position  of  the 
clef  upon  the  stave  gives  a  special  itle  to  the 
stave  ;  the  G  clef  upon  the  second  line,  the 
C  clef  upon  the  first,  second,  third  or  fourth 
lines,  and  the  F  clef  upon  the  fourth  line, 
cause  the  stave  to  be  known  as  the  treble, 
soprano,  mezzo-soprano,  alto,  tenor  or  bass 
staves  respectively,  A  double  stave,  with  the 
G  and  F  clefs  connected  by  a  brace,  is  used 
for  pianoforte  and  organ  music,  &c, 

(4)  A  stanza,  a  portion  of  a  song,  A  verse. 
Stag  {Ger.)    The  bridge  of  a  violin,  &c. 

Ponticello  {It.),  Chevalet  {Fr.) 

Stem.  Cauda  {Lat.),  Virgitla  {Lat.)  The 
line  attached  to  the  head  of  a  note.  All 
notes  but  the  semibreve,  or  whole-note,  have 
stems  ;  quavers  and  their  subdivisions  have 
stems  and  hooks.  In  writing  a  "  single  part" 
for  a  voice  or  instrument,  it  is  usual  to  turn 
the  stems  of  notes  lying  below  the  middle 
line  of  the  stave  upwards,  of  notes  lying 
above  the  middle  line  downwards.  Notes  on 
the  middle  line  have  their  stems  up  or  down 
as  seems  best,  e.g.  : 


When  two  parts  are  written  on  one  line,  the 
tails  of  the  upper  part  are  always  turned  up- 
wards, those  of  the  lower  part  downwards. 
When  both  parts  play  the  same  note  the 
stem  is  drawn  both  up  and  down,  and  if  it  is 
a  semibreve,  two  notes  intersect  each  other, 
e.g. : 


(  408  ) 


STENTANDO  STRASCINO. 


In  short  score,  or  a  compression  of  four  parts 
into  two  hnes,  the  tails  of  notes  in  the 
treble  part  are  always  turned  up,  those  of  the 
alto  down,  those  of  the  tenor  up,  those  of  the 
bass  down  ;  the  treble  and  alto  parts  being 
contined  to  the  upper  stave,  the  tenor  and  bass 
to  the  lower,  e.g.  : 


In  groups  of  notes  falling  between  the  upper 
and  lower  stave  the  stems  are  sometimes 
partly  up  and  partly  down  for  convenience, 


Up  to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
each  note  having  a  stem  and  hook  was  printed 
separately,  instead  of  being  bound  together 
as  in  the  above  groups  of  semiquavers. 
[Printing  of  Music]  In  mediaeval  music,  for 
a  short  period,  the  position  of  the  stem,  up 
or  down,  affected  the  length  of  the  note. 

Stentando  [It.)    Delaying,  retarding. 

Stentato  (7^.)    Forced,  emphasised. 

Steso  [It.)  Extended,  spread,  diffused. 
Steso  moto,  slow  movement. 

Stesso  (It.)  The  same.  L'istesso  tempo, 
the  same  time. 

Sthenochire.  A  hand  strengthener.  A 
machine  for  imparting  strength  and  flexi- 
bility to  the  fingers  for  pianoforte-playing. 

Sticcado  or  Sticcato.  An  instrument 
composed  of  pieces  of  wood  of  graduated 
lengths,  flat  at  the  bottom  and  rounded  at 
the  top,  resting  on  the  edges  of  an  open  box, 
and  tuned  to  a  diatonic  scale.  The  tone  is 
produced  by  striking  the  pieces  of  wood  with 
small  hard  balls  at  the  end  of  a  flexible  stick. 
A  similar  instrument  made  of  glass  or  metal 
is  called  a  Harmonicon.  [Gigelira.] 

Stiefel  (Ger.)  Boot  of  a  reed-pipe  in  an 
organ.  [Organ.] 

Stift  (Ger.)  The  jack  of  a  spinet  or  harp- 
sichord. [Jack.] 

Stil  (Ger.)  Style. 

Stile  (7^)    Style.  [Stilus.] 

Still-gedact  (Ger.)  An  organ  stop  of 
soft  tone. 

Stilus  (Lat.)  Style,  as,  stilus  choraicus 
(stilo  coraico,  It.)  the  dance  style  ;  stihis 
ecclesiasticus  (stile  ecclesiastico,  It.)  the  church 
style  ;  stilus  fnmiliaris  (stile  fnmiliare,  It.) 
the  simple  style,  note  against  note ;  stilus 


hyporchematiciis,  the  theatrical  style  ;  stilus 
madrigalescus,  the  madrigal  style ;  stilus 
melismaticus,  the  florid  style  ;  stilus  motec- 
ticus,  the  motet  style  ;  stilus  phantasticus 
[stile  fantastico,  It.)  the  fantasia  style  ;  stilus 
recitativus  [stile  rappresentativo  or  dramma- 
ticojt.)  thedramatic  style  ;  stilus  syllabicus,  the 
syllabic  style,  in  which  not  more  than  one 
note  is  given  to  each  syllable;  stilus  sytu- 
I  phoniacus  [stile  sinfonico,  It.)  the  instru- 
mental style. 

Stimme  [Ger.)  (i)  The  voice.  (2)  Sound. 

(3)  The  sound-post  of  a  violin  or  violoncello. 

(4)  A  part  in  vocal  or  instrumental  music. 

(5)  An  organ  stop,  or  rank  of  pipes. 
Stimmgabel  [Ger.)  Tuning-fork. 
Stimmholzchen  [Ger.)    Sound-post  of  a 

fiddle,  &c. 

Stimmhorn  [Ger.)  Tuning  cone.  [Organ.] 

Stimmpfeife  [Ger.)    A  pitch-pipe. 

Stimmschliissel,  Stimmhammer  [Ger.) 
A  tuning  key. 

Stimmstock  [Ger.)  The  sound-post  of  a 
violin  or  violoncello. 

Stinguendo  (7^.)  Fading  away,  dying 
away. 

Stiracchiato,  Stirato  [It.)  Widening, 
enlarging,  retarding  the  time. 

Stockfagott.  [Rackett.] 

Stonante  (7^.)    Discordant,  untuneful. 

Stop,  (i)  The  pressure  by  the  fingers  of 
the  strings  upon  the  fingerboard  of  a  stringed 
instrument.  (2)  A  fret  upon  a  guitar  or 
similar  instrument.  (3)  A  collection,  register, 
or  row  of  pipes  in  an  organ. 

Stopped  diapason.  [Organ.] 

Stopper.  The  plug  inserted  in  the  top  of 
an  organ  pipe,  in  order  to  "  close  "  it. 

Stopples.  Plugs  inserted  in  some  of  the 
ventages  of  the  flute  in  order  to  accommodate 
its  scale  to  some  particular  mode. 

Storto,  Storta  (7^.)  A  name  formerly 
given  to  the  horn,  serpent,  &c.,  because  of 
their  twisted  form. 

Strain.  A  musical  subject  forming  part 
of,  and  having  relation  to,  a  general  whole. 
At  one  time  every  subordinate  portion  of  a 
composition  either  marking  rhythmical  pauses 
or  completed  sentences  was  distinguished  by 
a  double  bar,  and  therefore  the  double  bar 
was  held  to  mark  the  strain,  a  practice  which 
is  still  observed  in  writing  chants  and  hymn 
tunes,  where  the  double  bar  marks  a  strain, 
but  not  a  completed  phrase  or  subject. 

Strascicando  [It.)  Dragging  or  drawling. 

Strascicato  [It.)    Dragged,  drawled. 

Strascinando  [It.)  [Strascicando.] 

Strascinando  I'arco  [It.)  Drawing  or 
dragging  the  bow  over  the  strings  so  as  to 
bind  the  notes  together 

Strascino  (7^.)  A  drag  or  slur;  a  term 
applied  to  a  slurring  movement  from  sound 


(  409  ) 


STRATHSPEY  STROPHE. 


down  to  sound,  the  pace  at  the  same  time 
being  slightly  slackened. 

Strathspey.  A  Scotch  dance  in  duple 
time,  invented  about  the  beginning  of  the 
i8th  century,  and  first  danced  in  Strathspey, 
from  whence  it  derives  its  name.  The 
"  Scotch  Snap  "  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of 
the  tunes  for  this  dance. 

Stravagante  {It.)  Extravagant,  capri- 
cious, fantastical. 

Stravaganza  (It.)  Extravagance,  eccen- 
tricity. I 

Streichinstrument  (Ger.)  A  stringed  in- 
strument played  by  the  stroke  of  a  bow. 

Streichquartett  (Ger.)  String  quartet. 

Streichzither  (Ger.)  A  zither  played  with 
a  bow. 

Strene.  The  name  given  by  Marbecke  to 
a  breve. 

Two  explanations  have  been  given  of  the 
meaning  of  the  word  strene;  the  first  is,  that 
it  is  a  note  which  may  be  stretched  or  strained 
for  the  purpose  of  recitation  ;  the  second  is 
that  is  bounded  or  constrained  by  two  lines. 
Marbecke's  use  of  the  note  certainly  does  not 
justify  the  first  of  these  meanings. 

Streng  (Ger.)  Strict,  severe,  rigid.  Streng 
gebunden,  strictly,  tied  or  legato,  exceed- 
ingly smooth.  Streng  in  tempo,  strictly  in 
time.  Strenge  Fuge,  a  strict  fugue. 

Strepito  (It.)  Noise. 

Strepitosamente  (It.)  Noisily. 

Strepitoso  {It.)    Noisy,  impetuous. 

Stretta  {It.)  A  coda,  a  final  passage  taken 
in  quicker  time  than  the  preceding  move- 
ments. The  conclusion  of  the  chorus  in 
Haydn's  Creation,  "  The  heavens  are  telling," 
is  a  stretta. 

Stretto  {It.)  Contracted,  close.  A  stretto 
in  a  fugue  is  the  bringing  closely  together  the 
subject  and  its  answer.  [Fugue.] 

Striking-reed.  A  percussion  reed.  [Reed.] 

String.    Abb.  of  stringendo. 

String.  Prepared  wire  or  catgut,  plain  or 
covered,  used  for  musical  instruments.  Strings 
of  steel  or  brass  wire  are  used  for  all  instru- 
ments which  are  struck  with  hammers  or 
plectra,  as  dulcimers,  zithers,  mandolines, 
and  pianofortes,  and  strings  of  catgut  for 
instruments  played  with  the  unprotected 
fingers,  or  with  a  bow,  as  guitars,  harps, 
violins,  violas,  violoncellos,  and  double-basses. 
Violin  strings  are  made  of  catgut,  each  string 
being  of  a  different  thickness  according  to 
the  tone  and  tension  required,  the  fourth 
string  being  covered  with  a  fine  wire  either 
of  silver  or  white  metal;  hence  it  is  called  the 
silver  string.  Violas  and  violoncellos  have 
each  two  silver  strings,  the  object  in  using 
covered  strings  being  to  ensure  a  sufficient 
gravity  of  tone  without  having  too  clumsy  a 
material.     The  covered  strings  on  the  guitar  | 


are  upon  a  basis  of  silk  instead  of  catgut,  and 
the  double  bass  strings  are  of  thick  gut  un- 
covered. A  large  quantity  of  catgut  strings 
for  musical  instruments  is  made  in  England, 
but  the  best  are  imported  from  Italy,  which 
has,  from  time  immemorial,  been  famous  in 
this  branch  of  industry.  Rome,  Venice,  Pis- 
toja,  Lyons,  were  mentioned  by  Thomas 
Mace,  1676,  as  the  most  famous  places  from 
whence  strings  were  brought  in  his  day. 

Silk  has  been  sometimes  used  as  the 
material  of  first  violin  strings,  but  with  ques- 
tionable success. 

Among  uncivilised  people  strings  are 
made  of  the  hair  of  animals,  the  fibres  of 
creeping  plants,  of  fibrous  roots  of  trees,  of 
cane,  and  of  thongs  of  leather. 

Stringendo  {It.)  Pressing,  hastening  on 
the  time. 

String-gauge.  A  small  instrument  for 
measuring  the  thickness  of  strings  for  violins, 
guitars,  &c.,  consisting  of  a  disc  or  an  oblong 
piece  of  metal,  with  a  graduated  slit  and  en- 
graved table. 

String  Organ.  A  new  musical  instru- 
ment, the  sounds  of  which  are  produced  by 
the  association  of  a  free  reed  and  wire  string 
in  the  following  manner  :  "  Near  the  ex- 
tremity of  a  free  reed  is  attached  a  small  rod 
or  pin,  which  is  in  turn  fastened  to  a  point 
near  the  middle  of  a  steel  pianoforte  wire 
properly  stretched  above  it  in  the  same  linear 
direction,  and  the  reed  is  then  excited  by  a 
harmonium  bellows."  The  tone  produced  is 
very  sweet  and  pure,  and  by  graduating  the 
size  of  the  reed,  and  thickness  and  tension  of 
the  string,  a  very  extensive  compass  can  be 
obtained.  Mr.  John  Farmer,  of  Harrow, 
some  )'ears  ago  made  experiments  on  this 
method  of  obtaining  musical  sounds,  and  so 
interested  his  pupil,  Mr.  J.  Baillie  Hamilton, 
that  he  has  since  that  time  devoted  himself 
enthusiastically  to  the  development  of  its 
resources,  with  every  prospect  of  success. 

String  quartet,  (i)  A  composition  in 
four  parts  ;  for  two  violins,  viola  and  violon- 
cello. (2)  The  group  of  stringed  instruments 
in  a  band. 

Strisciando  {It.)  Creeping,  gliding,  slur- 
ring smoothly  from  one  note  to  another. 

Strofa  {It.)    A  strophe.  [Stanza.] 

Strohfiiedel  {Ger.)  [Gigelira.] 

Stroke  of  the  bow.  [Bowing.] 

Strombettare  {It.)    To  sound  a  trumpet. 

Strombettiere  (7^.)    A  trumpet-player. 

Stromentato  {It.)  Instrumented,  scored 
for  an  orchestra. 

Stromento  {It.)  An  instrument.  Stro- 
mento  di  fiato  or  di  vento,  a  wind  instrument. 
Stromento  di  corda,  a  stringed  instrument. 

Strophe  {Gk.)  aTpo<pfi.  Lit.,  A  turning. 
The  turning  of  the  GreeK  Chorus  towards  a 


(  410  ) 


STUBENORGEL  SUITE. 


particular  part  of  the  orchestra  in  dancing ; 
as  antistrophe  {ayriarpoipi))  was  their  returning. 
Hence,  the  term  came  to  be  appHed  to  the 
portions  of  the  poem  sung  during  these 
movements. 

Stubenorgel  {Ger.)    A  chamber  organ. 

Stiick  {Ger.)  A  piece,  air,  tune,  com- 
position. 

Study.  A  term  appHed  to  an  exercise  for 
the  pianoforte  or  other  instrument. 

Stufe  {Ger.)  A  step,  a  degree.  Stiife  der 
Tonleiter,  a  degree  of  the  scale. 

Sttirmisch  {Ger.)  Boisterously,  furiously, 
impetuously. 

Style.  Character,  form,  or  temperament 
of  music  with  reference  to,  (i)  the  result  of 
individual  influence ;  as,  Handel's  style, 
Spohr's  style  ;  (2)  the  conformity  of  music 
to  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  written,  as 
the  Church  style,  the  Glee  style  ;  (3)  the  con- 
ventional or  national  method  of  performance  ; 
as,  the  Italian  style,  the  Scotch  style;  (4)  its 
construction  ;  as,  the  Chromatic  style,  the 
Fugue  style. 

Suabe  flute.  [Flute.] 

Suave  (It.)    Sweet,  agreeable,  pleasant. 

Suavemente,  Suavita,  con  (7^.)  Sweetly, 
with  delicacy. 

Sub-bass,  Sub-bourdon.  A  pedal  register 
in  the  organ  of  32  ft.  tone.  [Organ.] 

Stib-chanter.  Succentor. 

Subdiapente,  Subdominant.  The  fifth 
below  or  the  fourth  above  any  key  note. 

Subduple  proportion.  [Proportio.] 

Subitamente,  Subito  {It.)  Suddenly, 
without  pause.    Volti  subito,  turn  quickly. 

Subject.  The  theme  or  principal  phrase 
of  any  movement,  from  which  all  the  sub- 
ordinate ideas  spring  or  are  developed.  In 
sonata  form  there  should  be  two  chief  subjects, 
called  first  and  second  ;  in  rondo  form,  one  is 
sufficient.  In  a  fugue  the  subject  is  called 
also  the  exposition,  dux,  proposition.  [Fugue.] 
[Sonata.] 

Submediant.    The  sixth  of  the  scale. 

Suboctave.  A  coupler  in  the  organ  which 
pulls  down  keys  one  octave  below  those  which 
are  struck. 

Subprincipal.     An  organ  stop  consist- 
ing of  open  pipes,  of  32  ft.  pitch  on  the  pedals, 
and  of  16  ft.  pitch  on  the  manuals.  ^ 
Subsemifusa  {Lat.)  Ademisemiquaver^^ 
Subsemitone.    [Leading  note.] 
Subsemitonium  modi  {Lat.)     The  lead- 
ing note. 

Subtonic.  The  leading  note.  Note  sensible 
(Fr.)  Master-note.the  semitone  below  the  tonic. 

Succentor,  Sub-chanter,  Sou-chantre 
{Fr.)    An  officer  of  the  choir,  the  deputy  of 
the  Prsecentor,  appointed  by  the  Dean  and 
Chapter  of  a  cathedral.     In  "Cathedralia"  I 
we  find  that  : — "  The  succentor  originally  led  | 


the  antiphonal  chant  on  the  side  opposite  the 
Prjecentor,  as  S.  Augustine  includes  under 
cantores  the  prascentor  '  qui  vocem  prasmittit 
in  cantu;'  and  the  succentor  'qui  subse- 
quenter  canendo  respondet.'  The  succentor 
major  of  canons  was  first  instituted  at  Wells 
A.D.  1130-74.  At  Hereford  the  succentor  or 
praecentor  presented  absent  Vicars.  The 
sub-chanter  at  York  directed  the  minor  canons, 
and  the  succentor,  as  in  other  cathedrals,  was 
the  pra;centor's  vicar,  with  regard  to  vicars- 
choral  and  songmen,  and  delated  offenders  to 
the  Saturday  chapter.  At  Chichester  and 
Exeter  he  tabled  the  duties  of  the  vicars  in 
the  week.  At  Salisbury  and  York  he  ranked 
next  to  the  archdeacons.  He  supplied  the 
prascentor's  place  during  absence,  and  ruled 
the  song-school  by  his  officer.  At  Wells  and 
Lichfield  he  wrote  out  all  chants  not  in  the 
table,  arranged  the  method  and  order  of  the 
processions,  enjoined  the  lections  on  greater 
doubles  and  in  masses,  and  after  Benedicite 
on  Saturday  in  chapter  arranged  the  table  of 
services  for  the  ensuing  week.  At  St.  Paul's 
he  acts  in  the  precentor's  absence,  as  regards 
the  regulation  of  the  service,  and  in  olden 
times  had  to  be  obeyed  by  major  canons, 
minor  canons,  and  all  other  ministers.  At 
Chichester  his  duty  was  to  give  stripes,  seven 
or  fourteen  in  his  discretion,  to  the  boys,  if 
they  behaved  badly  in  the  choir,  and  at 
Hereford  his  duty  was  to  bear  the  '  burden  ' 
of  the  psalmody  and  chant,  to  distribute  copes 
on  the  greater  festivals,  to  order  processions, 
to  punish  clerks  of  the  first  form  who  were 
not  of  the  family  of  a  canon,  and  suspend 
others  offending.  He  delated  offenders  to 
the  chapter,  he  took  care  that  the  singing  was 
reverently  conducted,  and  appointed  five  boys 
of  clerks  of  the  first  form,  removeable  at  his 
will,  to  sing  the  antiphons,  and  to  carry 
tapers  and  thuribles.  An  honest  robe,  shoes, 
and  stockings  were  provided  for  these  boys 
out  of  the  allowances  of  the  succentor." 

Succession,  (i)  The  order  in  which  the 
notes  of  a  melody  proceed.  There  are  two 
sorts  of  succession,  regular  or  conjoint,  and 
disjunct.  A  regular  or  conjoint  succession 
is  that  in  which  the  notes  succeed  each  other 
in  the  order  of  the  scale  to  which  they  belong, 
either  ascending  or  descending.  In  a  dis 
junct  succession  the  melody  is  formed  ot 
intervals  greater  than  a  second. 

(2)  A  sequence  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as 
a  succession,  and  passages  of  similar  '.hords 
or  progressions  are  described  as  a  succession 
of  thirds,  fourths,  fifths,  sixths,  sevenths  or 
octaves,  as  the  case  may  be. 

Sudden  modulation.  [Modulation.] 
Sufflote,  Sifflote  {Ger.)  [Flute.] 
Suite  {Fr.)    A  set,  series,  or  succession 
of  movements  in   music.     The  term  was 


(  4") 


SUIVEZ  SUSPENSION. 


applied  at  an  early  period  to  collections  of 
dance  tunes  of  contrasted  character  but 
similar  tonality.  Galliards  and  Pavins  chiefly 
formed  the  Suites  composed  until  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  After  which, 
almains,  or  alhmands,  corantos,  grounds 
(passecailles),  sarabands,  jigs,  minuets,  passe- 
pieds.  gavots,  ice,  were  more  favoured;  and 
in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
titles  of  all  the  dances  were  dropped  with  the 
exception  of  the  minuet,  which  was  retained. 
Then  the  Suite  became  a  Sonata,  and  the 
word  Sonata,  instead  of  being  loosely  applied 
to  "  Suits  of  Lessons  for  the  Harpsichord," 
became  employed  to  describe  a  composition 
of  definite  form  and  arrangement. 

Suivez  {Fr.)  Follow.    A  direction  to  an 
accompanist  to  watch  the  singer  or  soloist, 
and  accommodate  the  accompaniment  to  his  ' 
singing  or  playing. 

Sujet  {Fr.)  A  subject,  melody,  phrase  or 
theme. 

Sul,  Sail',  Sulla  (It.)  On,  upon,  by. 
Sulla  soprano  corda,  upon  the  first  string;' 
sul  ponticello,  by  or  near  the  bridge,  in  violin 
playing  ;  stilla  tastiera,  upon  the  key-board. 

Sultana.    A  violin  with  strings  of  wire 
in  pairs,  like  the  cither  or  cittern.    It  was  : 
similar  to  the  Sireichzither.  ' 

Summation  tones.    [Acoustics,  §  19.] 

Suo  loco  (It.)    In  its  own  place,  in  the 
register  as  written. 

Suonata  (It.)  A  sonata.  Suonata  di 
camera,  a  chamber  sonata,  a  secular  piece. 
Suonata  di  chiesa,  sonata  for  the  organ,  piece 
for  church  use. 

Super  {Lat.)  Above,  over.  Super  dominant, 
the  note  next  above  the  dominant.  The  sixth 
of  the  scale.  Supertonic,X\\e.stconA  of  thescale. 

Superfluous  intervals.  Those  intervals 
greater  by  a  semitone  than  major  or  perfect. 
|"Interval.] 

Superius  {Lat.)  A  name  given  to  the 
upper  part  in  a  composition  by  the  writers  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 

Superoctave.  (i  )  An  organ  stop  tuned  two 
octaves  above  the  diapasons.  (2)  A  coupler 
pulling  down  keys  one  octave  above  those 
struck. 

Supersus.  A  term  formerly  applied  to 
high  treble  parts. 

Supertonique  (Fr.)  Supertonic. 

Supplichevole  (/<.), Supplichevolmente 
{It.)    In  an  imploring,  supplicating  manner. 

Supposed  bass.  A  term  applied  to  any 
bass  note  forming  one  of  the  inversions  of 
a  chord,  in  contradistinction  to  the  real  bass 
or  generator. 


E  is  the  supposed,  C  the  real  bass. 


Sur  (Fr.)  Upon,  on,  over.  Srir  la  qua' 
trieme  corde,  upon  the  fourth  string  ;  sur  une 
corde,  on  one  string. 

Suspended  cadence.  An  interrupted 
cadence.  [Cadence.] 

Suspension.  The  holding  or  prolonga- 
tion of  a  note  in  any  chord  into  the  chord 
which  follows,  thereb}-  often  producing  a  dis- 
cord. The  first  appearance  of  the  note  to 
be  suspended  is  called  its  preparation  ;  its 
presence  as  a  discord,  its  percussion ;  its 
removal  to  a  note  of  rest  in  key,  or  some 
legitimate  sound  of  a  sequence,  its  resolution. 
Suspensions  are  named  alter  the  interval  of 
the  note  forming  the  discord.  Two  sus- 
pended notes  form  a  double  suspension ; 
three  a  triple  suspension,  and  so  on.  The 
intervals  most  commonly  suspended  are  the 
fourth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  ninth. 

The  percussion  of  a  discord  of  suspen- 
sion is  generally  on  the  strong  accent  of  a 
bar. 


43434343 


The  above  (Ex.  i)  shows  the  suspension 
4  3  on  every  note  of  the  scale.  It  cannot 
legitimately  appear  on  the  subtonic,  owing  to 
the  imperfection  of  the  fifth. 

The  next  (Ex.  2)  shows  suspended  sixths 
on  every  degree  of  the  scale  but  the  seventh, 
on  which  it  is  not  considered  a  genuine  sus- 
pension. 


Ex.2. 


E=p=p^  ■  I  ,.  II 

65  65 
The  next  (Ex.  3)  shows  that  suspended 


(  4"  ) 


suss  SYMPHONY. 


sevenths  can  occur  on  every  degree  of  the 
scale. 


7        6  7 

In  the  following  (Ex.  4)  a  ninth  is  sus- 
pended on  every  degree  of  the  scale.  The 
chord  marked  *  is  rarely  met  with,  and 
probably  would  not  be  tolerated  unless  as 
part  of  sequence  such  as  that  in  which  it 
occurs. 


989898 
In  Ex.  5,  at  a  will  be  found  the  double  sus- 
pension I  I  ;  at  6  the  double  suspension  ?  §  ; 
at  c  the  triple   suspension  |  |  ;  a.t  d  the 
4  3 

triple  suspension  f  *  ;  at  e  the  quadruple 
suspension  ^  |.     *  ^ 


An  exhaustive  list  of  suspensions  has  never 
yet  been  attempted.  The  constant  use  of 
chromatic  progressions  in  modern  music  has 
led  to  the  formation  of  a  vast  number  of 
chromatic  suspensions  which  early  writers  on 


harmony  never  could  have  anticipated,  and 
which  modern  theorists  make  no  attempt  to 
explain. 

Siiss  (Ger.)  Sweet. 

Sussurando,  Sussurante  (It.)  Whisper- 
ing, murmuring. 

Sustained  note.  A  name  given  to  pro- 
longed notes  which  partake  of  the  character 
of  a  pedal-point  by  their  immunity  from 
ordinary  harmonic  rules,  but  which  cannot 
with  propriety  be  called  pedal-points  owing 
to  their  occurrence  in  the  middle  or  upper 
part,  e.g.  : 

Soprani.  Beethoven's  Mass  in  C. 


Svegliato  (It.)    Awakened,  brisk,  lively. 
Svelte  (It.)    Swift,  light,  quick,  free,  easy. 
Swell.  [Organ.] 

Symphonion.  A  combination  of  the 
pianoforte  and  harmonium,  invented  by 
Kauffman  of  Dresden. 

Symphony,  Symphonie  (Fr.),  Sinfonia 
(It.)  (i)  A  composition  for  an  orchestra, 
similar  in  construction  to  the  sonata,  which 
is  usually  for  a  single  instrument.  A  sym 
phony  has  several  varied  movements,  gene 
rally  four,  never  less  than  three.  The  first,  an 
allegro  ;  the  second,  a  largo,  or  andante  ;  the 
third,  a  scherzo,  or  minuet  and  trio ;  and  the 
fourth,  an  allegro.  The  form  of  the  first  and 
last  movement  is  usually  that  of  the  sonata. 
The  scherzo,  or  the  minuet,  in  some  sym- 
phonies is  placed  before  instead  of  after  the 
slow  movement. 

The  arrangement  of  the  symphony  after  this 
order  is  due  to  Haydn.  About  the  same  period 
Gossec  composed  a  symphony,  the  twenty- 
first  out  of  twenty-nine  of  which  he  was  the 
author,  which  was  a  decided  advance  in 
musical  form,  not  only  upon  his  own  previous 
compositions,  but  also  upon  those  of  others. 
Gossec's  symphonies  are  of  varied  character, 
and  according  to  the  short  description  given  by 
Fetis,  belong  chiefly  to  the  class  of  concerto 
rather  than  to  that  of  symphony,  as  they  are  for 
the  most  part  for  certain  obbligati  instru- 
ments. The  "  Symphonie  en  re."  written  for 
the  "  Concert  des  Amateurs,"  gave  the  first 
impulse  towards  the  perfection  of  instrumen- 
tation in  France  It  was  written  for  two 
violins,  viola,  violoncello,   contrabass,  two 


(  ) 


SYMPOSIAC  SZOPELKA. 


oboes,  two  clarinets,  a  flute,  two  bassoons, 
two  horns,  two  trumpets,  and  drums.  "  L'effet 
en  fut  tres  remarquable."  It  is,  however,  to 
Haydn  that  the  perfecting  of  the  symphony 
is  due.  For  he  possessed  an  extensive  ac- 
quaintance with  the  character  and  resources 
of  every  known  orchestral  instrument.  "  If 
any  doubts  arose  during  composition,  his 
situation  at  Eisenstadt  gave  him  the  power 
of  resolving  them  into  certainties  immediately. 
He  rang  the  bell  for  a  rehearsal,  the  per- 
formers appeared,  he  caused  them  to  execute 
the  doubtful  passages  two  or  three  various 
ways,  and  making  his  choice  of  one  of  them, 
dismissed  the  orchestra,  and  returned  to  his 
labours."  [Sonata.] 

(2)  Formerly  overtures  were  called  sym- 
phonies ;  in  the  Dublin  MS.  of  the  "  Messiah," 
the  property  of  Sir  Frederick  Ouseley,  Handel 
has  called  the  overture  "  Sinfonica,"  and  it 
was  a  common  practice  in  his  time  to  name 
any  long  instrumental  piece  after  this  manner. 

(3)  The  introductory,  intermediate,  and 
concluding  instrumental  parts  of  a  song  or 
other  vocal  piece  are  also  called  symphonies. 

(4)  In  the  seventeenth  century  the  virginal 
was  sometimes  spoken  of  as  a  symphony. 

(5)  A  bagpipe  has  also  been  called  a  sym- 
phony, perhaps  a  corruption  of  the  word 
xampogna. 

Symposiac.  A  term  applied  to  cheerful 
and  convivial  compositions  for  voices,  as  glees, 
catches,  rounds,  &c. 

Sytiaphe  (Gk.)  The  conjunction  of  two 
tetrachords.    [Greek  Music] 


Synaulia  [Gk.)  A  concert  of  flute  players 
performing  alternately. 

Syncopation,  Syncopatio  {Lat.),  Syn- 
cope {Fr.)  Suspension  or  alteration  of 
rhythm  by  driving  the  accent  to  that  part  of 
a  bar  not  usually  accented.  Syncopation 
may  be  completed  in  a  bar  : 


Or  it  may  be  carried  by  sequence  through 
several  bars : 


Or  it  may  be  so  that  more  than  one  bar  is  in- 
volved in  the  syncopation  : 


Syncopated  counterpoint  is  the  fourth  species 
of  counterpoint. 

Syncopiren  (Ger.)  To  syncopate.  [Syn- 
copation.] 

Synnemenon.    [Greek  Music] 

Syren.  [Acoustics.] 

Syrinx.    [Pan's  Pipes.] 

Szopelka  {Russ.)  A  kind  of  oboe,  about 
fifteen  inches  in  length,  made  of  elder  wood, 
having  a  brass  mouth-piece  and  eight  large 
and  seven  small  finger  holes.  It  is  a  popular 
instrument  in  Southern  Russia,  and  is  the 
Western  representative  of  the  Eastern 
Zourna. 


(414) 

i 


T.  TABLATURE. 


T. 


T.  Abb.  of  tasto,  t.s.,  tasto  solo,  manuals 
only  ;  also  of  tenor,  and  tutti. 

Ta,  te,  tee,  to.  (ra,  te,  tti,  Tut)  (Gk  ) 
Syllables  used  by  the  Greeks  for  purposes  of 
solmization. 

Taballo  {It.)  Kettle-drum. 

Tabarde,  or  TabSrte  {Old  Eng.)  Tabor. 

Tabl.  An  Egyptian  drum  formed  from  a 
hollowed  block  of  wood,  or  made  of  earthen- 
ware, with  a  skin  stretched  over  one  end. 

Tablature  {Fr.)  Intavolatura  {It.)  Tab- 
latur  {Ger.)  (i)  A  general  name  for  all  the 
signs  and  characters  used  in  music.  Those 
who  were  well  acquainted  with  these  signs 
were  said  to  sing  by  the  Tablature.  (2)  A 
peculiar  system  of  notation  employed  for 
instruments  of  the  lute  class,  for  viols,  and 
certain  wind  instruments.  The  earliest 
systems  of  notation,  like  the  music  of  Asiatic 
nations  to  this  day,  were  different  sorts  of 
Tablature  of  the  character  shown  in  the 
following  example  from  Fetis  : — 


NOTES  OF  A   PIPE   IN  TABLATURE. 


TABLATURE  NOTES  TRANSLATED  BY  FETIS. 

That  which  may  be  called  the  modern  Tabla- 
ture was  invented  not  earlier  than  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  general  character  pf  the  tablature 
employed  was  nearly  the  same  in  England, 
France,  Spain,  and  Italy,  though  each  country 
made  variations  in  it  according  to  fancy,  and 
sometimes  the  several  professors  who  taught 
in  those  countries  had  little  peculiarities  of 
their  own  in  which  they  differed  from  their 
brother  professors.  These  differences  doubt- 
less contributed  towards  making  the  general 
system  as  perfect  as  it  could  be  in  the  end. 
Sir  John  Hawkins,  quoting  Mersennus,  says 
that  several  skilful  men  had  laboured  to 
improve  the  Tablature,  but  they  affected  to 
make  a  mystery  of  it,  and  this  gave  rise  to  a 
diversity  of  notation  between  them.  It  is 
therefore  probable  that  systems  of  writing  in 
Tablature  were  in  existence  long  before  the 
publication  of  treatises  on  the  subject.  Adrien 
le  Roy,  a  bookseller  in  Paris,  published  about 
1570  a  book  with  the  title  of  "  Briefve  et 


facile  Instruction  pour  apprendre  la  Tablature, 

a  bien  accorder,  conduire,  et  disposer  la  main 
sur  la  Guiterne  ;"  the  popularity  of  this  work 
was  so  great  that  it  was  translated  into  sundry 
languages  as  soon  as  possible  afterpublication. 
An  English  translation,  the  basis  of  all  sub- 
sequent systems  puolished  in  England,  was 
made  by  one  signing  himself  with  the  initials 
F.  K.,  and  published  by  John  Kingston  in 
1574- 

The  tuning  of  the  lute  according  to  Adrien 
le  Roy  was  as  follows  : — 
ist  String  C       a    b   c    d    e    f    g    h  i 
2nd  String  G  . 
3rd  String  D  , 
4th  String  B*? , 
5th  String  F  . 
6th  String  C 


I     I     I     I  I 


I     i     I  I 


I  I 


I     I  I 


I     I     I     I  I 


so  that,  with  the  use  of  the  frets,  usually  eight, 
and  lettered  from  a,  the  open  string,  to  z, 
each  string  was  capable  of  giving  a  minor 
sixth  from  its  open  tone.  The  letters  refer  to 
the  frets  which  were  on  the  finger-board,  each 
fret  representing  a  semitone,  the  letter  a 
always  standing  for  the  open  string.  The 
horizontal  lines  stand  for  the  strings,  and  the 
letters,  the  points  at  which  they  are  to  be 
stopped,  so  forming  the  notes  of  the  com- 
position.   The  signs  for  time  were 


Semibreve. 

Minim. 

Crotchet. 

Quaver. 

Semiquaver. 


placed  over  the  stave,  and  were  intended  to  cor- 
respond with  the  semibreve,  minim,  crotchet, 
&c.,  respectively.  It  was  to  be  understood 
that  the  sign  after  the  bar  represented  the 
value  of  all  the  notes  in  that  bar  unless 
otherwise  contradicted. 


N  ft 


^  ft 


,      a     d     d  \ 

i$    f     f  f 

d  a 

d  c 

• 

c 

( 415 ) 


TABLATURE. 


a 

.      :         1     •  • 

c     <<  c 

/  ' 

 a  

-r.  !  

which  ! 
would  I 

)eing  translated  into  ordinary  notation 
ead  : — 

-<s»-^ — s?-       '  -L 
1    J  J  J- 

^       ,   J  J ,  J    I  ,  1  1  ,  . 

u           '  ■  P--  ■-'  1^ 

5s)- 

'      '     '    1  - 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  while  in  music 
the  ordinary  notation  bars  were  either  entirely 
omitted,  or  used  as  guides  to  the  eye  rather 
than  as  exact  divisions  of  the  notes  into 
measurable  bars,  in  Tablature  the  bars  were 
more  often  properly  divided  according  to  the 
value  of  the  time  signature  than  not.  An 
earlier  publication  than  that  of  Adrien  le 
Roy  is  the  Lautten  Buck  of  Wolf  Heckel,  a 
writer  concerning  whom  nothing  is  known, 
beyond  the  fact  of  the  production  of  this  book, 
copies  of  which  are  extremely  rare;  one  is 
preserved  among  the  treasures  of  the  Sacred 
Harmonic  Society's  library.  It  bears  date 
Strasbourg,  1562,  and  its  title  runs  thus, 
"  Lautten  Buch,  von  mancherley  schonen 
und  lieblichen  stucken,  mit  zweyten  lautten 
zusammen  zuschlagen,  und  auch  sonst  das 
mehrer  theyl  allein  fiir  sich  selbst.  Gute 
Teutsche,  Lateinsche,  Frantzosische,  Italien- 
ische  Stuck  oder  lieder.  Auch  vilfaltige 
Newe  Tentz,  sampt  mancherley  Fantaseyen, 
Recercan,  Pavani,  Saltarelli,  und  Gassen- 
hawer,  &c."  The  book  is  an  oblong  quarto, 
printed  in  a  bold  type,  and  the  Tablature  is 
entirely  different  to  that  employed  by  the 
English,  French,  or  Italian  writers  for  the 
lute,  as  the  following  example  will  show, 
when  compared  with  the  other  specimens. 


i 

The  above  cut  shows  the  first  two  bars  of 
the  Tablature  of  the  dance  tune  given  under 
"  Gassenhawer." 

The  Italian  and  Spanish  writers  employed 


figures  instead  of  letters  to  indicate  the 
particular  fret  to  be  used,  as  in  "  II  Fronimo, 
Dialogo  sopra  I'arte  del  ben  intavolare  e 
rettamente  suonare  la  Musica,"  Venezia  1583, 
by  Vincentio  Galilei — the  father  of  the  famous 
mathematician.  In  the  "  Nobilta  di  Dame," 
Venice,  1605,  the  tunes  are  set  in  "  I'lntavola- 
tura  del  Liuto "  as  well  as  in  the  ordinary 
notation.  The  Italian  Tablature  was  used  in 
England  for  MS.  lute  music,  as  shown  in  the 
subjoined  specimen  from  a  book  written  about 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  or  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century. 


9vf^:'StT(L.J.il 


-0? 


Guitar  music  was  written  in  "  an  Alphabet. 
H  GO  B      E    o  G 


The  above  specimen  is  taken  from  Kaps- 
perger's  "  Libro  Primo  di  Villanelle  a  i,  2  et 
3  voci  accommodate  per  qual  si  vogliae  stru- 
mento  con  I'intavolatura  del  Chitarone  et 
alfabeto  per  la  Chitarra  Spagnuola,"  Rome, 
1610.  The  Tablature  for  the  arch-lute  (Chita 
rone)  is  after  the  ordinary  Italian  manner, 
while  the  alphabet  for  the  guitar  is  placed 
over  the  usual  notation,  implying,  however, 
the  employment  of  a  single  note  at  a  time 
only,  and  answering  the  purpose  of  figures 
for  fingering,  as  in  elementary  pianoforte 
music  of  the  present  day,  unless  the  letters 
refer  to  a  system  of  chords.  The  precise 
value  of  this  "Alfabeto  "  is  not  now  clear. 

In  England  Tablature  was  employed  for  all 
stringed  instruments,  and  as  those  most  in 
use  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  were 
those  plucked  by  the  fingers,  the  greater 
number  of  the  early  specimens  existing  refer 
to  this  class  of  instrument.  The  following 
portion  of  an  "Almaine  for  the  Lute" 


r  ri  m.  I 


fr         ec   -f-  CL 


e.  -f  ^ 


(  416  ) 


TABLATURE. 


is  to  be  found  in  "A  new  Booke  of  Tabli- 
ture,  containing  sundry  easie  and  familiar 
Instructions,  shewing  howe  to  attaine  to 
the  knowledge  to  guide  and  dispose  thy 
hand  to  play  on  sundrie  Instruments,  as 
the  Lute,  Orpharion,  and  Bandora:  Together 
with  divers  new  Lessons  to  each  of  these 
Instruments.  Whereunto  is  added  an  Intro- 
duction to  Pricke-Song,  and  certain  familliar 
rules  of  Descant,  with  other  necessary  Tables 
plainely  shewing  the  true  vse  of  the  Scale 
or  Gamut,  and  also  how  to  set  any  Lesson 
higher  or  lower  at  your  pleasure.  Collected 
together  out  of  the  best  Authors  professing  the 
practise  of  these  Instruments."  London, 
1596. 

A  like  form  of  Tablature  was  employed  for 
viols,  as  in  John  Dowland's  second  book  of  i 
Songs  or  Ayres,  printed  in  1600,  in  which  is 
a  lesson  in  this  peculiar  notation  for  the  bass 
viol,  entitled  "  Dowland's  Adeu  for  Master 
Oliver  Cromwell;"  and  the  "  Schoole  of 
Musicke,"  by  Thomas  Robinson,  lutenist, 
has  a  song  for  the  viol  in  Tablature. 

The  number  of  lines  employed  in  Tabla- 
ture was  regulated  by  the  number  of  strings 
the  instrument  possessed.  The  following 
portion  of  a  "  Pavin "  is  for  the  cittern, 
which  had  four  strings  : — 


s 


r 


OutKernes'Pauin. 


From  Philip  Rossetor's  "  Lessons  for  Consort," 
London,  i6og. 

To  show  a  little  variation  in  the  Tablature 
in  use  in  these  and  similar  books,  the  opening 
notes  of  a  "  Coranto,"  from  "  Musick's  Re- 
creation on  the  Lyra  Viol.  Being  a  choice 
collection  of  New  and  Excellent  Lessons 
for  the  Lyra  Viol,  both  easie  and  delightfull 
for  yong  Practitioners,"  c.  1656;  are  here 
added: — 


L)rinto. 


So  late  as  the  year  1682  Playford  published 
his  "Apollo's  Banquet,  containing  instruc- 


tions and  variety  of  new  tunes  Ayres  and 
Jiggs,  for  the  treble  violin  (fretted),"  in 
which  Tablature  is  employed,  with  the  com- 
pass of  the  four  strings  thus  set  forth — 
the  upper  line  indicating  the  frets  to  be 
used  : — 


The  First  or  Treble. 

A     B     C     D  E 

F  G 

The  Second  or  Small  Mean. 

 A— B— C— D— E— 

The  Third  or  Great  Mean. 

 A  R — r. — n — R— 

iF=:Grrt 

The  Fourth  String  or  Base. 

=f-^g3 

TUNING  OF  THE  LUTE. 


-£- 

d  b 

1  _j 

1 

d 

e 

a 

By 

Music  for  viols  was  written  sometimes  in 
the  ordinary  notation,  or  gamut-way;  but 
lute  music  was  always  written  in  Tablature 
or  Lyra-way. 

Tablature  for  wind  instruments  was  ex- 
pressed by  dots  on  a  stave  of  six,  seven,  or 
eight  lines,  according  to  the  number  of  holes, 
in  the  instrument,  the  number  of  dots  signi- 
fying the  number  of  holes  to  be  stopped  by 
the  fingers.  This  method,  employed  for  the 
German  flute,  hautboy  and  flageolet,  is  shown 
in  the  following  example,  taken  from  "The 
Pleasant  Companion  ;  or  New  Lessons  and 
Instructions  for  the  Flagelet,"  by  Thomas 
Greeting,  gent.    London,  1680. 

i  M  i  im 


■  J£or  n(i 


cj>z 


(417) 


TABLATURE. 


To  use  the  author's  own  words  : — "  All 
tunes  or  lessons  for  the  Flagelet  are  prick'd 
upon  six  lines,  answering  to  the  six  holes  in 
the  instrument,  by  certain  characters  called 
dots.  These  dots  direct  what  holes  are  to  be 
stopt,  there  being  so  many,  and  the  same  holes 
to  be  stopt  on  the  Flagelet  each  breath,  as 
there  are  dots  placed  perpendicularly  on  the 
six  lines."  The  time  was  marked  in  a  manner 
similar  to  that  in  lute  Tablature. 

Another  system  of  Tablature  will  be  best 
explained  by  the  following  diagram  (altered 
Irom  that  given  by  Koch  in  his  Lexicon) 


which  shows  the  sounds,  proceeding  by  semW 
tones,  by  the  side  of  their  letter  signs.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  strings  are  called  by  the 
old  names  fifth-string  or  quint,  small  fifth- 
string,  great  fifth-string,  small  prummer,* 
middle  prummer,  great  prummer.  Capital 
letters  are  reserved  for  the  deepest  string,  but 
the  alphabetical  system  is  carried  out  by  the 
small  letters  beginning  from  the  a  of  the 
mittelprummer  working  upwards  to  the  letter 
e  of  the  quint  ;  then  from  the  mittelprummer 
f  up  to  b,  and  so  on. 


9(4) 

kh  w 

n(/) 

0{g) 

z{a) 

n{d) 

5  W 

tt(/) 

b(4) 

m(b\f) 

n{c) 

99  W 

Mittelprummer  

!(/) 

*{g) 

ff  (a) 

^(6b) 

$(c) 

%(d) 

iH') 

J 

Organ  Tablature  was  a  system  of  writing 
the  notes  without  the  stave  by  means  of  letters. 
Thus  the  several  octaves  were  called  great, 
little,  one  and  two-line  octaves,  according  to 
the  style  of  letter  employed  to  indicate  them. 


odefgabcdefg      a  b 


This  system  is  liable  to  be  confused  with  an- 
other of  a  similar  character,  which  was  adopted 
at  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, for  organs  which  only  went  down  to  F. 


fgabcdefgab 


c     d     e    f    g     a     b    cc     dd    ee    ff  gg 


In  these  systems  sharpened  notes  were  in- 
dicated by  a  downward  curved  line  at  the  side, 
a^,  c^  (aii,  ci)  and  flattened  notes  by  an  up- 
ward curved  hne  a',  B',  c'  (a?,  B>,  cv). 

The  duration  of  notes  and  rests  was  ex- 
pressed by  the  following  signs — 


Notes.  Rests.  Value 


When  several  notes  were  employed  to- 
gether, the  tails  were  united  thus  :  or 
when  rapidly  written  as  they  appear  in 
the  fac-simile  from  Wolf  Heckel's  Lautten 
Buch,  given  above. 

Figured  bass  has  also  been  called  Tabla- 
ture. 

The  latest  publication  in  which  this  peculiar 
form  of  notation  was  employed  was  in  "  The 
New  Flute  Master,"  printed  in  1704.  The 
dot  notation  for  wind  instruments  survived 
the  Tablature  for  the  lute  from  which  it  was 
derived  by  a  few  years  only.  With  the  dis- 
use of  the  lute,  arising  from  the  trouble  and 
expense  of  keeping  it  in  order,  the  employ- 

*  The  vJorA  Prummer  or  Brummer  means  literally  a 
growler  or  grumbler,  and  its  use  with  reference  to  deep- 
toned  strings  is  still  kept  up  in  this  country  by  rustics, 
who  call  the  violoncello  a  grumbo,  as  the  Germanf  call 
it  brumm. 


.18  ) 


TABL  EL  MUSAHHIR  TABOK. 


ment  of  Tablature  faded  away,  and  as  it  was 
found  that  the  common  notation  was  equally 
available  for  all  kinds  of  voices  and  instru- 
ments, the  employment  of  a  special  notation 
for  individual  instruments  was  completely 
dispensed  with. 

Tabl  el  musahhir.  Also  called  the  Baz, 
a  drum  used  by  Egyptian  criers  during  the 
Ramadan  or  annual  fast,  to  accompany  the 
religious  and  congratulatory  sentences,  uttered 
before  the  houses  of  the  wealthy.  The  Baz 
or  Tabl  is  also  employed  by  the  Dervishes  in 
their  religious  dances  called  zikrs. 

Tabl  Shamee.  An  Egyptian  drum,  sus- 
pended from  the  neck  and  beaten  with  two 
small  sticks. 

Table  d'harmonie  {Fr.)  (i)  A  table  or 
diagram  of  chords,  &c.   (2)  A  sounding-board. 

Table  d'instrument  (Fr.)  The  belly  of 
an  instrument  of  the  violin  or  guitar  classes. 
The  upper  plate. 

Table  music,  (i)  Compositions  intended 
to  be  sung  by  several  persons  sitting  at  a 
table.  Many  of  the  early  printed  music  books 
of  madrigals,  psalm  tunes,  &c.,  had  the  parts 
so  arranged  on  one  page  that  two  or  more 
persons  sitting  opposite  each  other  at  a  table 
could  sing  from  the  same  book.  The  follow- 
ing duet,  by  Dr.  Rogers,  is  given  that  readers 
may  try  for  themselves  how  far  this  is  a  con- 
venient system  : 


The  ingenuity  of  composers  was  sometimes 
exercised  to  produce  pieces  apparently  in  one 
part  but  really  in  two,  like  the  subjoined, 
which  may  be  performed  by  two  players 
sitting  opposite  to  each  other,  each  begin- 
ning at  the  top  of  the  page  relatively  to  him  : 


for  two  violins,  composed  by  NicOL( 


(2)  German  part-songs  (from  the  word  Lieder- 
tafel). 

Tabor.  This  instrument,  under  the  name 
toph  {Arabian,  aduf),  is  several  times  men- 
tioned in  the  Bible.  It  is  probable  that  it 
only  differed  from  the  tambourine  by  being 
without  jingles  in  the  hoop.  It  is  often 
associated  with  a  word  which  some  trans- 
lators give  as  pipe,  but  which  in  the  autho- 
rized version  of  the  Bible  is  rendered  dancing 
or  dances. 


(  ) 


TABORET  TAMBOURINE. 


The  old  English  tabor  was  hung  round  the 
neck  and  beaten  with  a  stick  held  in  the  right 
hand,  while  the  left  hand  was  occupied  in 
fingering  a  pipe.  The  pipe  and  tabor  were  the 
ordinary  accompaniment  of  the  morris-dance. 

Taboret,  Tabouret,  Tabourin  {Fr.) 
Tabor. 

Tabret.    [Tabor.]  [Tambourine.] 
Tacet  {Lat.),  Tace  {It.),  Taciasi  {It.) 
Be   silent.    C,B.  tacet,  let  the  contrabasso 
be  silent,  a  direction  that  the  violoncelli  only 
are  to  play  the  bass  part. 
Tact  {Ger.)  Takt. 

Tactus  [Lat.)  The  stroke  of  the  hand  or 
baton  in  beating  time.  In  mediaeval  music 
the  time  stroke  was  called  tactus  major  when 
the  time  consisted  of  a  breve  in  a  bar,  and 
tactus  minor  when  it  was  a  semibreve. 

Tafelmusik  {Ger.)    [Table  music] 

Tail.  [Stem.] 

Taille  (Fr.)  (i)  The  tenor  voice  or  tenor 
part.    (2)  The  tenor  violin,  the  viola. 

Tail-piece.  That  part  of  an  instrument 
of  the  violin  kind  to  which  the  strings  are 
fastened  at  the  lower  end.  The  tail  piece  is 
usually  of  ebony. 

Takt  {Ger.)  Time,  measure,  bar;  as 
Taktart,  the  sort  of  time,  whether  duple  or 
triple  ;  taktfest,  steady  in  keeping  time ; 
Taktfiihrer,  conductor ;  takthalten,  to  keep 
time ;  taktmdssig,  according  to  the  time ; 
Taktmesser,  a  metronome  ;  Taktnote,  a  semi- 
breve ;  Taktpause,  a  bar-rest;  taktschlof^en, 
to  beat  time  ;  Taktstock,  a  baton,  or  stick  for 
beatingtime  ;  '/'a/r/s^/'/c//,  a  bar-line ;  Takttheil, 
a  division  of  time  ;  Taktzeichen,  a  time-sign. 

Takigoti,  or  Takigoto.  A  species  of 
dulcimer  in  use  among  the  Japanese,  pro- 
vided with  moveable  bridges,  to  alter  and 
regulate  the  pitch.  It  is  played  with  the 
fingers  and  with  plectra. 

Talabalacco.    A  Moorish  drum. 

Talon  (Fr.)    The  heel  of  a  bow.  [Bow.] 

Tambour  {Fr.)    Drum,  the  great  drum. 

Tamboura.  An  instrument  of  the  guitar 
species,  with  strings  of  wire  struck  with  a 
plectrum.  The  neck  is  long,  and  the  body, 
of  gourd-shape,  is  often  beautifully  orna- 
mented. The  Tamboura  is  found  in  Persia, 
Turkey,  Egypt,  and  Hindustan,  and  it  was 
known  to  the  Assyrians  and  Egyptians  under 
various  names.  The  Egyptians  called  it  nofre 
or  nefer,  a  term  said  to  be  synonymous  with 
nebel,  the  Hebrew  word  for  a  stringed  instru- 
ment. [Guitar.] 

Tambour  de  Basque  {Fr.)  A  tabor  with 
jingles,  a  tambourine.  [Tambourine.] 

Tambourin  (Fr.)  (i)  A  stage  dance 
formerly  popular  in  France.  It  was  of  a  lively 
measure,  and  accompanied  with  a  pedal  bass 
in  imitation  of  the  drone  caused  by  rubbing 
the  thumb  over  the  skin  of  a  tambourine. 


(2)  A  movement  in  a  suite,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  specimen  : 


TAMBOURIN  D'ALCIMADURE. 


From  "  Premier  Recueil  de  Menuets,  Alle- 
mandes,  &c.,  Entremeles  D'airs  agreables  i 
Chanter,  avec  leurs  accompagnements,  ar- 
ranges expres  pour  Le  Cythre  6u  Guitthare 
Allem"".  Par  Mr.  L'Abbe  Carpentier."  Paris, 
c.  1760. 

I  Tambourine,  Tambour  de  Basque, 
I  Timbrel.  An  ancient  pulsatile  instrament 
of  the  drum  class,  popular  among  all  Euro- 
,  pean  people,  but  particularly  those  of  the 
I  South.  The  Biscayan  and  Italian  peasantry 
employed  it  on  every  festal  occasion.  It  is 
!  formed  of  a  hoop  of  wood,  sometimes  of 
metal,  over  which  is  stretched  a  piece  of 
parchment  or  skin  ;  the  sides  of  the  hocp  are 
pierced  with  holes,  in  which  are  inserted  pieces 
of  metal  in  pairs,  called  jingles.  Small  bells 
are  sometimes  fastened  on  to  the  outer  edge 
of  the  hoop.  It  is  sounded  by  being  struck 
with  the  knuckles,  or  by  drawing  the  fingers 
or  thumb  over  the  skin,  which  produces  what 
is  called  "  the  roll,"  a  peculiar  drone  mingled 
with  the  jingle  of  the  bells  or  pieces  of  metal. 
In  a  book  of  instruction  for  the  Tambourine 
the  names  of  the  several  effects  and  the 
manner  of  writing  for  them,  and  of  producing 
them,  are  thus  set  forth  : — 

"  '  Flamps  '  are  made  with  the  knuckles 
near  the  centre  of  the  skin  of  the  instrument ; 
they  are  thus  indicated  : 


'  Semi-flamps  '  are  struck  nearer  the  rim ; 
you  make  them  where  you  see  the  music 
written  thus : 


To  make  the  '  Travale  ' 


(  420  ) 


TAMBOURINEUR  TEMPERAMENT. 


draw  your  wetted  thumb  in  a  circular  direc- 
tion over  the  skin.     The    '  double-travale  ' 


is  twice  as  quick.  Use  the  'jingles'  where 
the  music  is  marked  thus  : 


and  the  '  Roll '  when  the  tails  of  the  notes 
are  waved  : 


The  '  Roll '  is  performed  by  shaking  the 
instrument. 

"  N.B. — There  are  no  sharps  or  flats  in 
tambourine  playing." 

Tambourineur  {Fr.)  Drummer,  tam- 
bourine player. 

Tambour  major  (Fr.)    Drum  major. 

Tamburino  {It.)    A  drummer. 

Tamburo  (It.)    A  drum. 

Tamburone  (It.)    The  great  drum. 

Tam-tam  {It.)  [Gong.] 

Tandelnd  {Ger.)    In  a  playful  style. 

Tangent  {Ger.)  The  striking  pin  of  a 
clarichord. 

Tanto  {It.)  So  much  ;  Allegro  non  tanto, 
not  so  fast  ;  a  tanto  possibile,  as  much  as 
possible. 

Tanz  (Ger.)  A  dance.  Tanzkunst,  the 
art  of  dancing. 

Tarantella  {It.)  A  rapid  Neapolitan 
dance  in  triplets,  so  called  because  it  was 
popularly  thought  to  be  a  remedy  against  the 
supposed  poisonous  bite  of  the  Tarantula 
spider.  Older  specimens  of  the  dance  are 
not  in  triplets. 


TARANTELLA,  1654. 
Primo  modus. 


Tardamente  (It.)  Slowly. 

Tardando  {It)    Retarding  the  time. 

Tardo  (//.)    Slow,  dragging. 

Tartini's  tones.    [Acoustics,  §  19.] 

Tastame  {It.),  Tastatur,  Tastenbrett 
{Ger.),  Tastatura  {It.),  Tastiera  (//.),  Tas- 
tenleiter  {Ger.)  The  key-board  of  a  piano- 
forte or  organ.  A  hand-guide,  guidemain. 
Tastenschwanz  {Ger.),  the  extremity  of  the 
keys.  Tastenwerk  {Ger.),  a  keyed  instrument. 

Tasto  {It.)  (i)  A  key  of  a  pianoforte. 
(2)  The  touch  of  a  pianoforte  or  organ. 

Tasto  solo  {It.)  One  key  alone.  A 
direction  to  play  the  part  without  accompany- 
ing chords  ;  in  unison. 

Tatto  {It.)    The  touch. 

Tattoo,  or  Taptoo.  The  beat  of  the  drum 
at  night  to  call  soldiers  to  their  quarters  ;  the 
morning  beat  is  called  Reveille  or  Revelly. 

Tche  or  Tsang.  A  Chinese  instrument 
strung  with  wire,  tuned  by  means  of  pegs 
and  moveable  bridges,  and  played  with  the 
fingers  like  a  guitar. 

Teatro  (/<.)    A  theatre. 

Technik  {Ger.)  A  general  name  for  the 
systems,  devices,  and  resources  of  musical  art. 

Tedesca,  alia  (//.)    In  the  German  style. 

Tell-tale.  A  moveable  piece  of  metal  or 
bone  attached  by  a  cord  to  the  bellows  of  an 
organ,  which  gives  notice  to  the  blower  or 
the  performer  of  the  quantity  of  wind  in  the 
wind-chest.  [Organ.] 

Tema  {It.)  A  theme,  or  subject ;  a  melody. 

Temperament.  The  division  ofthe  octave. 
After  discussing  this,  an  appendix  on  the  cal- 
culation of  intervals  and  beats  shall  be  given. 

The  problem  is,  to  divide  the  octave  into 
Nature  of  a  number  of  intervals  such,  that 
Problem.  ^hc  notcs  which  separate  them 
shall  be  suitable  in  number  and  arrangement 
for  the  purposes  of  practical  harmony.  We 

Notation  mUSt  provide  ourselves  with  a  no- 

required,  tation  and  means  of  expression 
suited  to  the  subject  before  we  can  discuss 
the  treatment  it  has  received. 

The  simplest  form  of  temperament  is  that 
Intervals  ex-  in  common  use,  which  divides  the 
eq"tlmp."  octave  into  twelve  equal  semitones, 
semitones.  It  is  most  Convenient  to  express 
all  intervals  in  terms  of  these  semitones. 
The  perfect  fifth  contains  7.019550008654 
semitones;  the  perfect  third  3.863137138649 
semitones.  Five  places  are  enough  for  all 
practical  purposes. 

In  all  harmonious  music  the  fifth  to  any 
given  note  may  be  required  at  any  time. 
Hence  all  systems  provide  series  of  fifths  of 
Series  of  fifths,  a  more  or  less  complete  charac- 
ter. We  shall  found  on  this  remark  a  nota- 
tion suitable  for  general  discussion. 

If  a  series  of  perfect  fifths  be  constructed 
starting  from  c,  octaves  being  disregarded,  it 


(  421  ) 


TEMPERAMENT. 


will  not  return  exactly  to  c  again.  Taking 
the  fifth  to  be  7.01955  semitones,  each  note 
in  the  series  lies  further  than  the  last  from 
the  equal  temperament  note  of  the  same 
name  ;  and  this  departure  increases  by  .01955 
for  each  step  in  the  series,  the  equal  tempera- 
ment fifth  being  seven  semitones.  Thus  the  c 
to  which  we  return  after  twelve  fifths  is  higher 
than  that  from  which  we  started  by  12  x  .01955 
=  .23460  of  a  semitone.  This  interval  is 
called  the  comma  of  Pythagoras. 

We  employ  the  following  notation  to  repre- 
Notation  for    gent  this  departure.    We  take  the 

series  of  .  /-  r  i 

fifths.  series  ot  hlths, 
/$ — c  ^ — a? — e'7 — b^—f—c — g—d — a — e—  b, 
for  a  standard  series.  On  passing  to  the 
next  /*  we  denote  that  it  is  higher  than  the 
first  one  by  prefixing  to  it  a  mark  of  elevation 
(//|);  thus  6— '/J  is  a  perfect  fifth.  We 
proceed  to  form  another  series  like  the  first, 
to  all  of  which  the  mark  (')  is  prefixed;  so 
that  ic  is  the  note  to  which  we  return  on 
completing  the  circle  of  twelve  fifths  from  c. 
We  may  extend  this  indefinitely.  Thus  we 
have  a  succession  of  notes,  as  c — ic — nc — 
iiic  .  .  .  ,  each  additional  (/)  representing  the 
change  of  pitch  caused  by  rising  twelve  fifths 
in  the  series,  i.e.  the  Pythagorean  comma. 
Similarly  we  may  extend  the  series  in  the 
other  direction:  thus  the  fifth  below  />  is 
\b—f'if.,  where  (\)  is  a  mark  of  depression, 
and  we  have  such  notes  as  \c — \\c  .  .  .  .  , 
each  (\)  representing  the  depression  of  a 
Pythagorean  comma  caused  by  traversing  a 
circle  of  twelve-fifths  downwards  in  the  series. 
In  these  series  such  distinctions  as  that  be- 
tween aii  and  b'7  are  not  observed.  The 
place  in  the  series  is  entirely  determined  by 
the  prefix.  The  use  of  this  notation  may  be 
extended  to  fifths  which  are  not  perfect. 

Theorem.    If  from  any  note  (c)  eight  per- 
fect fifths  be  tuned  downwards,  a  note 
Thirdsformed       determined  which  forms  an  ap- 

by  eight  fifths  ,  .  ,  •    ,  ,\ 

down.  proximately  perfect  third  to  [c). 

This  theorem  is  the  foundation  of  Helm- 
holtz's  system.  For  if  we  tune  c — -f — 
e-t — ay—d7 — — \b — \e,  we  depress  the 
pitch  8 X. 01955=  15640  below  equal  tem- 
perament. But  the  perfect  third  is  3.86314 
semitones,  i.e.  .13686  below  equal  tempera- 
ment, which  differs  from  the  preceding  value 
of  (\e  )  by  about      of  a  semitone. 

In  the  practical  application  of  this,  it  is 
generally  attempted  to  distribute  the  error 
over  the  eight  fifths  ;  but  for  all  ordinary  ap- 
proximate purposes  it  does  not  matter  where 
the  error  lies.  We  note  here  that  the  notes 
b  e,a,d  have  their  major  thirds  in  the  same 
series,  as  d — -/J  ;  all  other  notes  in  the  series 
below,  as  c — \e. 

The  following  definitions  will  now  be  re- 
ceived without  difficulty : — 


Regular  systems  consist  of  notes  which 
Definitions,   form    a    continuous    series  of 

Regular  System,  fifths,  e.g.  the  System  of  perfect 

fifths. 

Regular  cyclical  systems  consist  of  notes 
Regular  Cycii-  which  form  a  continuous  series  of 

cai  System,  fifths,  and  divide  the  octave  into 
a  certain  number  of  equal  intervals. 
OrderofSystems.  Primary  regular  cyclical  sys- 
tems are  those  in  which  the  departure  of 
twelve  of  the  approximate  fifths  of  the  system 
from  the  starting  point  is  equal  to  one  unit 
of  the  system.  Secondary  systems  are  those 
in  which  the  departure  of  twelve  fifths  from 
the  .-itarting-point  is  two  units,  and  so  on. 
'^Negltite'^    f^ositive     systems    have  fifths 

systems,  sharper  than  equal  temperament 
fifths ;  negative  systems  have  fifths  flatter 
than  equal  temperament  fifths. 

The  division  of  the  octave  into  53  equal 
intervals  furnishes  an  important  primary 
positive  system  ;  into  1 18,  a  secondary  positive 
system  ;  into  31,  a  primary  negative  system  ; 
into  50,  a  secondary  negative  system. 


HISTORICAL. 

The  earliest  systematic  division  of  the 
octave  on  record  is  known  as  the  Pytha- 
gorean system  ;  it  consists  of  a  series  of 
perfect  fifths.  The  third  employed  was  that 
Pythagorean  formcd  by  four  fifths  up,  which 
system.  gtin  ^^^^^  j^c  name  of  the 
Pythagorean  or  dissonant  third.  Thus  where 
c—g—d — a — e  are  perfect  fifths,  c — e  is  the 
Pythagorean  or  dissonant  third.  The  true 
third  is  said  to  have  been  discovered  by 
Archytas. 

The  Greeks  were  acquainted  with  the  prin- 

Monochori.  j-iple  of  the  monochord,  and  with 
Vibration  of  the  numerical  ratios  obtainable 
vibr'at'^n  i^om  that  instrument ;  a  short  ac- 
^,.nij^^bers.  count  of  thesc  is  necessary  to  our 
ratios,  subject.  We  shall  include  vibra- 
tion numbers  and  ratios. 

The  number  of  vibrations  per  second  given 
by  a  string  of  varying  length,  tension  and 
weight  of  string  per  unit  of  length  being  the 
same,  varies  inversely  as  the  length.  Thus 
half  the  string  vibrates  twice  as  fast  as  the 
whole  string. 

If  two  vibrating  strings  have  the  same  ten- 
sion and  weight  per  unit  of  length,  but  lengths 
differing  in  a  given  ratio,  they  will  always 
sound  notes  which  include  the  same  interval ; 
and  hence : — 

If  two  sounds  have  different  vibration  num- 
bers, the  interval  between  them  is  always  the 
same  when  the  ratio  of  the  vibration  numbeis 
is  the  same.  Thus  if  the  lengths  are  as  1:2, 
the  vibration  numbers  are  as  2:1,  and  the  in- 
terval is  an  octave  ;  if  the  lengths  are  as  1:3. 
the  vibration  numbers  are  as  3:1,  and  the  in-; 


(  422  ) 


TEMPERAMENT. 


terval  is  a  twelfth,  and  so  on.  The  notes  the  corresponding  fraction.  The  following 
thus  produced  by  fractions  of  the  length  of  a  table  exhibits  the  vibration,  ratios,  and  inter- 
Harmonics,  string  are  called  harmonics.  The  vals  of  the  first  sixteen  harmonics,  the  intervals 
order  of  a  harmonic  is  the  denominator  of  being  taken  to  three  places  of  decimals  : — 

Table  of  Harmonics  : — distance  from  fundamental  =  «  equal  temperament  semitones. 

order  of  Harmonic  =  denominator  of  string  fraction  ; — 

=  number  of  vibrations  relatively  to  number 
of  fundamental ; — 

=  X. 


First  Octavb. 

Second  Octave. 

Third  Octave. 

Fourth  Octave. 

X  n 

1  (Fundamental)  o-ooo 

2  (Octave)     1 2*000 

X  n 

2  (Octave)  i2'ooo 

3  (Twelfth)  19-020 

4  (Fifteenth)  24-000 

X  n 

4  (Fifteenth)  24-000 

5  (Tierce)  27-863 

6  (8^"=.  Twelfth)  31-020 

7  (  Seventh  \  gg^^ 
'  \Harmonic/ 

8  36-000 

X  n 

8  36-000 

9  38-039 
-(?-er)39»63 

11  41-513 

12  43-020 

13  44-405 

14  45*688 

15  46-883 

16  48-000 

Mersenne's  work  on  Harmony  was  pub- 
Uersenne.  lishcd  in  1636.  Amongst  other 
Intervals,  things  he  treats  particularly  of 
intervals.  The  following  table  contains  a 
list  of  the  principal  intervals  discussed  by 
theorists.  The  last  two  columns  show  the 
number  of  units  of  the  division  of  the  octave 
into  53  equal  parts  which  represents  each 
interval  most  closely,  with  the  equivalent  of 


this  representation  in  equal  temperament 
semitones.  This  arrangement  forms  a  classi- 
fication of  the  various  intervals  in  question, 
which  will  much  assist  the  mind  in  the  com- 
prehension of  their  relations.  The  system  of 
53  is  the  most  important  primary  positive 
system.  One  or  two  of  the  intervals  are 
from  Kircher,  who  wrote  soon  after  Mer- 
senne. 


Mersbnne  and  Kircher. 


Octave   

Fifth   

Fourth   

Major  Third   

Minor  Third   

Major  Tone   

Minor  Tone   

Semitone  Maximus  .... 

Major  Semitone   

Apotome  Pythagorica  . 
Semitone  Medius,  or 
Chromatic  Semitone 
Pythagorean  Semitone 

Minor  Semitone   

Semitone  Minimus  ..  . 

Chromatic  Diesis  

Enharmonic  Diesis  .... 

Comma  (Major)   , 

Comma  of  Pythagoras. 

Diaschisma   

Comma  (Minor)   

Schisma  


Difference  of. 


Fifth  and  Octave 


Major  Third  and  Fifth  

Fourth  and  Fifth  

Major  Tone  and  Major  Third. 


Major  Tone  and  Minor  Semitone  

Fourth  and  Major  Third  

Seven  Fifths  up,  Four  Octaves  down. 


Major  Tone  and  Major  Semitone  

Fourth  and  2  Major  Tones  or  5  Fifths 
down  and  3  Octaves  up   

Major  and  Minor  Third  or  Minor  Tone 
and  Major  Semitone   

Major  Semitone  and  Minor  Semitone 
(Chromatic  Diesis)   

Major  and  Minor  Tone  or  2  Major 
Tones  and  Perfect  Thirds  

Twelve  Fifths  either  way  and  7  Oc- 
taves the  reverse   

Hall"  Enharmonic  Diesis  

Enharmonic  Diesis  and  Major  Comma 

Fraction  of  Comma  


10 


3  :  2 
4:3 
5  :  4 
6:5 
9:8 
9 


27  :  25 
16  :  15 
2187  :  2048 

135  :  128 
256  :  243 


128  :  125 
81  :  80 


Equal  Tem- 
perament 
Semitones. 


1 2 '00000 

7-OI955 
4-98045 
3-86314 
3  15641 
2-03910 
I  82404 

1-33237 
1-11731 
1-13685 

-92179 

•90225 

-70673 

-41058 

•21506 

•23460 
•20529 
•19552 


(  421  ) 


TEMPERAMENT. 


Mersenne  gives  numerous  systems  of  scales 
Mersenne's  which  admit  of  the  construction  of 
pfrfectum    perfcct  concords.     We  will  give 
in  F.      one  as  an  example.    It  is  a  scale 
of  the  key  of  F,  with  i8  intervals  in  the 
octave  ;  the  division  is  irregular,  but  can  be 
represented  as  follows  by  means  of  a  broken 
series  of  fifths  : — 

\/$ — \c| — \^  ;  \g — \d — \a — \e — \6; 

— b7 — ■/ — c—g;  ig9 — id'? — la'? — teP. 
The  resources  of  this  system  are  very  limited. 
We  have : — 

Major  chords  of  c—f—b^ — 

  \e — \a — \d — \^  thirds  to  the 

above  : 

  laP — id^ — ig'7  to  which  the 

first  given  three  notes  are  thirds. 
Minor  chords  of— c— /— fci? — e?  ; 

 \e — \a — \d — \g,  thirds  to  the 

above : 

  \\b — \/# — \c^,  thirds  of  the 

chords  of  \^ — \d — \a. 

The  minor  chord  of  \^  gives  the  perfect 
chord  of  the  sixth  on  the  subdominant  in  the 
key  of  F,  i.e.,  [b?,  \d,  \g),  thus  requiring  two 
different  keys  {g,  \g)  to  represent  the  second 
of  the  key  of  F.  A  key-board  for  the  system 
is  delineated  in  Mersenne,  in  which  the 
double  G  key  appears.  This  double  second 
has  always  been  a  characteristic  of  the  more 
intelligent  attempts  at  systems  of  pure  inton- 
ation. Several  other  key-boards  for  more 
complex  systems  are  drawn  in  Mersenne. 

In  a  tract,  "  Cyclus  Harmonicus,"  (1698) 
Huyghens.  Huvghens  first  described  correctly 
the  properties  of  the  division  of  the  octave 
into  31  equal  intervals,  which  was  previously 
known  to  be  of  interest.  It  is  the  most 
important  primary  negative  system.  Smith's 

Smith.  Harmonics,  1759.  Three  systems 
are  principally  discussed,  one  called  equal 
harmony,  which  has  very  flat  fifths  and  flat 
thirds  ;  it  is  negative,  and  resembles  the  sys- 
tem of  50,  as  Smith  points  out  :  the  mean 
tone  or  old  unequal  temperament,  which  re- 
sembles the  system  of  31,  and  has  flat  fifths 
and  perfect  thirds  :  and  a  system  in  which 
the  thirds  are  just  as  sharp  as  the  fifths  are 
i.at. 

An  important  tract  is  Woolhouse's  Essay 
Wooihouse.     on  Musical  Intervals  (1835). 
performs  a  part  of  his  reckoning  with  the 
notation  of  equal  temperament  semitones. 

In  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  tempera- 
ment, Wooihouse  adopts  as  basis  the  division 
of  the  octave  into  50  equal  intervals  ;  this  is 
a  secondary  negative  system.  But  instead 
of  treating  it  as  a  regular  system,  he  selects 
from  it  notes  sufficient  to  form  a  certain 
limited  number  of  scales.    This  treatment 


we  regard  as  imperfect.  He  distinguishes 
between  such  notes  as  c|  and  d  ^.  We  shall 
see  later  that  this  distinction  is  true  and 
sufficient  in  negative  systems  only. 

Wooihouse  also  gives  scales  based  on  the 
system  of  31.    The  same  remarks  apply. 

A  paper  by  De  Morgan  (Cam.  Phil.  Trans. 
De  Morgan.  X.  129)  "  On  the  beats  of  imper- 
fect consonances,"  contains  some  details  on 
the  calculation  of  intervals.  The  treatment 
of  the  problem  of  beats  is  fundamentally 
erroneous,  as  are  all  accounts  of  this  sub- 
ject before  that  of  Helmholtz.  De  Morgan 
employs  equal  temperament  semitones  as 
the  measures  of  mtervals,  and  gives  rules 
for  calculation  nearly  identical  with  those 
used  independently  by  the  writer.  See  Ap- 
pendix. 

A  paper  by  Herschel  (Quarterly  Journal  of 
Herschei.  Science,  V.  338)  contains  pro- 
posals for  systems  of  temperament.  The 
character  of  these  will  be  sufficiently  illus- 
trated by  one  example.  In  the  table  at  top  of 
p.  348,  we  have  substantially  a  Pythagorean 
system,  with  twelve  notes  in  the  octave  ;  the 
break  is  made  at  d —  \a  ;  this  fifth  is  a  Pytha- 
gorean comma  out  of  tune.  Such  a  fifth 
cannot  be  used  in  music;  and  this  system 
would  exclude  from  use  the  keys  of  G,  D, 
and  A,  both  major  and  minor.  The  Pytha- 
gorean system  is  also  defended  by  name. 

Two  important  practical  attempts  are  those 
Thompson.  of  Gen.  T.  P.  Thompson  and  Mr. 
Poole.  H.  W.  Poole  (Silliman's  American 

Journal,  Vol.  xliv.)  The  limits  of  this 
article  forbid  more  than  a  concise  reference  to 
the  former.  Gen.  T.  P.  Thompson  in  his 
Enharmonic  organ,  arranged  three  key-boards, 
each  starting  from  a  key  of  the  ordinary  board 
in  perfect  tune,  and  admitting  of  performance 
in  related  keys  by  means  of  auxiliary  notes  ; 
there  were  40  notes  in  the  octave.  Looking 
at  the  material  of  notes  from  our  point  of 
view,  it  may  be  regarded  as  constituting  a 
series  of  approximately  perfect  fifths  extend 
ing  from  to  ic,  with  the  omission  of  two 
single  notes  \\d  and  b.  These  omissions, 
and  the  distribution  between  different  key- 
boards, greatly  diminished  the  resources  of 
the  instrument,  which  were,  however,  far 
greater  than  those  of  any  instrument  pre- 
viously constructed.  We  cannot  omit  to  notice 
Gen.  Thompson's  method  of  using  the  mono- 
chord.  He  varied  the  weight  by  which  the 
string  was  stretched,  as  well  as  the  length. 
We  judge  that  his  form  of  the  instrument  is 
probably  the  most  perfect  that  has  been 
constructed. 

The  subject  of  temperament  owes  much  to 
Helmholtz.  Helmholtz.  The  principal  con- 
clusions which  we  shall  require  to  borrow 
from  him,  are  : — The  approximate  formation 


(  424  ) 


TEMPERAMENT. 


of  a  perfect  third  by  eight  fifths  turned  down- 
wards ;  and  the  theories  of  harmonics,  and  of 
difference  tones  (subharmonics  or  Tartini 
tones)  so  far  as  we  require  them  for  the  cal- 
culation of  beats.  We  must  also  note  his 
definition  of  dissonance,  now  universally 
received  by  physicists  ;  viz.,  the  intermittent 
excitation  of  the  ear  by  a  sound.  Thus  con- 
sonant and  dissonant  properties  of  chords 
depend  on  the  beats  they  furnish.  Such 
combinations  as  fourths  and  harmonic 
sevenths,  which  give  no  beats,  may  be  dis- 
tinguished as  unsatisfied  combinations. 

The  theory  of  harmonics; — Musical  notes 
Harmonics.  cousist  of  Combinations  of  har- 
Beats.  monies  with  their  fundamentals 
{i.e.  every  note  contains  8ve,  12th,  &c.,  in 
very  considerable  strength).  The  ear  analyses 
this  complex  note  by  receiving  it  on  a 
resonant  instrument,  which  may  be  roughly 
compared  to  a  harp.  The  tones  of  different 
parts  of  the  scale  are  thus  so  far  separated 
that  no  direct  interference  can  take  place 
between  tones  more  than  a  minor  third 
apart. 

The  beats  of  imperfect  consonances  arise  : 
(i)  From  the  interference  of  pairs  of  har- 
monics nearly  coinciding  in  pitch  (e.g.  imper- 
fect fifth,  by  interference  of  12th  of  C  with 
octave  of  G). 

(2)  From  the  interference  of  difference 
tones  (Tartini  tones)  with  each  other  or  with 
harmonics,  in  pairs  nearly  coinciding  in  pitch. 
For  Ex.  see  Appendix. 

Difference  tones  (Tartini  tones)  are  such 
Difference  that  their  vibration  number  is  the 
J-T^rim  difference  of  the  vibration  num- 
Tones.)       bcrs  of  their  primaries.     Ex.,  if 

— d'^  be  a  major  tone  (8  :  9)  [nine]  its  dif- 
ference tone  is  ( i)  [one]  i.e.  C,  the  lowest 
note  of  the  organ  key-board.  If  c'^ — d'  be 
sounded  on  a  clarabella  or  harmonic  flute, 
the  difference  tone  will  be  distinctly  heard, 
in  the  equal  temperament  of  course  not  ex- 
actly in  tune.  For  the  somewhat  abstruse 
theory  of  difference  tones  we  must  refer  to 
Helmholtz.  The  old  theory,  in  which  their 
origin  was  ascribed  to  beats,  is  no  longer  re- 
ceived by  physicists. 

The  number  of  beats  per  second  made  by 
Rule  for  Beats,  two  notes  nearly  coinciding  in 
pitch,  is  the  difference  of  the  vibration  num- 
bers of  the  two  notes. 

The  above  principles  are  required  for 
numerical  calculation,  see  Appendix. 

The  remark  already  made,  that  in  positive 

Distinction     Systems  the  distinction  between 

''uSr^T  say  {4  d?  )  fails,  while  in  nega- 
when admissible,  tive  systems  it  is  true  and  essen- 
tial, is  the  generalization  of  an  observation  of 
Helmholtz's.  As  this  is  very  important  we 
will  shortly  explain  the  reason. 


The  perfect  third  is  below  the  equal  tem- 
Not  in  positive  perament  third  in  pitch.  Hence 

systems.  positive  systems,  which  have 

larger  fifths  than  the  equal  temperament,  a 
third  formed  by  downward  fifths  will  approxi- 
mate to  the  true  third.  That  is  to  say  the 
thirds  of  these  systems  will  be  formed  by 
eight  fifths  down  (see  Th.  p.  3)  ;  according 
to  this,  the  major  third  to  a  would  be  the 
note  commonly  called  d?-  But  it  must  be 
written  ;  so  in  order  to  be  clear,  we  cease 
to  recognise  any  distinction  between  these 
two  expressions,  and  denote  the  position  in 
the  series  of  fifths  by  the  notation  before 
described. 

But  in  negative  systems,  where  the  fifths 
are  less  than  equal  temperament  fifths,  fifths 
But  in  negative,  up  dcprcss  the  pitch  ;  SO  that  the 
third  formed  by  four  fifths  up  is  the  represen- 
tative of  the  perfect  third,  and  the  distinc- 
tion between  c|  d9  becomes  true  and  essen- 
tial. 

Ellis.  A  paper  by  Mr.  A.  Ellis,  F.R.S., 
(Proceedings  of  Royal  Society,  1864,)  contains 
much  information  and  copious  references  on 
the  subject  of  temperament. 

GENERAL  THEORY  OF  REGULAR  CYCLICAr. 
SYSTEMS. 

The  importance  of  Regular  Systems  arises 
'"iiTukr""^  from  the  symmetry  subsisting 
Systems.  between  the  various  sca'es  to 
which  they  give  rise.  No  idea  in  the  pre- 
sent day  is  more  connected  with  progress 
in  music  than  that  of  the  similarity  of  all 
keys. 

The  importance  of  regular  cyclical  systems 
•^^g"'?''  ,       arises  from  the  infinite  freedom  of 

Cyclical  ,    ,     ,  ....  .,  ,  . 

Systems.  modulation  which  is  possible  in 
properly  arranged  systems  of  this  class.  In 
non-cyclical  systems,  modulation  is  apt  to 
bring  us  to  the  end  of  our  material. 

We  shall  consider  the  theory  of  regular 
cyclical  systems  in  its  simplest  form. 

Definitions.  The  interval  formed  by  tuning 
Seven-fifths     scvcn  fifths  Jip  (disregarding  oc- 
semitone.     taves),  is    Called   a  seven-fifths 
semitone,  and  it  lies  above  the  starting  point. 

The  interval  formed  by  tuning  five  fifths 
Five-fifths      dowH  is  Called  a  five-fifths  semi- 
Semitone.     tone,  and  lies  above  the  starting 
point. 

The  seven-fifths  semitone  is  the  Apotomfe 
Pythagorica,  (Table  of  Intervals)  when  the 
fifths  are  perfect.  The  five-fifths  semitone 
is  the  Pythagorean  semitone  when  the  fifths 
are  perfect. 

Theorem.  In  any  regular  system,  five  seven- 
Theorem^on    fifths  semitones  and  seven  five- 
in  ocuve!    fifths  scmitones  make  up  an  exact 
octave. 

For  the  departures  from  equal  tempera- 


(  425  ) 


TEMPERAMENT. 


ment  of  five  seven-fifths  semitones  are  due  to 
thirty-five  filths  taken  upwards,  and  the  de- 
partures of  seven  five-fifths  semitones  are 
due  to  thirty-five  fifths  taken  downwards  ; 
so  that  the  departures  destroy  one  another, 
and  leave  the  twelve  semitones  of  the  equal 
temperament,  which  give  an  exact  octave. 

Theorem.  In  positive  systems  of  the  first 
^flre"«°of  ?j,e  o""^^.""  (P"mary),  the  seven-fifths 
semitones,  semitone  is  greater  than  the  five- 
fifths  semitone  by  one  unit ;  in  positive  sys- 
tems of  the  second  order  (secondary),  by  two 
units  ;  and  so  on.    In  negative  systems  less. 

For,  in  regular  systems,  the  seven-fifths 
semitone  has  the  departure  from  equal  tem- 
perament due  to  seven-fifths  up.  {Ex.  gr., 
c—g—d  —  a  —  e  —  b  —  i/i~ic^.)  The  five- 
fifths  semitone,  taken  downwards,  has  the 
departure  due  to  five  more  fifths  taken  up. 
(Ex.gr.,  ic:: —  la'? — le'y  —  —  '/— 'C.) 
Hence,  in  positive  systems,  the  seven-fifths 
semitone  exceeds  the  five-fifths  semitone  by 
the  departure  of  twelve  fifths  from  the  start- 
ing point  (c — ic).  But  this  is  one  unit  in 
primary  systems,  two  in  secondary,  and  so 
on.  (Definition.)  And  in  negative  systems 
(in  which  the  fifths  are  less  than  equal 
temperament  fifths,  and  twelve  fifths  fall 
short  of  the  octave),  the  seven-fifths  semitone 
is  less  than  the  five-fifths  semitone  by  the 

PROPERTIES  OF  INTERVALS  OF  THE  ABOVE  SYSTEMS. 


Departure,  means  displacement  from  equal  temperament.    Error,  from  the  perfect  interval. 


Vvtaia 
Ocuve, 

Value  of  Unit  in 
Semitones, 
—  I* 

Departure  of 
i2-fiftbs. 

Error  of 
Single  Fifth. 

Departure  of 
Thirds. 

Error  of 
Tbirdi. 

17 

•70588 

•70588 

•03927  Sharp. 

•47059 

•33373  Flat. 

29 

•41379 

•41379 

•01493  Sharp. 

•27586 

•13900  Flat. 

41 

•29268 

•29268 

•00484  Sharp. 

•I95I2 

•05826  Flat. 

53 

•22642 

•22642 

•00068  Flat. 

•15640 

•01954  Flat^ 

65 

•18462 

•18462 

•00416  Flat. 

•12308 

•01378  Sharp. 

118 

•IO169 

•20339 

•00260  Flat. 

•13559 

•00127  Sharp. 

19 

•63158 

•63158 

•07218  Flat. 

•21053 

•07367  Flat. 

•38710 

•38710 

•05 181  Flat. 

•12903 

•00783  Sharp. 

43 

•29707 

•29706 

•04432  Flat. 

•09902 

•03784  Sharp. 

50 

•24000 

•48000 

•05955  Flat. 

•16000 

•02314  Flat. 

( 426 ) 


departure  of  the  twelve  fifths,  which  is  one 
unit  in  primary  systems,  two  in  secondary, 
and  so  on. 

These  two  theorems  permit  us  to  construct 
positive  or  negative  cyclical  systems  of  any 
order.  Those  few  alone  which  present  some 
points  of  interest  are  entered  in  the  following 
scheme  : — 

Scheme  of  Regular  Cyclical  Systems. 

PRIMARY  POSITIVE. 

Seven-fifths  Five-fifths  r>^t,„.iT\.  »  „\ 

Semitone.  Semitone.  Octave  (Th.  p.  12), 

=  i  units.  =/ units.  5  '  +  7 /• 

2  1  17 

3  2  29 

4  3  41 

5  4  53 

6  5  65 

SECONDARY  POSITIVE. 
II  9  118 

PRIMARY  NEGATIVE. 

1  2  19 

2  3  31 

3  4  43 

SECONDARY  NEGATIVE. 

3  5  50 


TEMPERAMENT. 


On  inspecting  the  columns  of  errors,  we  at 
Selection  of  once  See  that  the  system  of  ii8 
systems.  affords  the  greatest  combined  per- 
fection of  fifths  and  thirds;  and  next  to  it 
comes  the  system  of  53,  which  we  prefer  in 
practice  as  more  manageable.  The  system 
of  31  has  fifths^  of  a  semitone  flat;  and 
this  is  enough  to  be  disagreeable  with  sharp 
qualities  of  tone,  but  its  thirds  are  very  good. 
This  system  forms  very  nearly  a  cyclical  form 
of  the  mesotonic  system,  which,  in  an  im- 
perfect condition,  was  the  old  unequal  tem- 
perament. The  rule  of  that  system  was 
simply  that  all  the  fifths  of  the  continuous 
series  were  made  so  flat  as  to  bring  down  the 
third  made  by  four  fifths  up  to  a  perfect 
third. 

We  cannot  here  enter  on  the  subject  of 
sevenths,  except  to  remark  that  the  systems 
of  53  and  31  both  afford  good  approximations 
to  the  harmonic  seventh. 


{       PRACTICAL  EMPLOYMENT  OF  THE  SYSTEM 
OF  53. 

'  We  will  now  point  out  shortly  the  arrange- 
I  Systemof53.  meut  which  has  been  adopted  for 
I  the  practical  treatment  of  the  system  of  53  ; 
;  it  is  applicable  to  all  regular  systems. 

A  key-board  is  arranged  according  to 
Position  reia-   position   in   a   series  of  fifths. 

tions  of  general  ^1 

key-board.  1  here  are  twelve  vertical  divisions 
in  the  octave  ;  in  the  c  division  there  are 
notes  such  as  \\c — \c — c  —  ic  —  nc  ;  these 
are  placed  in  ascending  and  receding  order. 

The  vertical  displacement  c — ic  is  divided 
equally  amongst  the  12  intermediate  fifths. 
Thus  the  whole  tones  of  two-fifths  each  form 
diagonal   lines,   and  six  whole  tones  lead 

I  from     to  /c''.   The  following  scheme  shows 
the  relative  positions  of  a  portion  of  this 

j  arrangement,  with  the  characteristic  numbers 

;  of  the  system  of  53. 


[SCHEME.] 


^7 


die 


^11 


Ki6 


639 


*4S 


b»5 


^b5, 


It  is  to  be  noted  that,  by  the  symmetry  of 
the  principle  of  arrangement,  the  scales  on  a 
keyboard  constructed  on  this  principle  are 
the  same  in  all  keys,  as  far  as  form  and 
fingering  go. 


According  to  the  formation  of  the  system 
of  53»  we  see  that  the  seven-fifths  semi- 
tones exhibit  differences  of  5  units,  the 
five-fifths  semitones  of  4 — Ex.  gr.  — ic%^  \ 
and     — cjtg. 


(  427  ) 


TEMPERAMENT. 


A  harmonium  has  been  constructed  with 
Enharmonic  »  kcy-board  of  84  keys  to  the 
harmonium.  octavc,  the  positioH  relations  of  a 
portion  of  which  are  shown  by  the  preceding 
scheme.  Some  notes  at  the  top  are  identical 
with  adjoining  notes  at  the  bottom,  on  the 
right.  Thus  infinite  freedom  of  movement  is 
secured,  and  any  one  of  the  53  notes  can  be 
used  as  key-note  in  exactly  the  same  manner, 
and  with  the  same  facility.  The  rule  for 
identifications  is  as  follows:  "A  note  near 
the  top  of  one  division  is  identical  with  one 
near  the  bottom  of  the  adjoining  division  on 
the  right,  when  the  lower  division  is  white  (^j, 
if  the  sum  of  the  marks  is  4,  and  when  the 
lower  division  is  black  (J  or  \>),  if  the  sum 
of  the  marks  is  5." 

E.g.  :  "c^  =  wc-g. 

We  have  altogether  tour  position  marks  in 
the  first  pair,  five  in  the  second. 

A  few  examples  are  subjoined,  to  illustrate 
the  practical  employment  of  the  notation. 


Common  major  chord  of  C. 


Common  minor  chord  of  C. 


Common  chord  of  dominant, 
with  first  form  of  second. 

Chord  of  sixth  on  sub-domi- 
nant, with  second  form  of 
second. 


Example  of  the  successive  use  of  the  two 
forms  of  the  second  ;  the  (o)  is  used  to  nullify 
the  preceding  mark  of  depression  (\). 

(6) 

Approximate  harmonic  seventh. 

Hence  the  theorem  :  if  the  harmonic  seventh 
be  used  on  the  dominant,  it  must  not  be  sus- 
pended to  form  a  fourth  with  the  tonic.  For 
if  we  suspend  the  \/  in  the  above,  we  obtain 
the  fourth  c — \/,  a  comma  flat,  which  is  un- 
bearable. 


The  passing  note  illustrates  the  combina- 
tion formed  by  the  division  of  the  octave  into 
three  major  thirds.    The  major  third  being 


^  of  an  octave,  three  major  thirds  fall  ^ 
short.  We  may  distribute  this  error  in  a 
variety  of  ways.  The  example  shows  the 
case  in  which  two  of  the  thirds,  c — \e — \g^, 
are  made  perfect.  The  remaining  third, 
— c  is  If,  instead  of  Noticing  that  -J| 
is  the  ordinary  dissonant  third,  we  may 
call  — c,  a  super-dissonant  third.  If  we 
employ  as  the  passing  note,  we  should 
have  two  ordinary  dissonant  thirds.  In  the 
equal  temperament,  the  error  of  nearly  half  a 
semitone  is  divided  equally  among  the  three 
intervals.  The  most  favourable  distribution 
is  judged  by  the  writer  to  be  that  given  in 
the  example.  Another  common  instance  of 
the  same  combination  is  the  following: 

(8) 

-J- 


Here  \b —  /e!?  is  a  super-dissonant  third. 

The  application  of  this  arrangement  to  the 
systems  of  118  and  31  presents  considerable 
interest,  but  our  limits  preclude  the  discus- 
sion. 

If  the  above  scheme  be  considered  without 
Non^cyciicai  the  characteristic  numbers  of  the 
systems.  System  of  53,  we  have  the  form 
of  application  to  any  non -cyclical  regular 
system.  The  only  difference  then  is  that, 
there  being  no  identifications,  continuous 
modulation,  upwards  or  downwards,  on  the 
scheme  would  soon  bring  us  to  the  end  of 
the  material  of  notes  provided.  This  dis- 
placement takes  place,  in  positive  systems, 
most  rapidly  by  modulation  between  major 
and  minor  keys  ;  e.g.  : 
(9) 


The  ab  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  bar, 
and  id  in  the  last,  are  derived  from  inver- 
sions of  chords  into  which  harmonic  sevenths 
enter. 

The  defects  of  the  equal  temperament  may 
Defects  of  be  estimated  physically  by  means 
peramenT"  of  Hclmholtz's  definition  of  dis- 
sonance. Beats  begin  to  be  disagreeable 
when  their  number  exceeds  3  or  4  in  the 
second,  attain  the  maximum  of  dissonance 
when  about  33  in  the  second,  and  remain 
audible  as  beats  up  to  considerably  beyond 
100  per  second,  when  produced  by  inter- 
ference of  tones  of  sufficient  strength.  The 
application  of  this  remark  to  the  results 
calculated  in  the  Appendix  serves  for  the 
estimation  of  the  dissonances  of  the  equal 
temperament.  An  ear  accustomed  to  pure 
chords  recognizes  these  dissonances  imme- 
diately, even  in  the  organ  and  in  the  full-toned 


(  428  ) 


TEMPERAMENT. 


modern  pianoforte  ;  but  especially  in  the  har- 
monium. 

In  cases  where  difference  tones  are  strongly 
formed,  as  with  wide-scaled  organ-pipes,  or 
with  two  treble  voices  singing  duets,  errors 
in  small  intervals  displace  the  difference  tone 
by  many  times  their  own  amount ;  and  to 
educated  ears  this  displacement,  though  not 
always  involving  beats,  is  very  offensive. 
Helmholtz,  who  has  written  much  on  this 
subject,  regards  this  as  the  most  offensive 
characteristic  of  the  equal  temperament. 
E.g.  :  The  difference  tone  of  e' — g'  should 
be  C  (8  ft.).  In  the  equal  temperament  it 
bears  to  that  note  the  ratio  very  nearly, 
which  is  roughly  about  f  of  a  semitone. 

The  question  of  melodic  progressions,  as 
Melodic  affecting  the  excellence  of  tem- 
sequences.  peramcnts,  is  too  extensive  for 
our  limits.  We  believe  that  it  is  a  matter 
entirely  of  custom  and  education,  and  that 
the  ear  can  accustom  itself  to  any  melodic 
sequences  whatever. 

The  writer  has  accustomed  his  ear  to  such 
sequences  as  the  following,  which  are  new  in 
music,  whatever  may  be  the  opinion  as  to 
their  effect : — 


(The  o  nullifies  the  elevation  and  depression  marks.) 

The  following  example  illustrates  an  instance 
in  which  a  direct  depression  of  pitch  by  a 
comma  ( \ )  has  proved  to  have  a  good  effect. 


The  second  chord  contains  a  depression  of 
the  tonic  g.  It  may  be  regarded  as  derived 
from  a  passing  dominant  harmony  on  a,  con- 
taining \g  as  harmonic  seventh. 


APPENDIX. 

On  the  Calculation  of  Intervals,  and  of  Beats. 

(i)  To  find  the  equivalent  of  a  given  vibra- 
tion ratio  in  equal  temperament  semitones. 

Rule. — Take  the  common  logarithm  of  the 
ratio  ;  subtract  of  itself,  and  call  this  the 
first  improved  value.  From  the  original 
logarithm  subtract  jj-g-  of  the  first  improved 
value,  and      0  00  first  improved  value. 

Multiply  the  remainder  by  40.  The  result  is 
the  required  equivalent.  If  we  take  logs,  to 
seven  places,  five  will  generally  be  correct  in 
the  result. 


Example. — To  find  the  equivalent  of  a  per- 
fect fifth,  whose  ratio  is  f. 


log. 
log. 


3  =  -4771213 

2  =  -3010300 


log.  I  =  -1760913 
=  -0005870 


•0005850 


=  -1760913 
•0005850 

•1755063 
1755 

•17548875 
40 

7^01955 |oo 


In  this  case  the  whole  seven  places  are  cor- 
rect, but  this  is  accidental. 

(2)  To  find  the  vibrations  ratio  of  an  in- 
terval given  in  equal  temperament  semitones. 

To  the  given  number  add  of  itself  and 
TiT.iTnr  of  itself ;  divide  by  40.  The  result  is 
the  logarithm  of  the  ratio  required.  We  must 
not  take  more  than  six  places  ;  then  as  many 
as  we  take  will  be  correct  in  the  answer. 

Example. — To  find  the  vibrations  ratio  of 
the  equal  temperament  third,  consisting  of  4 
semitones'. 

4^000000 
•013333 

TTi.iuXS  =  "000400 


40 )  4-013733 


•1003433  =  log.  1-259921 

The  ratio  of  the  perfect  third  is  i  •250000, 
so  that  the  ratio  of  the  equal  temperament 
third  to  the  perfect  third  is  very  nearly 

The  calculation  of  beats  is  essential  to  the 
accurate  construction  of  systems  of  tuning. 
The  principles  to  be  appHed  have  been 
already  enunciated. 

Ex.  I. — To  determine  the  number  of  beats 
per  second  in  the  equal  temperament  fifth 
c'—g'  {c'  -  256). 

The  twelfth  of  c'  is  g"=j68.  This  mter- 
feres  with  the  octave  of  g  ;  and  this  is  -0195500 
flat,  since  a  perfect  fifth  contains  7-0195500 
semitones. 

To  find  the  vibration  number  of  the  note 
•0195500  below  g-"  =  768.  . 

Proceeding  by  Rule  2  we  have — 
•0195500 
•0000652  =  ^ 

19  =  TT.TTnr 


40) -0196171  .  , 

-0004904=  log.  ratio  of  note  to 

Again — log.  768  =  2-8853613 
log.  ratio  =  -0004904 


log.  tempered  5-"  =  2-8848709 
=  log.  767-133 


(  429  ) 


TEMPESTOSAMENTE  TEMPETE. 


The  number  of  beats  per  second  is  the  differ- 
ence of  the  vibration  numbers. 

768-000 

767-133 


•867  =  no.  of  beats  per  second. 
60 


52-02  =  no.  of  beats  per  minute. 
Ex.  2. — To  determine  the  number  of  beats 
per  second  in  the  equal  temperament  third 
</ — e^,  caused  by  the  interference  of  the  tierce 
(/  with  the  double  octave  of  e^. 

From  p.  25 — log.  ratio  =  "1003433 

log.  c'''=Iog.  1024  =  3-0103000 


log.  tempered 3-1106433 
=  log.  1290-16 
and  e''''^  5  X  256=  1280-00 


io-i6 

or  10  per  second  very  nearly. 

These  beats  are,  then,  rapid  enough  to  be 
offensive  in  the  higher  parts  of  the  scale, 
where  the  notes  used  contain  the  harmonics 
of  the  4th  and  5th  order  in  sufficient  strength. 

Beats  0/  difference  tones  (Tartini  Tones). 

Ex. — To  find  the  number  of  beats  per 
second  produced  by  the  difference  tones  of 
— ^,  ^ — g',  in  the  equal  temperament  triad. 
From  the  above  examples  we  have — 

^''  =  256  g^,  =767"  133 

 =383.566 


[290-16 


322-54 


whence 


322-54  383-56 
256-  322-54 


diff.  of  /— 66-54     6i-o2=diff.  of  g^—e^ 

These  are  the  vibration  numbers  of  the  two 
difference  tones  ;  and  we  have — 

66-54 

61-02 

5-52 

01  5J  beats  per  second  nearly. 

Application  to  the  construction  of  systems. 

For  this  purpose  it  is  necessary  to  know 
the  absolute  pitch,  as  all  the  numbers  in 
question  vary  with  it.  The  following  method 
can  be  carried  out  with  a  few  organ  pipes  or 
harmonium  reeds  : — 

Rule. — To  the  note  (c)  to  be  determined 
tune  a  perfect  fifth  {c—g),  and  to  this  [g)  a 


perfect  fourth  down  {g — d).  Then  {c — d)  is 
a  major  tone. 

Interpolate  between  these  two  notes  so 
many  others  that  the  beats  between  each 
pair  are  just  slow  enough  to  admit  of  counting. 
Count  the  number  of  beats  given  by  each 
of  the  pairs  in  two  minutes  :  add,  and  divide 
the  sum  by  15.  The  result  is  the  number 
of  vibrations  of  (c)  in  one  second. 

Ex. — A  harmonium  reed  sounded  a  note 
near  tenor  c  ;  d  was  made  a  major  tone  to  it 
as  above :  four  notes  (i.,  11.,  iii.,  iv.)  were 
arranged  so  as  to  give  countable  beats.  The 
numbers  observed  in  a  quarter  of  a  minute 
were : — 

c—  I.  =  58 

I.  —  II.  =  44-5 

II.  — III.  =70 

III.  —  IV.  =  49 

IV.  —   d  —  4fO 

261-5 

Multiply  by  8  we  have  the  number  for  two 
minutes  =2092;  and  dividing  by  15  we  get 
139-5  for  the  vibration  number  of  the  given 
note. 

When  we  have  the  vibration  number  of 
the  starting-point,  we  can  proceed  to  obtain 
numbers  of  beats  for  guidance  in  tuning. 

E.g. — To  tune  the  equal  temperament  by 
fifths. 

The  following  are  the  beats  per  minute 
when  c/  =  264 : — 

0'  53-4 

c'-i-g't  57- 

_a'  60-3 

e^^ — b'j  64-2 

e^  — b'  67-5 

//  —c"  71-6 

75-6 

gf  80.4 

\'>)-e"^  85-2 
a!  -e"  90- 

l/)>-r  95-4 
1/  10I-4 

The  methods  indicated  in  the  foregoing 
brief  sketch  are  sufficient  for  the  solution  of 
problems  in  tuning.  Our  limits  preclude 
further  discussion  on  the  subject. 

Tempestosamente  {It.)  Impetuously, 
furiously. 

Tempestoso  {It.)  Tempestuous,  moved, 
agitated. 

Temp&te  {Fr.)  A  dance  invented  in  Paris 
about  twenty-five  years  ago.  The  dancers 
are  arranged  as  in  a  quadrille,  in  parties  of 
four  couples.  Two  couples  stand  side  by  side 
facing  their  respective  vis-a-vis,  so  that  as 
there  are  no  side  couples  as  many  sets  can  be 
arranged  as  the  ball-room  will  accommodate. 
"  The  step  is  the  same  as  the  quadrille,  varied 


(  430  ) 


TEMPO  TENORE. 


sometimes  by  the  introduction  of  the  galop 
step,  when  the  couples  cross  to  each  others' 
places,  or  advance  to  the  lines  of  the  next 
set."  La  Tempete  is  danced  to  quick  music 
in  f  time. 

Tempo  (It.)  Time  or  measure.  Tempo 
comodo,  con%'enient,  easy,  moderate  time ; 
Tempo  di  Ballo,  dance  time  ;  Tevipo  di 
Cappella,  in  the  time  of  Church  music  [A 
Cappella]  ;  Tempo  di  Gavotta,  in  the  time  of 
a  gavot  [GavotJ  ;  Tempo  di  Marcia,  in 
marching  time  ;  Tempo  di  Menuetio,  in  the 
time  of  a  minuet  [Minuet]  ;  Tempo  di 
Polacca,  in  the  time  of  a  polacca  [Polacca]  ; 
Tempo  di  prima  parte,  in  the  time  ■  of  the 
first  part,  or  original  movement ;  Tempo  di 
Valse,  in  waltz  time  [Waltz] ;  Tempo  frette- 
vole  or  frettoloso,  in  quick,  hastened,  hurried 
time ;  Tempo  giusto.  [A  tempo  giusto]  ; 
Tempo  ordiitario,  in  ordinary  or  usual 
time  ;  an  ordinary  walking  pace,  an  andante. 
Tempo  perduto,  lost,  interrupted,  broken, 
and  irregular  time.  Tempo  primo,  first  or 
original  time  ;  a  direction  to  resume  the  pace 
with  which  the  movement  started  after  an 
alteration.  Tempo  reggiato,  regulated  time. 
A  direction  to  accommodate  the  pace  to  the 
solo  performer.  Tempo  rubato,  robbed  or 
stolen  time.  Time  occasionally  slackened  or 
hastened  for  the  purposes  of  expression. 

Tempo  wie  vorher  [Ger.)  The  time  as 
before. 

Temps,  or  Tems  (Fr.)  (i)  Time  ;  (2)  the 
parts  or  divisions  of  a  bar.  Temps  faible, 
(i)  weak  time;  (2)  the  unaccented  parts  of 
a  bar.  Temps  fort,  (i)  strong  time  ;  (2) 
the  accented  parts  of  a  bar.  Temps  frappe, 
the  down  beats  in  a  bar  [Down  beat]. 
Temps  leve,  the  up  beats  in  a  bar  [Up 
beat]. 

Tempus  (Lat.)    Time,  one  of  the  three 
early  divisions  of  mensurable  music,  which 
were — (i)  Mode;  (2)  Time;  (3)  Prolation.  I 
Modus  was  the  division  of  a  maxim  into  longs,  : 
or  of  a  long  into  breves  ;  Tempus,  the  division  | 
of  a  breve  into  semibreves  ;  Prolatio,  the  ' 
division  of  a  semibreve  into  minims.  Tempus 
was  of  two  kinds,  "  perfectum  "  and  "  im- 
perfectum ;  "  in  the  former,  the  breve  was 
divided  into  three  semibreves ;  in  the  latter, 
into  two  semibreves.    The  sign  of  the  former 
is  a  complete  circle,  O    that  of  the  latter,  an 
incomplete  circle,  Q .    It  is  from  this  latter 
sign,  in  all  probability,  we  derive  our  mark 
for  common  time  now  usuallv  written  as 
a  C. 

Ten.,  abb.  of  tennto. 

Tendrement  {Fr.)    Tenderly,  delicately. 

Tenebrae  {Lat.)  An  office  celebrated  on 
the  afternoons  of  Maundy  Thursday  and 
Good  Friday,  and  on  other  special  days  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  to  commemorate 


the  darkness  over  the  earth  at  the  time  of  the 
Crucifixion. 

Tenendo  il  canto  {It.)  Sustaining  the 
melody. 

Teneramente  {It.)    Delicately,  tenderly. 

Tenerezza,  con  {It.)  With  tenderness, 
softness,  delicacy. 

Tenero  {It.)  Tender,  soft,  delicate,  sensi- 
ble, careful. 

Tenete  (7;.)    Keep,  hold,  sustain. 

Tenor,  Tenore  i/<.),Taille  ^Fr.)  (i)  The 
third  of  the  four  kinds  of  voices  arranged 
with  regard  to  their  compass.  It  is  the 
highest  of  male  chest  voices,  and  its  extent 
lies  between  tenor  C  and  treble  A. 


(2)  The  tenor  voice  is  sometimes  called  by 
way  of  distinction  "  the  human  voice,"  from 
an  idea  that  it  is  the  quality  and  compass  of 
voice  most  common  to  man.  The  Plain  Song 
of  the  Church  was  formerly  given  as  a  tenor 
part,  the  harmonies  being  constructed  above 
and  below  it  ;  the  supposed  derivation  of  the 
word  tenor  from  teueo,  I  hold,  is  supported 
by  the  fact  that  the  caiitus  firmus  was  known 
and  sung  by  the  congregation  or  greater  bodv 
of  singers.  Many  of  the  hymn  tunes  employed 
up  to  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, as  well  as  many  of  the  arrangements  of 
the  responses  used  in  the  Church  Service, 
were  written  with  the  melody  in  the  tenor 
part. 

(3)  In  old  music  the  tenor  voice  was  divided 
into  three  classes — alius,  medius,  and  bassus 
— high,  mean,  and  low  tenor. 

(4)  The  larger  violin  of  low  pitch  is  called 
the  tenor,  viola,  bratsche,  and  sometimes 
alto  violin.  [Viola.] 

(5)  The  principal  bell  in  a  peal,  or  set,  is 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  tenor  bell. 

Tenor  C.  (i)  The  lowest  C  in  the  tenor 
voice. 


(2)  The  lowest  string  of  the  tenor  violin. 

Tenor  clef.  The  C  clef  placed  upon  the 
fourth  line  of  the  stave. 

It  is  used  for  the  tenor  voice,  tenor  trombone, 
the  higher  register  of  the  bassoon  and  violon- 
cello, &c.  The  treble  clef  is  sometimes  em- 
ployed for  the  tenor  voice,  but  the  notes  are 
then  expressed  an  octave  above  their  true 
sound.  The  late  Thomas  Oliphant  suggested 
that  two  treble  clefs  conjoined  should  be  tlie 
sign  of  the  tenor  G  clef. 

Tenore  {It.)  (i)  Tenor  voice.  (2)  A  tenor 
singer  ;  Tenore  buffo,  a  tenor  singer  to  whom 


(  431  ) 


TENORIST  TETRACHORD. 


is  assigned  a  comic  part  in  an  opera  ;  Tenore 
leggiero,  a  tenor  singer  with  a  voice  of  light, 
small  quality  ;  Tenore  robusto,  a  tenor  singer 
with  a  full,  strong,  sonorous  voice. 

Tenorist.  One  who  sings  the  tenor  part, 
or  plays  the  tenor  violin. 

Tenoroon.  (i)  The  name  of  an  old  tenor 
oboe  with  a  compass  extending  downwards 
to  tenor  C.  (2)  A  word  affixed  to  an  organ 
stop  to  denote  that  it  does  not  proceed  below 
tenor  C,  as,  tenoroon  hautboy.  A  tenoroon 
diapason  is  a  double  diapason  which  does  not 
extend  below  tenor  C. 

Tenor  posaune  (Ger.)  Tenor  trombone. 
[Trombone.] 

Tenor  schliissel  {Ger.)    Tenor  clef. 

Tenor  trombone.  A  trombone  with  a 
compass  of  two  octaves  and  a  fifth 

jp  ^  for  the  C  trombone  and  ^ 


for  the  B  flat  trombone.  [Trombone.] 
Tenor  violin.    The  viola.  [Viola.] 
Tenorzeichen  {Ger.)     The  tenor  clef. 

[Clef.] 

Tenth,  (i)  A  compound  interval  com- 
prising an  octave  and  a  third,  nine  conjoint 
degrees,  or  ten  sounds.  The  tenth  is  the 
octave  of  the  third,  and  may  be  major  or 
minor,  diminished  or  augmented.  [Inter- 
vals.] (2)  An  organ  stop,  tuned  a  tenth 
above  the  diapasons,  called  also  double  tierce 
or  decima.  fOrgan.] 

Tenuto  (it.),  Tenu  {Fr.)  Held  on,  sus- 
tained, kept  down  for  the  full  time. 

Teorbo  {It)  [Theorbo.] 

Teoria  {It.)  Theory.  Teoria  del  Canto, 
the  theory  of  singing ;  Teoria  d'armonia,  the 
theory  of  harmony. 

Tepidamente  (7^.)  In  a  lukewarm  man- 
ner, with  indifference. 

Tepidita  {It.)    Coldness,  indifference. 

Ter  (Lat.)  Thrice. 

Tercet  (Fr.)    A  triplet.  [Triplet.] 

Ternary  form.    Rondo  form.  [Form.] 

Ternary  measure.  Triple  time.  Perfect 
time.    [Signature  §  2.] 

Terpodion.  An  instrument  invented  by 
David  Buschmann  of  Hamburg,  in  1816,  re- 
sembling in  appearance  the  pianoforte,  but 
the  tone  was  produced  from  blocks  of  wood 
struck  with  hammers.  It  contained  also  a 
contrivance  by  which  the  sound  might  be 
increased  or  diminished  at  pleasure. 

Tertia  {Lat.)  [Tierce.] 

Tertian.  An  organ  stop  composed  of  two 
ranks  of  pipes,  sounding  a  major  third  and 
fifth  of  the  foundation  pipes,  in  the  third 
octave  above  ;  a  Tierce  and  Larigot  on  one 
glider. 


Ter  unca  {Lat.)  Thrice  hooked.  A  demi- 
semiquaver  ^ 

Terz  {Ger.)  [Tierce.] 

Terza(/^)  (i)  The  third.  OperaUrza,\hQ 
third  work ;  Violino  terzo,  the  third  violin. 
(2)  [Tierce.] 

Terzdecime  An  interval  of  a  thirteenth, 
the  octave  of  the  sixth. 

Terzdecimole.  A  group  of  thirteen  notes 
to  be  performed  in  the  time  of  eight,  or  ot 
twelve. 

Terzetto  (It.)  A  little  composition  for 
three  performers. 

Terzflote  {Ger.)  (i)  A  flute  sounding  a 
third  above  the  notes  written.  (2)  An  organ 
stop.  [Tierce.] 

Terzina  {It.)    A  triplet. 

Terzo  mano  {It.)  Lit.  a  third  hand. 
An  octave  coupler  on  Italian  organs. 

Terzquartakkord  {Ger.)  The  %ot  I  chord. 

3 

The  second  inversion  of  the  chord  of  the 
dominant  seventh. 


Terzquartsextakkord  {Ger.)  [Terzquart- 
akkord.] 

Terzquintsextakkord  {Ger.)  The  |  chord. 

The  first  inversion  of  the  chord  of  the  domi- 
nant seventh,  figured  |. 

Testo  {It.)  (i)  The  text,  theme,  subject 
of  a  composition.  (2)  The  libretto  of  an 
opera,  or  the  words  of  a  song. 

Testudo  {Lat.)  A  name  for  the  lyre, 
because  the  sounding  part  or  hollow  was 
made  of  the  shell  of  the  sea  tortoise  or  turtle. 
[Lyre.] 

Tetrachord.  A  scale-series  of  four  notes. 
The  word  in  its  modem  sense  signifies  a  half 
of  the  octave  scale,  e.g. : 


First  Tetrachord.  Second  Tetrachord. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  position  of  the  tones 
and  semitones  is  similar  in  both  tetrachords. 
A  third  tetrachord  placed  above  these  two 
would  lead  into  the  key  of  G.,  e.g. : 


and  another  into  the  key  of  D 


and  so  on  through  all  the  sharp  keys.  Simi- 


(432  ) 


TETRACHORDAL  SYSTEM  THIRTEENTH,  CHORD  OF  THE. 


larly,  tetrachords  placed  below  the  first  lead 
into  flat  keys,  e.g.  : 


&c 


Tetrachords  which  overlap  are  said  to  be  con- 
junct; those  having  a  degree  between  them, 
disjunct. 


Similar  disjunct  tetrachords  necessarily  pass 
through  the  whole  key-series,  and  a  com-  | 
bination  of  conjunct  and  disjunct  tetrachords 
is  required  to  form  a  diatonic  scale  of  more 
than  one  octave  in  compass.    [Greek  music]  I 

Tetrachordal  system.    The  early  form  I 
of  the  system  now  known  as  Tonic  Sol-fa. 
[Tonic  Sol-fa.] 

Tetrachordon.  An  instrument  similar 
in  appearance  to  a  cottage  pianoforte,  and 
like  it  played  by  finger-board,  but  the  tone, 
instead  of  being  produced  by  striking,  is 
obtained  by  means  of  a  cylinder  of  india- 
rubber  charged  with  rosin,  kept  in  motion  by 
a  pedal,  variety  of  tone  being  gained  by  the 
depth  of  pressure  on  the  keys  by  the  fingers. 
It  is  called  the  tetrachordon  from  an  idea  that 
its  sounds  are  similar  to  those  produced  by  a 
string  quartet.  The  instrument  is  constructed 
also  with  self-acting  machinery.  [Bogen- 
clavier.]    [Xanorphika.]    [Hurdy  Gurdy.] 

Theil  (Ger.)  (i)  A  part  or  division  of  a 
bar.  (2)  A  phrase,  strain,  or  part  of  a  piece. 
(3)  A  piece,  composition,  work. 

Thema  {Ger.)  [Theme.] 

Theme  {Fr.)  [Theme.] 

Theme,  (i)  One  of  the  divisions  of  a 
subject,  in  the  development  of  sonata-form. 
[Form.]  (2)  The  cantus  Jirmus  on  which 
counterpoint  is  built.  (3)  The  subject  of  a 
fugue.  (4)  A  simple  tune  on  which  varia- 
tions are  made. 

Theorbe  {Fr.)  [Theorbo.] 

Theorbo,  Tiorba  {It.);  Theorbe  {Fr.); 
Basslaute  {Ger.)  (i)  An  old  stringed  in- 
strument resembling  the  lute  in  form  or  tone. 
It  had  two  necks,  to  the  longest  of  which  the 
bass  strings  were  attached.  It  was  employed 
for  accompanying  voices,  and  was  in  great 
favour  during  the  seventeenth  century.  Mace 
describes  it  as  "  no  other  than  that  which  we 


call'd  the  old  English  lute."  It  differed  from 
the  lute  in  the  possession  of  its  two  necks, 
from  whence  it  is  sometimes  called  cithara 
bijuga. 


The  strings  were  usually  single  in  the 
Theorbo,  and  when  double,  or  tuned  in  octaves 
or  unison  with  the  bass  or  treble  notes,  the 
instrument  was  called  the  arch-lute,  or  chit- 
tarone. 

(2)  Its  invention  has  been  variously  as- 
signed to  an  Italian,  Signor  Tiorba,  from 
whom  it  is  said  to  have  derived  its  name  ; 
to  one  called  Bardella  about  the  year  1600; 
and  to  Hotteman,  a  German,  living  in  France 
in  1650. 

Sir  John  Hawkins  attributes  the  invention 
to  a  nameless  Neapolitan,  who  called  it 
Tiorba  from  its  resemblance  to  an  instru- 
ment used  for  pounding  perfumes  so  called. 
Johannes  Kapsberger,  a  German  of  noble 
birth,  who  died  about  1630,  was  a  skilful 
performer  on  the  instrument,  and  wrote  a 
large  quantity  of  music  in  tablature  for  it. 

(3)  The  Theorbo  was  used  as  an  instrument 
in  the  orchestra  as  late  as  the  year  1708  by 
Francesco  Conti.  It  was  also  employed  in 
the  performance  of  sonatas  in  the  place  of 
the  cembalo,  from  its  power  of  rendering  a 
figured  or  thorough  bass.  Corelli's  third  set 
of  sonatas,  published  in  Bologna  in  1690, 
contains  a  part  for  the  Theorbo  or  violone. 

Theoretiker  {Ger.)    A  theorist. 

Theoricien  {Fr.)    A  theorist. 

Theorist.  One  who  studies  the  nature  of 
sound  or  the  principles  of  musical  art. 

Theory  of  music.  The  science  of  music. 
The  speculations  arising  from  a  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  sound.  The  rules  for 
composition  and  arrangement  of  music  for 
voices  and  instruments  in  rhythm,  melody, 
harmony,  counterpoint,  and  instrumentation. 

Thesis  {Gk.)  The  downward  wave  of  the 
hand  to  denote  the  absence  of  accent.  [Ac- 
cent, S  5.]    [Arsis.]  [Metre.] 

Thin,  (i)  Meagre  and  scanty  harmony. 
(2)  A  poor  quality  of  tone  in  a  voice  or  on  an 
instrument. 

Third.  [Interval.] 

Third  flute.  [Terzflote.] 

Third  stave.  A  name  given  to  the  stave 
upon  which  pedal  music  is  written  for  the 
organ. 

Thirteenth,  chord  of  the.     A  chord 

called  by  some  a  suspension  ;  by  others,  a 
secondary  seventh  {see  Seventh,  Exs.  34 — 41). 
It  consists  generally  of  the  3rd,  7th,  and  13th 


(  433  ) 


2  E 


^rniRTY-SECOND  NOTE  TIMBALE. 


of  the  dominant,  and  is  used  both  in  the 
major  and  minor  modes.  The  following  are 
its  most  common  forms. 


Thirty- second  note.  A  demisemi- 
quaver. 

Thorough  bass,  Basso  continuo  (It.), 
Basse  contrainte(Fr.)  A  species  of  musical 
shorthand,  reduced  to  a  system  by  Ludovico 
Viadani,  about  the  year  1605,  which  has 
remained  substantially  unimproved  since  his 
day.  It  consists  of  a  bass  part  with  the  ac- 
companying harmonies  indicated  by  figures. 
Henri  Dumont  was  the  earliest  musician  in 
France  who  made  use  of  thorough  bass,  about 
1640,  and  the  first  treatise  on  thorough  bass, 
published  in  England,  was  the  work  of 
Matthew  Lock,  issued  under  the  title  of 
"  Melothesia ;  or.  Certain  General  Rules  for 
Playing  upon  a  Continued  Bass,  with  a 
choice  collection  of  Lessons  for  the  Harpsi- 
chord and  Organ  of  all  sorts,"  London,  1673. 

Francis  de  la  Fond  in  1725,  suggested  a 
new  method  of  figuring  a  bass  by  calling 
the  notes  of  the  chromatic  scale  by  the  num- 
bers one  up  to  thirteen.    [Figured  Bass.] 

Threnody.  An  elegy,  or  funeral  song, 
from  the  Greek  Qprivulia. 

Thrice  -  marked  -  octave  {Dreigestrichen 
octav).  The  name  given  in  Germany  to  all 
the  notes  of  the  octave  above  C  in  alt. 
[Pitch.] 


Thrum,  (i)  To  play  without  skill  upon  a 
stringed  instrument.  (2)  The  sound  so 
made. 

Thurner(Ge/'.)  A  town  musician.  [Waits.] 

Tibia  (Lat.)  [Flute.] 

Tibiae  pares  {Lat.)  [Flute.] 

Tibiae  utriculariae.  [Bagpipe.] 

Tibia  major.  An  organ  flute-stop  of  i6ft. 
pitch.  [Flute.] 

Tibicen  {Lat.)  (From  tibia  and  cano.)  A 
flute-player  ;  tibicina,  a  female  flautist ;  tibi- 
cinium,  a  piping  ;  tibicino,  to  pipe. 

Tie.  (i)  A  curved  line  placed  over  two  or 
more  notes  in  the  same  position  on  the 
stave : 


The  tie  is  also  called  a  bind,  and  the  curved 
line,  when  used  over  notes  representing  dif- 
ferent sounds,  is  called  a  slur.  [Bind.] 
[Slur.]  (2)  When  two  or  more  quavers,  semi- 
quavers, &c.,  are  united,  instead  of  being 
written  with  separate  tails,  they  are  said  to 
be  tied.    [Stem.]    [Printing  of  Music] 

Tief  (   er.)    Deep,  low. 

Tierce  {Fr.)  (i)  A  third.  (2)  An  organ 
stop  tuned  a  seventeenth  above  the  diapason. 
[Organ.]  (3)  The  service  which  took  place 
at  the  third  hour  of  the  day,  the  undersani,' 
of  the  Anglo  Saxons.  [Horae  Canonicae.] 
(4)  The  natural  harmonic  produced  by  |  of 
a  vibrating  string.  [Acoustics.] 

Tierce  de  Picardie  {Fr.)  The  sharpened 
third  in  the  concluding  chord  of  a  composi- 
tion in  the  minor  mode. 

Tierce  coulee  {Fr.)  A  slurred  third.  In 
old  harpsichord  music  the  tierce  coulee  was 
expressed  by  a  dash  through  the  notes  of  the 
third,  in  a  diagonal  direction,  thus: 

when  it  was  called  the  rising  slurred  third, 
tierce  coulee  en  montant,  and  was  played  : 


A  stroke  in  the  opposite  direction 

was  called  the  falling  slurred  third,  tierce 
coulee  en  descendant,  and  was  played  : 


Timb.  Abb.  for  Timballes.  [Kettle- 
drums.] 

Timbale  {Fr.)  [Kettle-drum.] 


(  434  ) 


TIMBALLO  TONIC  SOL-FA. 


Timballo  (7^.)  [Kettle-drum.] 

Timbre  {Fr.)  Quality  of  tone  or  sound. 
Klang  or  Klangfarbe  (Ger.)  [Acoustics,  §  i6.] 

Timbrel.    [Tabor.]  [Tambourine.] 

Time.  (i)  The  division  of  musical 
phrases  into  certain  regulated  portions  mea- 
sured with  regard  to  the  value  of  the  notes 
with  respect  to  the  semibreve,  which,  in 
modern  music,  is  held  to  be  the  standard  of 
time.  There  are  two  sorts  of  time,  duple 
with  two,  four,  or  eight  beats  in  a  bar,  and 
triple  with  three  beats  in  a  bar.  There  is  also 
compound  time,  or  time  formed  of  the  union 
of  triple  with  duple,  and  triple  with  triple, 
each  having  a  distinctive  time  signature. 
[Signature,  §  2.] 

(2)  The  pace  at  which  a  movement  is  per- 
formed is  called  its  time. 

Timorosamente  (7^.)  Timidly,  hesita- 
tingly, with  fear. 

Timoroso  (7^.)  Timorous,  with  hesita- 
tion. 

Timp.    Abb.  of  Timpani. 

Timpani  (7^.)  Kettle-drums. 

Timpanista  {it.)    A  drummer. 

Tintement  (Fr.)    The  tinkling  of  a  bell. 

Tintinno  [It.)  [Tintement.] 

Tintinnabulum  [Lat.)  A  rattle  {Gk. 
KXarayri)  formed  either  of  small  bells  or  little 
plates  of  metal. 

Tiorbo  (It.)  [Theorbo.] 

Tipping.    [Double  tongueing.] 

Tirade.  The  filling  up  of  an  interval 
between  two  notes  with  a  run,  in  vocal  or 
instrumental  music,  e.g.  : 


Tirante  (Sp.)    The  brace  of  a  drum. 

Tirasse  (Fr.)  The  pedals  of  an  organ 
which  act  on  the  keys  or  manuals. 

Tirato  (It.)  (i)  A  down  bow.  [Bowing.] 
(2)  A  scale  passage  in  notes  of  equal  length. 

Tira  tutto  (7/.)  A  pedal  commanding 
the  full  power  of  the  organ.  [Fr.)  Grand 
jeu. 

Tire  [Fr.)  (i)  Drawn,  pulled.  (2)  A 
down  bow.  [Bowing.]  (3)  The  drawing 
out  of  an  accordion. 

Titty,  tziti,  toutari.  An  Indian  bagpipe. 
[Bagpipe.] 

Toccata  [It.)  (i)  A  prelude  or  overture. 
The  overture  to  Rinuccini's  opera  "  Orfeo," 
1609,  is  called  a  toccata,  and  is  directed  to  be 
performed  three  times,  "  Avanti  il  lever  de  la 
tela,"  "  before  the  rising  of  the  curtain."  (2) 
Compositions  written  as  exercises.  (3)  A 
fantasia.    (4)  A  suite. 

Toccatina  {It.)    A  short  toccata. 

Todtenmarsch  {Ger.)    A  funeral  march. 

Tombestere  or  Tymbestere  [old  Eit^'.) 


A  female  dancer,  who  accompanied  herself 
upon  a  tambourine,  occasionally  throwing  her 
instrument  in  the  air  and  catching  it. 

"  There  was  many  a  tymbestere, 
Couthe  her  crafte  full  parfytly." — Chaucer. 

Tom-tom.    A  gong. 

Ton.  [Fr.  and  Ger.)  (i)  Tone,  sound. 
(2)  The  interval  of  a  second. 

Tonabstand  (Ger.)    An  interval. 

Tonada  (Sp.)    A  tune,  air,  or  melody. 

Tonadilla  (Sp.)  A  short  tune,  an  inter- 
lude, ritornello,  symphony  to  a  song. 

Tonal  Fugue.  [Fugue.] 

Tonarion  or  Tonarium.  A  pitch-pipe 
(according  to  Quintilian)  used  by  the  Latin 
orators  for  the  purpose  of  regulating  the 
pitch  of  their  speaking  voice,  called  also 
fistula  eburneola.  Dionysius  limits  the  com- 
pass of  the  oratorical  voice  to  five  notes. 
When  this  compass  was  exceeded,  an  atten- 
dant blew  the  tonarion  to  enable  the  orator 
to  recover  his  proper  pitch. 

Tonart  {Ger.)  Mode,  tune,  key,  scale- 
system,  tonality. 

Tonausweichung  {Ger.)  Modulation. 

Ton  bas  {Fr.)    A  deep,  low  tone. 

Tondichter  {Ger.)  A  composer.  A  poet 
in  sounds,  as  a  painter  may  be  described  as  a 
poet  ifi  colours.  This  word  has  been  badly 
rendered  "  tone-poet." 

Tondichtung  {Ger.)  A  musical  composi- 
tion.   A  sound-poem. 

Tone.  (I)  Sound.  (2)  Quality  of  tone. 
[Acoustics,  §  16.]  (3)  The  interval  of  a 
second.  [Interval.]  (4)  A  Gregorian  chant. 
[Plain  Song.] 

Tonfall  {Ger.)    A  cadence. 

Tonfolge  {Ger.)  A  succession  of  sounds. 
A  melody. 

Tonfiihrung  {Ger.)  (i)  A  melodic  suc- 
cession.   (2)  [Modulation.] 

Tonfuss  {Ger.)    A  foot.  [Metre.] 
Tongang  {Ger.)  [Tonfiihrung.] 
Ton-generateur  {Fr.)  [Root.] 
Tongeschlecht  {Ger.)    The  character  of 
the  modes.    There  are  two  Tongeschlechter — 
major  and  minor.    [Scale.]  [Mode.] 
Ton  haut  {Fr.)    An  acute  sound. 
Tonic,  Tonica  {It.),  Tonique  {Fr.)  (i) 
The  key-note  of  any  scale.   The  ground-tone 
or  basis  of  a  scale  or  key.    (2)  The  key- 
chord  in  which  a  piece  is  written,  and  with 
which  it  concludes. 

Tonic  Sol-fa.  A  letter-system  of  notation. 
Many  attempts  have  from  time  to  time  been 
made  to  produce  a  simpler  notation  than  the 
stave,  clefs,  signature,  &c.,  of  the  so-called 
"  Old  Notation." 

As  early  as  the  year  1672,  Thomas  Salmon 
wrote  a  book  entitled,  "An  essay  to  the 
advancement  of  music,  by  casting  away  the 
perplexities  of  different  cliffs,  and  uniting  all 


I  435  ) 


TONIC  SOL-FA. 


sorts  of  music,  lute,  viol,  violins,  organ, 
harpsichord,  voice,  &c.,  in  one  universal 
character."  In  this  he  proposed  to  write  all 
music  on  a  stave  of  four  lines,  which  should 
tjive  the  notes  the  names  of  the  first  seven 
letters  of  the  alphabet,  octaves  above  or 
below  being  marked  with  the  name  of  the 
octave  to  which  they  belong.  The  proposition 
was  violently  opposed  by  Matthew  Lock,  but 
other  musicians  treated  it  with  contempt,  and 
Salmon's  book  and  proposition  now  exist  only 
among  the  literarj'  curiosities  of  music.  Jean 
Jacques  Rousseau  suggested  a  notation  where- 
by the  notes  of  the  scale  were  indicated  by 
the  numbers  i  to  7.  This,  or  rather  an  im- 
proved form  of  it,  is  still  largely  used  in  France. 
Miss  Sarah  A.  Glover,  of  Norwich,  about 
thirty  years  ago  projected  and  taught  success- 
fully a  system  which  she  called  the  tetra- 
chordal  system,  which  was  the  Tonic  Sol-fa 
notation  in  its  original  form  ;  but  it  has  since 
received  such  important  modifications  and 
additions  from  the  hands  of  the  Rev,  J.  Curwen, 
that  it  is  now  justly  associated  with  his 
name. 

Its  chief  ra/507j  d'etre  is  that  the  ordinary  no- 
tation, just  in  the  degree  that  it  accommodates 
itself  to  the  keyboard  and  the  theory  founded 
more  or  less  thereon,  is  not  fitted  as  a 
notation  for  the  greatest  of  all  instruments, 
the  human  voice.  Tonic  Sol-faists  neverthe- 
less maintain  that  their  notation  may  be  used 
in  all  branches  of  the  art,  and  pupils  are 
taught  to  play  instruments,  to  study  harmony, 
musical  form,  and  composition,  entirely  from 
the  syllables.  The  leading  features  of  the 
notation  are  as  follows  :  Of  the  two  relation- 
ships of  musical  sounds,  those  of  pitch  and 
key,  the  latter  is  of  transcendant  importance. 
It  is  argued,  therefore,  that  it  is  of  the  first 
consideration  that  this  supremely  important 
fact  should  be  prominently  shown.  The  key- 
note of  a  piece  is,  therefore,  always  called  doh, 
the  second  of  the  scale  ray,  and  so  on,  me,fah, 
soh,  lah,  te.  The  reason  for  this  departure 
from  the  ordinary  spelling  is,  that  the  above 
is  considered  easier  for  English  people  to 
pronounce.  In  printing  music,  the  initial 
letter  indicates  the  scale  note.  Si  and  soh 
having  the  same  initial,  the  former  is  altered 
to  te.  Higher  or  lower  octaves  are  shown  by 
figures  placed  by  the  side  of  the  notes,  d^,  d\ 
m*,  and  s,,  in^,  d^.  The  first  part  of  the 
National  Anthem  is  written  in  tune  thus,  d  d 
r  d  r  VI  m  f  m  r  d  r  d  t^  d.  The  particular 
pitch  of  the  key-sound  is  shown  by  the  state- 
ment at  the  beginning  of  the  piece,  key  G, 
key  E?,  key  A,  &c.  The  minor  mode  is 
regarded  as  derived  from  the  relative  major, 
the  tonic  being  called  lah.  It  is  maintained 
that  to  call  the  tonic  of  the  minor  scale  doh, 
would  lead  to  extraordinary  practical  diffi- 


culties, besides  being  false  in  theory.  Changes 
of  key  in  the  course  of  a  piece  are  met  by 
what  are  called  bridge  tones.  The  note  of  the 
key  quitted  is  placed  side  by  side  with  the 
note  of  the  same  pitch  in  the  key  approached, 
and  the  pupil  is  taught  to  think  and  sing  the 
sound  of  the  first  note,  and  to  call  it  by  the 
name  of  the  second.  Thus,  d  r  m  /  'd  t^  d 
would  show  a  transition,  say  from  key  C  to 
key  G.  By  this  means  changes  of  the  most 
complex  nature  are  simply  represented  by 
Tonic  Sol-faists,  and  they  assert  that  the  music 
has  yet  to  be  quoted  which  cannot  be  expressed 
in  their  notation.  The  chromatic  scale  is 
named  by  adding  the  vowel  e  to  the  initial  of 
sharpened  notes,  and  a  (pronounced  aw)  to 
notes  to  be  flattened.  Thus  de,  re,fc,  sc,  are 
respectively  d,  r,f,  s,  sharp,  and  via,  la,  ta,  are 
VI,  I,  t,  flat.  The  sharp  sixth  of  the  minor 
scale  is  called  ball  to  distinguish  it  from  fe  the 
sharp  fourth  of  the  major.  Time  and  accent 
are  indicated  by  measurement  across  the  page 
thus  : 

I        :        I        :     .   I        :  I 
the  space  between  one  sign  and  the  next, 
representing   the  pulse  or  beat  ;    the  line 
showing  the  stronger  beat  or  accent,  and 
I  the  colon  the  weaker.     For  short  divisions 
!  a  dot  I    .  :  in  the  centre  of  the  pulse  divides 
I  it  into  halves,  and  commas  |-   ,   .   ,    :  are 
used  todivide  into  quarters,  and  other  divisions 
'  are  similarly  shown.    A  stroke  —  through  a 
pulse  means  that  a  previous  note  is  to  be  con- 
tinued.    Sol-faists  believe  that  their  fixed 
standard  of  a  pulse  or  beat  gives  them  con- 
siderable advantage  over   the  ever-shifting 
standard  of  the  ordinary  notation.   ,"  Rule 
Britannia  "-is  thus  written  : 
.s,|d    :d    ld,r.m,f :s  .d  |  r     :r   .m,f,m  .etc. 
I  No  account  of  the  Tonic  Sol-fa  Notation  would 
be  complete  without  reference  to  its  indis- 
pensable adjunct  the  Tonic  Sol-fa  Method,  i.e., 
the  distinctive  plan  of  teaching  the  musical 
facts  indicated  by  the  notation.  This  method 
■  is  the  outcome  of  years  of  laborious  enquiry 
by  Mr.  Curwen,  and  of  the  collated  experience 
of  all  the  best  teachers  of  the  system.  Great 
stress  is  given  to  the  doctrine  o{  mental  effect, 
I  by  which  is  meant  the  various  impressions  or 
1  colours  of  the  notes  of  the  scale  when  sung 
I  slowly.    Thus  doh,  is  considered  firm ;  te, 
sharp   and    piercing;    lah,  sorrowful;  /ah, 
gloomy ;    soh,   bright   and    clear,   &c.,  &c. 
Teaching  by  pattern  is  also  insisted  on  ;  the 
;  scale  is  taught  in  the  following  order,  first  the 
I  notes  of  the  tonic  chord  d  m  s  and  their 
replicates,  next  the  dominant  chord  s  t  r, 
then  the  sub-dominant  chord// In  develop- 
ing the  scale,  large  use  is  made  of  what  has 
been  justly  called  the  backbone  of  the  system, 
the  Modulator,  without  a  proper  use  of 


(  436  ) 


TONKUNST  TRACTUR. 


which,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  the  method 
cannot  be  fairly  taught  or  learned. 

r'    8   d'  f 

t   —    m'  —  1    r'  8 

d'  f 

tinl   =    r'    —  8d'f 
t  m 

1    r  8  — DOH  —  f 

TE  —  m  1  r 
8    d   f      ta  le 

t,  m  —  LAH  =  r   8  d 

f  la        se  t, 

m  1,  r    —  SOH  —  d  f 

t,  m  1, 

r   8,  d    —  FAH 

t,    -  ME  -  1,  r  s, 

d    f,  re 
t,  m,  1,    =  RAY  —  s,  d  f, 
t,  m, 

1,  r,  8,  —DOH  —  f, 

t,    —  m,  1,  r, 

8,  d,  f, 

t,  m,  —    1,     =  r,  8,  d, 

m,  1,  r,   —    8,    —  d,  f, 

t,  m.l, 

r.  8,  d|  -  f. 

t,  —    nii   —  1,  r,  8, 

This  Modulator  is  a  sort  of  map  of  musical 
counds.  It  represents  pictorially  in  an  upright 
position  the  relative  places  of  the  notes  of  a 
scale,  its  minor  mode,  its  chromatics,  and  its 
more  closely  related  scales.  By  frequent  and 
systematic  handling  of  this  sheet,  the  upward 
or  downward  motion  of  the  notes  printed  all 
on  one  level,  is  adequately  realised  by  the 
pupil.  The  Modulator  is  manipulated  with 
great  effect  by  the  best  teachers  of  the  system. 
In  teaching  Time  an  adaptation  of  the  time- 
names  used  in  the  French  Cheve  system  has 
lately  been  more  or  less  adopted  by  Sol-faists. 
Syllables  are  used  to  show  the  length  of  notes 
just  as  they  are  to  show  the  relation  of  sounds. 
Thus  taa  is  the  name  of  a  pulse,  taa-tai  of 
half  pulses,  and  tafatefe  of  quarter  pulses. 
Continuations  of  any  kind  are  met  by  dropping 
the  consonant.  It  is  thought  that  the  finer  ac- 
cents of  divided  pulses,  as  well  as  the  broader 
accents  of  the  measure,  can  be  better  taught  by 
the  use  of  this  language  of  duration  than  on 
any  other  plan. 

Tonkunst  [Ger.)  The  art  and  science  of 
music. 

Tonkiinstler  (G«r.)  A  musician.  A  musi- 
cal artist. 

Tonleiter(Ger.)    A  scale.  [Scale.] 

Ton  majeur  {Fr.)    Major  key  or  mode. 

Tonmalerei  {Ger.)  Composition,  inven- 
tion, sound-painting. 

Tonmessung  {Ger.)  Tone-measuring, 
metre,  rhythm. 


Ton  mineur  {Fr.)    Minor  key  or  mode. 

Tonos  {Gk.)  rovoQ.  [Tone.] 

Tonsatz  (Ger.)    A  musical  composition. 

Tonschluss  {Ger.)    A  cadence. 

Tonschliissel  {Ger.)  [Key.] 

Tonschrift  {Ger.)  (i)  Written  music. 
(2)  Musical  notes  or  characters. 

Tons  de  la  trompette  {Fr.)  Crooks  used 
to  alter  the  pitch  of  a  trumpet.  [Crook.] 

Tons  de  I'eglise  {Fr.)  Church  modes  or 
tones.    [Plain  Song.] 

Tonsetzer  {Ger.)  (i)  A  composer.  (2) 
(In  a  sarcastic  sense)  a  music-maker. 

Tonsetzkunst  {Ger.)  The  art  of  musical 
composition. 

Tonsetzung(G£y.)  Amusicalcomposition. 

Tonspieler  {Ger.)    A  performer. 

Tonsprache  {Ger.)  The  art  of  expressing 
thoughts  and  feelings  in  music. 

Tonstiick  {Ger.)  A  piece  of  music,  a 
composition. 

Tonstufe  {Ger.)  A  step  or  degree  of  a 
scale. 

Tonsystem  {Ger.)  (i)  The  systematic  ar- 
rangement of  sounds  according  to  the  rules 
of  melody,  harmony,  and  rhythm.  (2)  A 
scale. 

Tonverhalt  {Ger.)  Rhythm. 

Tonzeichen  {Ger.)  (i)  A  note  or  other 
character  used  in  music.    (2)  Accent. 

Toomourah.    An  Indian  tambourine. 

Toorooree.  A  trumpet  used  by  the 
Brahmins  in  their  religious  processions. 

Toph  {Heb.)  A  drum.  [Tabor.]  [Tarn- 
bourine.] 

Torcelli.  A  name  anciently  given  to 
organs  in  Italy. 

Tosto  {It.)  Quick,  swift,  rapid.  Piil  tosto, 
more  rapid  ;  Tostamente,  quickly,  rapidly ; 
Tostissaniamente,  Tostissimo,  very  quickly, 
with  great  rapidity. 

Touch,  (i)  The  resistance  made  to  the 
fingers  by  the  keys  of  a  pianoforte  or  organ. 
Thus  the  touch  of  the  keyboard  may  be  hard 
or  light  accordingly  as  the  resistance  is  great 
or  little.  (2)  The  peculiar  manner  in  which 
a  player  presses  the  keyboard,  whether  light, 
pearly,  heavy,  clumsy,  firm,  &c. 

Touches  {Fr.)  The  keys  of  a  pianoforte, 
organ,  harmonium,  and  concertina. 

Touquet  {Fr.)    [Toccato.]  [Tucket.] 

Tours  de  force  {Fr.)  (i)  Roulades,  runs, 
or  divisions  for  the  voice.  (2)  Passages  of 
rapid  execution  upon  an  instrument. 

Toys.  An  old  English  name  for  dance 
tunes  and  light  and  trifling  pieces  of  music. 
"  Pavens,  Galiards,  Almaines,  Toies,  Jiggs, 
Thumpes,  and  such  like."  Ford's  "  Musicke 
of  sundre  kindes,"  1607. 

Trachea.  [Larynx.] 

Trackers.  [Organ.] 

Tractur  {Ger.)  [Trackers.] 


(  437  ) 


TRACTUS  TREBLE  CLEF. 


Tractus  {Lat.)  A  melody  sung  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  during  Lent  instead 
of  the  Alleluia. 

Tradotto  {It.)  Transposed,  arranged, 
translated.  [Arrangement.] 

Traine  (Fr.)    Slurred,  bound,  dragged. 

Trait  (Fr.)  (i)  A  run,  or  division  ;  trait 
de  chant,  a  melodious  vocal  phrase.  (2)  A 
special  passage,  or  phrase  for  body  of  instru- 
ments of  the  same  class.  Like  the  trait  des 
violons  in  Cherubini's  overture  to  "  Anacreon," 
or  the  passage  for  strings  in  Beethoven's 
No.  3,  *'  Leonora."  (3)  A  sequence  in  har- 
mony, trait  d'harmonie.  (4)  Trait  d'octave, 
rule  of  the  octave. 

Trait6  (Fr.)  A  treatise  on  the  theory  or 
practice  of  music. 

Tranquillamente  (It.)  Tranquilly,  calmly, 
quietly. 

Tranquillitsl,  con  (It.)  With  tranquillity, 
calmness. 

Transcription.  The  arrangement  or 
modification  of  a  composition  for  some  in- 
strument or  voice  other  than  that  for  which 
it  was  originally  written. 

Transient  Modulation.  The  temporary 
introduction  of  chords  or  progressions  from 
an  unrelated  key.  [Modulation.] 

Transitio  (Lat.)    Change  of  key. 

Transitus  (Lat.)  Progression  by  passing 
notes  ;  transitus  regularis,  diatonic  progres- 
sion, the  passing  notes  on  the  unaccented 
portions  of  the  bar;  transitus  irregularis,  pro- 
gression in  which  some  of  the  notes  of  the 
scale  are  omitted ;  passing  notes  on  the  ac- 
cented part  of  the  bar. 

Transition,  (i)  A  modulation.  [Modu- 
lation.] (2)  A  passing  note.  [Passing 
Note.] 

Transponiren  (Ger.)  Alteration  of  the 
original  key.  [Transposition.] 

Transponirende  Instrumente  (Ger.) 
[Transposing  Instruments.] 

Transpose.  To  alter  the  key  in  which  a 
piece  is  set,  by  changing  it  into  a  higher  or 
lower  scale. 

Transposing  Instruments.  A  general 
name  for  all  instruments  which  do  not  pro- 
duce the  exact  sounds  written  on  paper  for 
them. 

Thus,  a  B!^  clarinet  is  so  called  because 
the  written  note  C,  when  sounded,  is  B!?  ;  its 
part,  therefore,  is  written  one  note  higher  than 
the  actual  sounds  required.  Similarly,  the  A 
clarinet  is  so  called  because  the  written  note 
C,  when  sounded,  is  A  ;  its  part,  therefore,  is 
written  a  minor  third  higher  than  the  sounds 
actually  required.  The  C  clarinet  is  so  called 
because  it  plays  as  written.  The  Cor  Anglais 
and  Corno  di  bassetto  produce  sounds  a 
major  fifth  below  those  written. 

A  C  horn  produces  sounds  one  octave  below 


those  actually  written  ;  a  D  horn,  a  minor 
seventh  below ;  an  E  horn,  a  minor  sixth 
below,  and  so  on.  A  Bt?  alto  horn  produces 
sounds  a  whole  tone  below  that  written  ;  a  B7 
basso  horn,  a  ninth  below. 

Similarly,  a  trumpet  in  B?  produces  sounds 
one  note  below  those  actually  written,  and  a 
D  trumpet  sounds  one  note  above.  Drum 
parts  are  usually  written  as  if  always  in  the 
key  of  C,  directions  being  given  as  to  the 
tuning,  at  the  commencement  of  each  move- 
ment. 

The  only  transposing  string-instrument  is 
the  double  bass,  which  produces  sounds  an 
octave  below  those  written,  as  far  as  its  com- 
pass will  permit.  Flutes,  oboes,  bassoons, 
and  trombones,  are  not  transposing  instru- 
ments ;  but  the  piccolo  flute  produces  sounds 
one  octave  higher  than  those  written,  and  the 
double  bassoon  sounds  one  octave  lower. 

Transposing  Piano.  A  pianoforte  so 
constructed  that  its  key-board  may  be  moved 
to  admit  of  its  giving  sounds,  other  than 
those  which  the  scale  used  would  seem  to 
imply.  The  key-frame  is  made  in  duplicate, 
and  on  it  is  screwed,  by  means  of  ordinary 
thumb-screws,  the  action,  making  it  perfectly 
rigid.  At  each  extreme  end  of  the  keys  the 
block  of  wood,  called  the  "  key-block,"  is  also 
attached  to  the  key-frame,  and  thus  rendered 
moveable.  These  blocks  are  pierced  with 
holes  exactly  a  semitone  apart,  in  which 
small  pegs  of  wood  are  inserted.  When  it  is 
required  to  alter  the  piano  to  a  higher  or 
lower  pitch  the  pegs  are  taken  out,  and  the 
key-board  can  then  be  moved  up  or  down  the 
scale. 

Transposition,  (i)  A  change  of  key. 
[Transpose.]  (2)  An  inversion  of  parts  in 
counterpoint. 

Trascinando  {It.)  Dragging,  delaying 
the  time. 

Trascritto  {It.)    Transcribed,  copied. 

Trattato  {It.)    A  treatise. 

Traversiere  {Fr.)  Across.  Flute  traver- 
siere.  The  flute  held  crossways,  as  is  now 
usual  ;  the  flUte  a  bee  being  blown  with  a 
mouthpiece  like  the  oboe.  [Flute.] 

Traverso  {It.)  [Traversiere.] 

Tre  {It.)  Three.  A  tre  voci,  for  three 
voices  ;  or,  in  three  parts. 

Treble,  (i)  The  highest  vocal  or  instru- 
mental part,  sung  by  women  or  boys,  or 
played  by  violins,  flutes,  oboes,  clarinets,  or 
other  instruments  of  acute  tone.  (2)  The 
treble  or  soprano  voice  is  the  most  flexible  of 
all  vocal  registers,  its  ordinary  compass  is  from 
middle  C  upwards  to  the  extent  of  a  twelfth, 
its  exceptional  range  a  fifteenth,  or  even 
beyond  this.  [Triplex.] 

Treble  Clef.  The  G  clef  on  the  second 
line  of  the  stave,  used  for  treble  voices  and 


(438) 


TREM  TRIPLE  COUNTERPOINT. 


instruments  of  high  and  medium  pitch,  such 
as  flutes,  oboes,  clarinets,  horns,  violins,  and 
trumpets.    [Stave.]  [Clef.] 

Trem.  Abb.  of  tremando  and  tremolando. 
Tremolando  {It.)  Trembling,  wavering, 
(i)  A  chord  or  note  played  or  bowed  with 
great  rapidity  so  as  to  produce  a  quavering 
effect.  (2)  Vibration  of  the  voice  in  singing, 
arising  from  nervousness,  or  a  bad  production  ; 
or  used  for  the  purpose  of  producing  a  special 
effect.  [Vibrato.] 

Tremolant,  or  Tremulant.  An  organ  and 
harmonium  stop  which  causes  the  air  as  it 
proceeds  to  the  pipes  or  reeds  to  pass  through 
a  valve  having  a  moveable  top,  to  which  a 
spring  and  weight  are  attached.  The  up  and 
down  movement  of  the  top  of  the  valve  gives 
a  vibrator}'  movement  to  the  air  which  simi- 
larly affects  the  sound  produced.  On  Ameri- 
can organs,  a  fan-wheel  by  rotating  in  front  of 
the  wind  chest  causes  a  tremolando. 
Tremore  {It.)  [Tremolando.] 
Tremoroso  (it.)  [Tremolando.] 
Trenchmore.  An  old  English  country 
dance,  or  Hey-de-guy.  It  was  of  a  lively 
character.  Dr.  Barton  in  his  "  Anatomy 
of  Melancholy,"  1621,  says:  "There  is  no 
remed)' ;  we  must  dance  Trenchmore  over 
tables,  chairs,  and  stools ; "  and  Selden  in 
his  "Table-Talk"  speaks  of  the  dance  as  an 
"  Omnium  Gatherum,  tolly  polly,  hoite  cum 
toite."  It  is  mentioned  by  several  of  the  dra- 
matic writers  of  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

TRENCHMORE. 


Trenise  {Fr.)  The  fourth  figure  in  a 
quadrille. 

Tres  {Fr.)  Very.  Tres  anime,  very  ani- 
mated ;  tres  vif,  very  lively. 

Triad,  (i)  A  chord  of  three  notes.  (2)Acom- 
mon  chord.  Triads  are  said  to  be  major,  e.g. 


augmented,^        \;  diminished,^ 


Triangle.  An  instrument  of  steel  bent 
into  a  three-sided  form.  It  is  usually  held  by 
a  string  in  the  left  hand  and  struck  with  a 
small  bar  of  iron  or  steel  with  the  right.  It 
is  employed  with  effect  occasionally  as  an 
orchestral  instrument. 

Trias  deficiens  {Lat.)  Imperfect  triad. 
[Triad.] 

Trias  harmonica  {Lat.)  Perfect  or  major 
triad.  [Triad.] 

Tribrach.  A  foot  consisting  of  three 
short  syllables.  [Metre.] 

Tricinium  {Lat.)  A  composition  in  three 
parts. 

Trill.    A  shake. 

Trill.    Abb.  of  trillando. 

Trillando  {It.)  Shaking.  A  lengthened 
vocal  or  instrumental  shake. 

Trille  {Fr.),  Triller  {Ger.),  Trillo  (//.)  A 
shake.  In  a  tract  entitled  "  A  brief  discourse 
of  the  Italian  manner  of  singing,  wherein  is 
set  down  the  use  of  those  graces  in  singing, 
as  the  trill  and  gruppo,  used  in  Italy,  and  now 
in  England  ;  written  some  years  since  by  an 
English  gentleman  who  had  lived  long  in 
Italy,  and,  being  returned,  taught  the  same 
here,"  published  by  Playford  about  1683  ;  the 
trill  is  described  as  a  shake  upon  one  note 
only ;  it  would  therefore  be  similar  to  the 
eff"ect  called  now  the  vibrato,  while  the  gruppo 
was  the  shake  as  now  practised. 

Trillerkette  {Ger.)  A  chain  or  succession 
of  shakes.    Catena  di  trilli. 

Trillo  caprino  {It.)    A  goat-like  shake. 

Trinklied  {Ger.)  A  song  in  praise  of 
drinking. 

Trio,  (i)  A  composition  for  three  voices 
or  instruments.  (2)  A  part  of  a  minuet, 
march,  &c.    [Form.]  [Minuet.] 

Triole,  Triolet  {Fr.)  A  triplet.  Three  notes 
played  in  the  time  of  two  of  the  same  name. 

Triomphale,  Triomphant  {Fr.)  Trion- 
fale,  Trionfante  {It.)  Triumphant. 

Tripedisono.    A  capo  tasto. 

Tripeltakt  {Ger.)    Triple  time. 

Triphonisch  {Ger.)  Having  three  sounds. 

Triple  croche  {Fr.)  A  demisemiquaver. 

Triple  counterpoint.  A  counterpoint  in 
three  parts,  so  contrived  that  each  part 
will  serve  for  bass,  middle,  or  upper  part  as 
required.  [Counterpoint.] 

39  ) 


TRIPLET  TROMPETTE  A  PISTONS. 


Triplet.  A  group  of  three  notes  performed 
in  the  time  of  two.  The  triplet  is  always 
indicated  by  a  slur  and  the  figure  3  : 


Triple  time.  Time  of  three  beats,  or  three 
times  three  beats  in  a  bar.    [Signature  §  2.] 

Triplex,  Triplum  (Lat.)  The  name  ori- 
ginally given  to  a  third  part  when  added  to 
two  other  parts,  one  of  which  was  a  canto 
fermo,  the  other  a  counterpoint.  This  addi- 
tional part  was  generally  the  upper  part, 
hence  the  word  treble  or  triplex  came  to  be 
applied  to  the  canto  prima.  (2)  A  motet  or 
other  composition  in  three  parts. 

Trisagion  [Gk.)  Thrice  holy.  Ter  Sanctus 
(Lat.)    The  opening  words  of  the  Sanctus. 

Trite.    [Greek  music] 

Tritone,  Triton  (Fr.),  Tritono  (7^.), 
Tritonus  (Lat.)  An  augmented  fourth,  con- 
taining three  whole  tones. 


The  use  of  the  tritone  was  anciently  for- 
bidden in  harmony  or  counterpoint,  as  it  was 
regarded  in  the  light  of  what  is  called  a  false 
relation.  It  was  not  permitted  to  be  employed 
in  the  upper  note  of  one  chord  and  the  lower 
note  of  the  following,  as  in  the  subjoined 
examples : 


Trombone,  (i)  A  large,  deep  and  loud 
toned  instrument  of  the  trumpet  species,  the 
name  being  an  augmentative  of  tromba.  It 
consists  of  two  tubes,  so  constructed  that  one 
may  slide  in  and  out  of  the  other,  and  thus 
form  one  tube  that  can  be  lengthened  at  will 
and  made  of  varying  pitch.  There  are  three 
kinds  of  trombones,  called  after  their  compass 
the  alto,  tenor,  and  bass  trombones.  Soprano 
trombones  have  also  been  made,  but  they  are 
rarely  used.  The  general  compass  of  the 
trombone  is  a  little  more  than  two  octaves, 
the  pitch  of  the  instrument  varying  with  the 
length  of  the  tube.  Thus  an  alto  trombone, 
the  part  for  which  is  written  sometimes  in 
the  alto  clef,  sometimes  in  the  tenor  clef,  can 
play  all  notes  between 


a  tenor  trombone  all  between 


In  each  case  it  was  called  mi  contra  fa,  the 
leading  or  sensitive  note  being  known  as  mi, 
and  according  to  the  old  rules,  mi  contra  fa 
diabolus  est. 

Tritt  (Ger.)    Tread,  treadle,  step 

Trittschuh  {Ger.)  A  place  for  the  foot  on 
the  bellows  of  old  organs. 

Trochee.  A  foot  consisting  of  one  long 
and  one  short  syllable  -  [Metre.] 

Troll.  To  take  part  in  a  catch  or  round, 
the  voices  succeeding  each  other  at  regulated 
intervals  with  the  same  melody. 

Tromb.  Abb.  for  tromba,  trumpet,  and 
trombone. 

Tromba  (7^.)  (i)  A  trumpet.  (2)  An 
organ  reed  stop  of  8  ft.  pitch. 

Tromba  bassa  (It.)    A  bass  trumpet. 

Tromba  cromatica  (It.)  A  keyed  trumpet 
capable  of  producing  intermediate  semitones. 
[Trumpet.] 

Tromba  marina  (It.)  [Trumpet  marine.] 

Tromba  sorda  (7^.)  A  trumpet  whose 
sound  is  stifled  by  the  insertion  of  a  mute  in 
the  bell. 

Tromba  spezzata  (It.)  An  obsolete  name 
for  the  bass  trumpet. 

Trombetta  (It.)    A  small  trumpet. 

(  440  ) 


and  a  bass  trombone  all  between 


including  every  intermediate  semitone.  Each 
instrument  can  also  sound  the  note  an  octave 
below  the  first  note  shown  as  the  commence- 
ment of  the  compass,  besides  other  notes 
outside  the  notes  indicated  above,  but  as  they 
are  difficult  and  uncertain  they  are  very  rarely 
written.  The  trombone  when  judiciously 
used  has  a  very  fine  effect,  but  the  modern 
custom  of  forcing  its  tone,  and  playing  ir. 
short  sharp  barks,  is  much  to  be  regretted. 
The  value  of  the  instrument  was  well  under- 
stood by  Gluck,  (who  was  probably  the  first 
who  employed  it  in  the  orchestra),  as  well  as 
by  Mozart,  Beethoven,  Spontini  and  Weber, 
as  a  reference  to  the  scores  of  Alceste,  Die 
Zauberflote,  Fidelio,  La  Vestale,  and  Der 
Freischutz  will  prove.  (2)  A  powerful  reed 
stop  in  the  organ  of  8  ft.  or  16  ft.  scale  on  the 
manuals  and  16  ft.  or  32  ft.  on  the  pedals. 
Trommel  (Ger.)  Military  drum. 
Trommelklopfel,  or  Trommelschlagel 
{Ger.)  Drumstick. 

Trommelschlager  (Ger.)    A  drummer. 
Trompe  {Fr.)     (i)  A  trumpet.     (2)  A 
hunting  horn. 

Trompe  de  Beam  (Fr.)  [Jew's-harp.] 
Trompete  {Ger.)    A  trumpet. 
Trompetenzug  (Ger.)    Trumpet  stop  or 
register  in  an  organ. 

Trompette  (Fr.)    (i)  A  trumpet.    (2)  A 
trumpeter.    (3)  A  reed  stop  in  the  organ. 
Trompette  k  clefs  ( Fr.)  A  keyed  trumpet. 
Trompette  k  pistons  (Fr.)     A  valve 
trumpet. 


TROOP  TROUVEUR. 


Troop,    (i)  A  march  in  quick  time. 
"  When  the  drums  and  fifes  sounding  a  troop 
Off  they  briskly  set." — Defoe. 

(2)  The  second  beat  of  the  drum  as  the 
signal  for  marching. 

Troparia  {Gk.)  rpo-wapia.  Hymns  which 
probably  had  their  origin  in  the  ancient 
custom  of  inserting  ejaculations  in  the  Psalms, 
especially  when  used  as  introits.  "  Tanto 
opere  enim  christiani  primis  saeculis  medii 
aevi.  psalmorum  cantui,  patrum  institutis  quasi 
consecrato,  favebant,  ut  nova  cantica  Integra 
comprobare  non  auderent,  sed  in  brevibus 
strophis  psalinoriim  versibics  intexendis  vel 
adfigendis  acquiescerent."  But  in  time  the 
Christian  poets  did  dare  to  write  complete 
new  poems  which  grew  out  of  the  ancient 
troparium  just  as  the  later  prose  or  sequence 
grew  out  of  the  early  attempts  to  set  words 
X.0  pneumas.  [Sequence.]  It  is  an  interesting 
fact  that  in  the  early  Greek  Church  a  tro- 
parium for  a  great  festival  was  called  an 
aKoXovdta,  which,  of  course,  is  actually  synony- 
mous with  seqiientia, 

Troparion.  An  office-book  of  the  Greek 
Church  containing  the  sequences  or  chants 
sung  after  the  lessons.  An  ancient  troparion 
with  the  musical  notes  is  preserved  in  the 
Bodleian  library  at  Oxford. 

Troppo(/<.)  Too  much.  Troppo  caricata, 
too  much  loaded,  overloaded  with  ornaments 
or  accompaniment.  Nan  troppo  allegro,  not 
too  quick. 

Troubadour.  A  polished  poet,  who,  un- 
like the  jongleur,  did  not  wander  about  the 
country  singing  for  hire.  In  the  days  when 
all  classes  of  the  community  were  equally 
unrefined,  there  was  no  such  distinction, 
ev^iy  verse-maker  was  called  a  troubadour,  a 
word  derived  probably  from  the  Proven9al 
trobar,  to  invent  or  find  ;  and  ultimately  the 
term  came  to  be  confined  to  kings,  princes, 
and  nobles,  who  practised  poetry  for  pleasure, 
or  out  of  chivalrous  gallantry.  The  minstrels 
or  jongleurs  only  recited  or  chanted  poems, 
but  did  not  write  or  invent  them  ;  or  perhaps 
accompanied  on  some  instrument  the  trouba- 
dour who  sang  his  own  compositions.  It 
was  not  an  unusual  thing  for  a  troubadour  to 
have  several  minstrels  or  jongleurs  in  his 
service  ;  the  word  minstrel  meant  probably  a 
minister  or  servant. 

The  minstrels  in  later  times  formed  a 
separate  guild,  uniting  for  the  purposes  of 
mutual  protection  and  support;  but  the  trou- 
badours were  always  independent,  and  this 
independence  gives  a  character  to  their  in- 
dividual productions,  unfettered  as  they  are 
by  the  trammels  of  any  particular  school  of 
thought.  The  same  free  spirit  gives  a  colour 
to  the  rude  outline  of  their  history,  so  that 
the  practice  of  their  art  is  to  be  traced,  not  so 
much  by  its  expansion  and  development  in 

(  4 


classes  as  in  individuals.  Troubadours  fre- 
quently attached  themselves  to  the  courts  of 
kings  and  nobles,  whom  they  praised  or 
censured  in  their  songs  ;  but  it  was  a  rule 
that  some  lady  was  selected  as  the  "  dame  de 
du  coeur,"  and  to  her,  under  some  general  or 
fanciful  title,  love  songs,  complaints,  and  other 
poems  were  addressed.  The  "love  service" 
of  the  troubadours  was  often  nothing  more 
than  a  mere  artificial  gallantry,  but  there  are 
instances  on  record  where  it  became  some- 
thing more  earnest. 

Contests,  competitions,  or  verse  battles 
were  sometimes  entered  into,  generally  on 
questions  of  gallantry  suggested  by  the  ladies 
who  presided  as  judges  over  a  tribunal  called 
;  the  Court  of  Love,  and  awarded  prizes  to  the 
I  victors.    The  poems  of  the  troubadours  were 
I  not  always  confined  to  subjects  of  gallantry, 
sometimes  they  treated  of  the  conditions 
of  society,  the  evils  of  the  times,  the  degene- 
racy of  the  clergy  and  other  subjects. 

There  is  reason  for  supposing  that  the  art 
of  the  troubadours,  generally  called  the  gay 
science,  was  derived  from  the  East,  coming 
into  Europe  through  the  Spaniards,  and  the 
troubadours  of  Proven9e  learning  from  their 
neighbours  of  Spain.  Troubadour  poetry  was 
cultivated  in  Proven9e,  Toulouse,  Dauphine, 
and  other  parts  of  France  south  of  the  Loire, 
as  well  as  in  Catalania,  Arragon,  and  Va- 
lencia in  Spain,  and  in  the  north  of  Italy. 
Its  duration  was  about  200  years  (1090- 
1290),  the  period  when  Eastern  customs 
were  giving  a  tone  to  those  of  Western 
Europe,  and  while  chivalry  began  to  redeem 
men  from  barbarism.  Warton  (History  of 
English  Poetry)  rightly  estimates  the  value 
of  the  poems  of  the  troubadours,  when  he 
says  : — "  The  Proven9al  writers  established  a 
common  dialect,  and  their  examples  con- 
vinced other  nations  that  the  modern  lan- 
guages were  no  less  adapted  to  composition 
than  those  of  antiquity.  They  introduced  a 
love  of  reading,  and  diffused  a  general  and 
popular  taste  for  poetry  by  writing  in  a  lan- 
guage intelligible  to  ladies  and  the  people. 
I  Their  verses,  being  conveyed  in  a  familiar 
tongue,  became  the  chief  amusement  of 
princes  and  feudal  lords,  whose  courts  had 
now  began  to  assume  a  greater  brilliancy;  a 
circumstance  which  necessarily  gave  great 
encouragement  to  their  profession,  and  by 
rendering  those  arts  of  ingenious  entertain- 
ments universally  fashionable,  imperceptibly 
laid  the  foundation  of  polite  literature.  From 
these  beginnings  it  were  easy  to  trace  the 
progress  of  poetry  to  its  perfection  through 
John  de  Meum  in  France,  Dante  in  Italy, 
and  Chaucer  in  England." 

Trouveur,    Trouverre,    or  Rymour. 
According   to   Ritson,  one  who  composed 
,  Romants,  Contes,  Fabliaux,  Chansons,  and 

) 


TRUGSCHLUSS  TUNING. 


Lais,  whilst  those  who  devoted  themselves 
to  the  composition  of  Contes  and  Fabliaux 
were  called  Contours,  Conteurs,  or  Fabliers. 
[Troubadour.] 

Trugschluss  or  Trugcadenz  [Ger.)  An 
interrupted  or  deceptive  cadence. 

Trumbscheit  {Ger.)   [Trumpet  marine.] 

Trummel  (Ger.)    [Trommel  ] 

Trump.  A  poetical  name  for  the  trumpet. 

Trumpet,  Tromba  (/^.),Trompette  [Fr.), 
Trompete  (Ger.)  A  metal  wind  instrument 
of  bright  and  penetrating  tone,  formed  of  a 
single  tube  curved  into  a  convenient  shape, 
with  a  mouthpiece  at  one  end,  the  other 
having  a  bell.  Its  part  is  usually  written 
in  the  key  of  C  with  the  treble  clef,  though 
by  means  of  crooks  or  lengthening  pieces 
the  sounds  produced  may  be  in  various  keys. 
The  trumpet  required  for  a  piece  is  indicated 
at  the  commencement ;  as,  trumpet  in  C,  D, 
E  flat,  E,  F,  or  G. 

The  scale  of  the  instrument  is  formed  of 
the  harmonics  of  an  ordinary  open  pipe. 


By  means  of  the  slide,  the  B  flat  shown 

above,  which  is  a  little  flat,  may  be  sounded 

in  tune,  and  certain  intermediate  semitones 
obtained. 


In  addition  to  the  notes  shown  above,  the 
trumpet  is  capable  of  producing, 

but  the  higher  tones    are  very  difficult  to 
obtain.    Handel  and  other  writers  of  the  last  j 
century  frequently  wrote  them,  but  trumpeters  \ 
of  the  present  day  omit  them.  | 

In   old    scores    the   trumpet   was   often  I 
coupled  with  the  drums,  the  notes  of  the  one 
corresponding  to  the  beats  on  the  other. 

Gluck  and  Handel  were  among  the  earliest 
writers  to  discover  the  effect  of  long-holding 
notes,  and  the  power  of  the  softer  tones  of  i 
the  trumpet.  j 

Trumpets  with  pistons  or  valves  capable  of  1 
producing  every  chromatic  sound  within  their 
compass  are  sometimes  used,  but  the  tone  is 
by  no  means  to  be  compared  with  the  true 
trumpet  tone. 

Trumpet  marine.  An  instrument  formed 
of  a  triangular  chest,  over  one  side  of  which 
is  stretched  a  thick  gut  string,  passing  over 
a  bridge  slightly  uneven  on  its  feet,  one  side 
being  fastened  and  the  other  free.  When 
the  string  is  set  in  vibration  by  means  of  a 
bow.  the  rapid  impact  of  the  loose  foot  of 
the  bridge  on  the  belly  slightly  checks  the 
vibration  and  causes  the  sound  to  resemble 


that  of  the  trumpet.  The  fingers  of  the  lell 
hand  of  the  player,  being  passed  lightly  ovei 
the  strings,  the  ordinary  harmonics  of  an 
open  string  are  produced. 

Tuba  {Lat.)  (i)  A  trumpet.  (2)  A  power- 
ful reed  stop  in  the  organ. 

Tuba  major,  or  Tuba  mirabilis.  A  stop 
invented  by  William  Hill,  consisting  of  an 
8  ft.  reed  on  a  high  pressure  of  wind. 

Tucket,  Touquet  {Fr.)  A  flourish  on  a 
trumpet.  Mr.  Staunton,  in  his  notes  on 
Shakspeare,  conjectures  it  to  be  derived 
from  the  Italian  toccata,  or  the  Spanish  tocar; 
tocar  trompeta,  to  sound  a  trumpet. 

Tumultuoso  {It.)    Tumultuous,  agitated. 

Tune.  (1)  A  melody  or  air.  [Air.]  (2) 
Just  intonation. 

Tuning  Fork.  An  instrument  of  steel 
with  two  prongs,  which  when  set  in  vibration 
gives  out  a  musical  sound  varying  in  pitch 
according  to  the  thickness  of  the  metal  or 
the  length  or  width  apart  of  the  prongs. 
It  was  invented  by  John  Shore,  sergeant 
trumpeter  to  George  I.  There  is  a  consider- 
able variety  in  the  pitch  of  tuning  forks, 
arising  from  the  absence  of  any  recognised 
standard  of  tonality.  [Pitch.]  The  ordinary 
fork  gives  out  a  single  note  only,  but  one  has 
been  introduced  from  Germany  which  has  a 
slider  on  each  prong  which  can  be  moved  up 
or  down  so  as  to  alter  the  pitch. 

Tuning.  The  adjustment  of  the  sounds 
naturally  produced  by  any  instrument  to  some 
standard  pitch  and  to  their  proper  relation  to 
each  other.  Wind  instruments  played  by  the 
mouth  are  tuned  by  adjusting  the  length  of 
the  tube  to  one  particular  note  ;  and  after  that 
the  just  intonation  to  a  great  extent  depends 
upon  the  construction  of  the  instrument,  sub- 
ject of  course  to  certain  artificial  alterations 
made  by  varying  the  pressure  of  wind,  or 
altering  the  length  of  the  vibrating  column  of 
air  by  the  insertion  of  the  hand,  &c. 

String  instruments  of  the  violin,  guitar, 
and  pianoforte  class  are  tuned  by  altering  the 
tension  of  the  strings  at  the  end  where  they 
are  carried  round  a  moveable  peg.  In  the 
first  of  these  three  instruments,  after  the 
strings  or  open  notes  have  been  tuned,  true 
intonation  depends  on  the  correct  ear  and 
mechanical  skill  of  the  former ;  in  the  second 
class  the  position  of  the  frets  determine  the 
pitch  throughout.  In  the  pianoforte  and  the 
organ,  the  intonation  is  entirely  out  of  the 
control  of  the  player,  and  owing  to  the  large 
number  of  octaves  in  their  compass  certain 
notes  are  first  tuned  to  the  system  of  tem- 
perament adopted,  and  from  these  the  whole 
instrument  is  tuned.  These  sounds  first  ad- 
justed are  called  bearings.  But  the  whole 
subject  of  tunmg  these  two  instruments  is  so 
intimately  connected  with  Temperament  that 
the  reader  is  referred  to  that  article 


(  442  ) 


TUNING  HAMMER  TZETZE, 


Bells  are  tuned  by  paring  off  a  portion  of 
the  inner  side  of  the  sound-bow,  thus  altering 
the  relation  of  diameter  to  thickness. 

Musical  glasses  can  be  altered  in  pitch  by 
pouring  a  liquid  into  them.  Drums  are  tuned 
by  tightening  or  relaxing  their  parchments. 

Reeds  in  an  organ  or  harmonium  can  be 
tuned  by  altering  the  length  of  the  part 
allowed  to  vibrate,  also  by  varying  their 
thickness  or  breadth. 

Organ  flue-pipes  are  tuned  by  opening  or 
closing  the  orifice,  a  process  which  has  prac- 
tically the  same  effect  as  shortening  or 
lengthening  the  column  of  vibrating  air. 

Tuning  hammer.  An  instrument  em- 
ployed for  tuning  pianofortes  or  harps.  It  is 
in  shape  like  a  common  hammer,  but  has  a 
head  of  wood  instead  of  iron  and  a  shank  of 
iron  instead  of  wood.  In  the  bottom  end  of 
the  shank  is  a  square  or  oblong  hole  made  to 
fit  the  tops  of  the  pegs  round  which  the 
strings  of  the  instrument  are  twisted  ;  these 
pegs  being  turned  to  the  right  or  left,  tighten 
or  loosen  the  strings  as  needed.  The  old 
name  for  the  tuning  hammer  was  wrest. 

Tuono  {It.)  (i)  Body  of  tone,  sound.  (2) 
A  tune. 

Tuono  ecclesiastico  (It.)  [Accentus  ec- 
clesiasticus.] 

Turbae  (Lat.)  The  chorus  part  or  voice 
of  the  multitude  in  a  Passion-Music. 

Turca  (It.)  Turkish  ;  alia  turca,  in  the 
Turkish  style. 

Turkish  Music,  or  Janitscharenmusik. 
Noisy  music  produced  solely  by  instruments 
of  percussion  such  as  cymbals,  gongs,  &c. 

Turn.  An  ornament  in  music  formed  by 
taking  the  adjoining  notes  above  or  below 
the  principal  note,  according  to  the  position 
of  that  note  in  the  diatonic  scale.  The  turn 
indicated  by  the  sign  ^  must  be  performed 
in  the  time  the  note  it  alters  would  occupy 
without  it.  Thus  the  common  turn,  which 
takes  a  higher  note  first  in  the  change : 


should  be  performed — 


The  back-turn  taking  a  lower  note  first  in  the 
change : 

should  be  performed —  T^fff^^'TFi 


When  the  turn  appears  over  a  note  followed 
by  a  rising  or  a  falling  interval : 


The  turn  should  consist  of  four  notes  besides 
the  principal : 


or  in  the  case  of  the  back-turn,  written  thus  • 
i 


it  should  be  performed 


If  it  is  desired  to  alter  the  note  above  or 
below  a  turn,  that  is  to  say,  to  change  the 
character  as  it  appears  in  the  scale,  the  fol- 
lowing signs  are  used.  The  position  of  a 
sharp  or  flat  underneath  the  sign  of  the  turn 
shows  whether  the  note  above  or  below  is  to 
be  sharpened  or  flattened  ;  the  dash  through 
the  turn  always  signifying  a  sharpened  note. 


Performed 


A  turn  over  a  note  in  the  unaccented  part  of 
the  bar  is  usually  performed  with  the  changed 
note  first. 

Written.  Played. 


Turr.  A  Burmese  violin  with  three  strings. 

Tutta  (It.)  All,  the  whole;  tiUta  forza, 
the  full  power  or  force  ;  tutto  arco,  the  whole 
length  of  the  bow. 

Tutte  corde  (It..)  Without  the  use  of  the 
dampers  in  pianoforte-playing. 

Tutti(/i.)  All.  Every  performer  to  take  part 
in  the  execution  of  the  passage  or  movement. 

Tuyau  d'orgue  (Fr.)    An  organ  pipe. 

Tuyaux  a  anche  (Fr.)    Reed  pipes. 

Tuyaux  a  bouche  (Fr.)  Open  pipes. 

Twelfth,  ^i)  An  interval  of  twelve  diatonic 
degrees,  the  replicate  of  the  fifth.  (2)  An  organ 
stop  tuned  twelve  notes  above  the  diapasons. 

Tympani.  [Timpani.] 

Tympanon.    A  dulcimer. 

Tyro.  A  learner  or  beginner  in  music  or 
any  other  science. 

Tyrolienne.  (i)  A  song  accompanied 
with  dancing.  Rossini's  "  Toi  que  I'oiseau," 
in  the  third  act  of  Guillaume  Tell,  is  the 
earliest  specimen  of  a  Tyrolienne  other  than 
the  popular  Volkslieder.  (2)  Popular  songs  or 
melodies  in  which  the  jodl,  q.v.,  is  freely  used. 

Tzetze.  An  Abyssinian  instrument  of  the 
guitar  kind,  formed  of  a  long  carved  neck  at- 
tached to  a  gourd.  It  has  frets  and  one  string 
usually  made  of  the  tough  fibre  of  a  palm-tree. 


(  443  ) 


U.C  UVULA. 


U. 


U.C.    Abb.  of  una  corda.    [A  una  corda.] 

Uebeuiu?^}(^^''-)    D'^'^"'^^'  cacophony. 
Uebereinstimmung  (Ger.)  Consonance, 
harmony. 

Uebergang  {Ger.)    Passage,  transition. 

Uebermassig  {Ger.)  Augmented. 

Uebung  {Ger.)    An  exercise. 

Ugab,  Huggab,  Agub  {Heb.)  The  first 
wind  instrument  mentioned  in  the  Bible, 
rendered  organ  in  the  authorized  version, 
"  such  as  handle  the  harp  and  the  organ  " 
■(Gen.  iv.,  21.)  In  the  Septuagint  it  is  some- 
times translated  by  cithara,  sometimes  by 
psalm,  sometimes  by  organ.  It  is  probable 
that  in  its  earliest  form  the  ugab  was  nothing 
more  than  pans-pipes  or  a  syrinx,  but  that  it 
gradually  developed  into  a  more  important 
instrument.  In  Psalm  cl.  it  may  be  possibly 
used  in  a  poetical  sense  of  all  wind  instru- 
ments, as  minnim  is  of  string  instruments. 
"  Praise  Him  upon  the  strings  (minnim)  and 
pipe  (ugab)." 

Uguale  {It.)  Equal,  like,  similar,  Canone  a 
tre  voci  uguali,  a  canon  for  three  equal  voices. 

Ugualmente  {It.)  Equally,  alike,  similarly. 

Umana,  1  (/^.)    Human;  as,  voce  umana, 

Umano  )    the  human  voice. 

Umfang  {Ger.)  Compass,  extent ;  as 
Umfang  der  Stimme,  compass  of  the  voice. 

Umkehrung  {Ger.)  Inversion. 

Unharmonischer  Querstand  {Ger.) 
[False  relation.] 

Un 

Una 


Uno 


{It.)    One ;   as,   Una  corda,  one 
string ;  Una  volta,  once,  &c. 

Unca  {Lat.)    A  quaver. 

Uncoupled.  A  direction  that  the  manual 
or  pedal  is  to  be  detached  from  the  row  to 
which  it  was  coupled.  [Organ.] 

Unda  maris.  Lit.  Wave  of  the  sea.  A 
name  given  to  the  "  Vox  Angelica  "  Organ- 
stop,  because  of  its  wavy  undulating  tone. 
[Vox  Angelica.] 

Undecima  {Lat.)    An  eleventh. 

Undecimole.  A  group  of  eleven  notes  to  be 
played  in  the  time  of  eight  of  the  same  name. 

Undersong.  [Burden.] 

Undertones.    [Acoustics,  §  19.] 

Undulazione  {It.)  The  tremulous  sound 
produced  by  violinists  by  the  vibratory  pressure 
of  the  finger  upon  the  strings. 

Unequal  Temperament.  [Tempera- 
ment.] [Wolf.] 

(  4 


Unequal  Voices.  Voices  of  mixed  quali- 
ties, those  of  women  combined  with  those  of 
men.    [Equal  Voices.] 

Unessentials.  Notes  not  forming  a  neces- 
sary part  of  the  harmony.  Passing,  auxiliary, 
or  ornamental  notes. 

Ungerader  Takt  {Ger.)    Triple  time. 

Unison,  (i)  Having  the  same  number  of 
vibrations;  homophonous.  {z)MMS\cin octaves 
for  mixed  voices  or  instruments. 

Unisoni  {It.)  Unisons  ;  two  or  more  parts 
playing  in  unison  with  each  other,  or  at  l!.e 
octave,  according  to  the  character  of  the  in- 
strument or  voice. 


Unisono  (7^.) 
Unisonous  {Eng.) 
Unisonus  {Lat.) 
Unitamente  (7^.) 


In  unison,  or 
octaves. 


Together,  unitedly. 
Uno  a  uno  (7;!.)    One  by  one,  severally. 
Un  peu  plus  lent  {Fr.)  A  little  more  slow. 

{It.)  A  little,  a  very  little; 
Un  pochettino,  as,  Un  pochino  piu 
Un  pochino  wosso,  a  very  little  more 

[  lively. 

Un  poco  {It.)  A  little;  as,  Un  poco 
allegro,  rather  quick  ;  un  poco  piu,  a  little 
more ;  un  poco  ritenuto,  held  back  a  little, 
slightly  retarded. 

Unterbass  {Ger.)    A  double-bass. 

Unterdominant  {Ger.)  Subdominant. 
Unterdominant-akkord,  the  chord  of  the  sub- 
dominant. 

Unterhalbton  {Ger.)    The  leading  note. 

Unterleitton(Ger.)  The  dominant  seventh. 

Untersatz  {Ger.)  Sub-bass. 

Unterstimme  {Ger.)    An  under-part. 

Upbeat.  The  beat  of  a  bar  at  which  the 
hand  is  raised.  An  unaccented  beat.  [Accent.] 
[Arsis.]  [Metre.] 

Upbow.  [Bowing.] 

Uppatura  {Med.  Lat.)  A  song  of  a  pro- 
fane character,  forbidden  to  be  sung  in  church 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  Carmelite  order. 
[Motet.] 

Urh-heen.  The  Chinese  fiddle.  [Violin.] 
Ut.   [Aretinian  syllables.]  [Notation.] 
Ut  bemol  {Fr.)    The  note  C  flat. 
Ut  diese  {Fr.)    The  note  C  sharp.  Ut 
diese  mineur.    The  key  of  C  sharp  minor. 

Utricularise.  Tibise  utriculariae.  [Bag- 
pipe.] 

Ut  supra  {Lat.)    As  above,  as  before. 
Gloria  Patri  ut  supra.    The  Gloria  as  before. 
Uvula.  [Larynx.] 

+  ) 


V.  VELOCITA,  CON. 


V. 


V.    Abb.  of  verte,  violino,  violini,  voce, 
voci,  volta,  volii,  S-c, 
Va.    Abb.  of  viola. 

Va  (It.)  Go  on  ;  as  va  crescendo,  go  on 
increasing  the  power;  va  rallentando ,  go  on 
dragging  the  time. 

Vacillando  (7^.)  Wavering,  uncertain  as 
regards  the  time  or  tone. 

Vago  {It.)  With  a  vague,  indefinite  ex- 
pression. 

Valce  {It.),  Valse  {Fr.)  Waltz. 

Valeur  {Fr.),  Valore  {It.)  The  value, 
worth,  or  length  of  a  note. 

Valse  k  deux  temps  (Fr.)  A  form  of 
waltz,  now  most  commonly  danced,  in  which 
two  steps  are  made  to  each  measure  of  three 
beats. 

Vamp.    To  improvise  an  accompaniment. 

Variamente  {It.)    In  a  varied  manner. 

Variations,  Variationen  {Ger.)  Varia- 
zioni  (7^.)  Certain  modifications  with  regard 
to  the  time,  tune,  and  harmony  of  a  theme 
proposed  originally  in  a  simple  form.    At  one 
period  it  was  considered  indispensable  that 
the  subject  chosen  should  be  heard  unchanged 
through  all  the  variations,  that  no  alteration 
should  be  made  either  in  the  relation,  length, 
or  melodic  progression  of  the  sounds.  This 
only  permitted  the  employment  of  the  several 
species  of  counterpoint  as  variations.  After- 
wards a  ground  bass  was  selected,  or  written, 
in  which  more  freedom  and  variety  was  attain- 
able.   Subsequently  composers  altered  their 
melodies  by  the  addition  of  florid  passages, 
but  not  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  the  i 
subject  not  easily  recognisable.    There  are  i 
many  instances  in  the  works  of  most  of  the  , 
classical  writers   in  which  this    artifice    is  | 
successfully  employed.     The  old  composers  j 
called  their  variations  "  Doubles."    Modern  ! 
transcriptions  are  often  nothing  more  than 
elaborate  variations  of  a  theme. 

Variato    {It.),    Varie    {Fr.)  Varied, 
changed,  altered,  with  variations. 

Vaudeville  (Fr.)  A  term  originally  applied 
to  a  country  song  of  like  kind  with  those 
written  by  Oliver  Basselin,  of  the  valleys 
of  Vaux  de  Vire  in  Normandy,  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  These  songs,  which  were 
satirical,  had  for  their  subjects  love,  drinking, 
and   passing  events.     They   became  very 


popular,  and  were  spread  all  over  France 
under  the  name  of  Lais  des  Vaux  de  Vire. 
The  peculiarity  of  their  character  lived  after 
their  origin  was  forgotten,  and  plays,  inter- 
spersed with  songs  of  this  description,  came 
to  be  called  Vaudevilles,  and  occasionally 
Virelais.  The  songs  in  Vaudevilles  should 
form  an  integral  portion  of  the  plot  or 
subject. 

The  following  melody  of  a  Vaudeville  is 
from  the  "  Second  livre  de  Pieces  de  Viole 
avec  la  Basse  continue.  Compose  par  Mons. 
De  Caix  D'Hervelois."    Paris,  c.  1719. 


VAUDEVILLE  GAVOTTE. 


Veemente  {It.)    Vehement,  forcible. 
Veemenza,  con  {It.)    With  vehemence, 
force. 

Velato,  Velata  (7^.)  Veiled,  as  voce  velata, 
a  voice  the  tone  of  which  is  not  clear. 

Vellutata,  Vellutato  (7^.)  From  velluta, 
velvet.    In  a  soft,  smooth,  velvety  manner. 

Veloce  (7^.)    Rapid,  swift. 

Velocissimamente  (7^.)    Very  swiftly 

Velocissimente  (7^)  Swiftly. 

Velocity,  con  {It.)  With  swiftness, 
rapidity. 


(  445  ) 


VELOCITY  OF  SOUND  VILLOTTE. 


Velocity  of  sound.    [Acoustics  §  5.] 

Ventil  {Ger.),  Ventile  {It.)  (i)  A  valve, 
by  means  of  which  brass  tubes  may  be  made 
to  sound  the  semitones  and  tones  between  the 
natural  open  harmonics.  [Metal  wind  instru- 
ments.] (2)  A  mechanical  contrivance  on  an 
organ  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  off  the  wind 
from  a  particular  sound-board. 

Venusto  (It.)    Beautiful,  graceful,  fine. 

Veranderungen  [Ger.)  (i)  Variations. 
(2)  The  mechanical  arrangement  by  which 
"  stops  "  on  a  harpsichord  were  moved  in 
and  out. 

Verbindung  (Ger.)  Combination,  union, 
connection,  binding. 

Vergniigt  (Ger.)  Pleasantly. 

Verhallend  (Ger.)  Dying  away,  decre- 
scendo. 

Verhaltniss  [Ger.)    Proportion  ;  ratio. 

Verilay  [Fr.)  [Vaudeville.] 

Vermindert  (Ger.)  Diminished;  as  Fer- 
minderter  dreiklanpr,  diminished  triad. 

Verschiebung  (Ger.)  The  soft  pedal  of  a 
pianoforte  ;  mit  Verschiebung,  Una  corda. 

Verse,  (i)  Those  portions  of  an  anthem 
or  service  intended  to  be  sung  by  a  single 
voice  to  a  part.  [Anthem.]  (2)  A  separate 
stanza  of  a  song  or  a  ballad.  (3)  A  verse 
anthem  is  one  which  begins  with  soli  portions 
as  opposed  to  a  full  anthem,  which  com- 
mences with  a  chorus. 

Versette  [Ger.)  Short  pieces  for  the 
organ  intended  as  preludes  or  voluntaries. 

Versetzen  [Ger.)    To  transpose. 

Versetzungszeichen  [Ger.)  Accidentals. 

Verspatung  [Ger.)    Retardation,  delay. 

Verstimmt  [Ger.)    Out  of  tune. 

Versus  Fescennini  [Lat.)  Nuptial 
songs,  so-called  because  they  were  first  used 
by  the  people  of  Fescennia  in  Etruria.  From 
this  kind  of  poetry  arose  the  Epithalamium, 
a  needful  refinement  upon  the  Fescenninian 
verses. 

Vertatur,  Verte  [Lat.)    Turn  over. 

Verwandt  [Ger.)  Related,  as  Verwandte 
tonarten,  related  keys. 

Verwechselung  [Ger.)  Changing,  alter- 
ing, as  to  tone,  time,  key. 

Verweilend  (Ger.)  Delaying,  rallentando. 

Verwerfung  [Ger.)  Transposing. 

Verzierungen  (Ger.)  Ornaments,  deco- 
rations, embellishments. 

Verzogerung  [Ger.)  Retardation. 

Vezzosamente  (It.)  Tenderly,  softly, 
gracefully. 

Vezzoso  [It.)    Tender,  sweet,  graceful. 
Vibrante  (It.)    Vibrating,  tremulous. 
Vibrato  [It.)     A  tremulous   quality  of 
tone,  as  opposed  to  a  pure  equal  production. 
Vibration.    [Acoustics  §  3.] 
Vicar  choral.    [Lay  vicar.] 
Vide  [Fr.),  Vido  [It.)    Open.  [Vuide.] 


Viel(Gtfr.)  Much ;  as,  Mit  vielem  Tone,  with 
much  tone. 

Vielle  (Fr.)    The  hurdy-gurdy. 

Vielstimmig  [Ger.)    For  many  voices. 

Vierfach  [Ger.)  Four-fold;  having  four 
ranks  of  pipes.  [Organ.] 

Viergesang  [Ger.)    Song  for  four  parts. 

Vierspiel  [Ger.)  A  composition  in  four 
parts.  Quartet. 

Vierstimmig  [Ger.)  For  four  voices  or 
instruments,  or  in  four  parts. 

Vierstiick  [Ger.)  A  piece  for  four  players, 
a  quartet 

Viertelnote  [Ger.)  Quarter  note,  a 
crotchet,  the  fourth  part  of  a  semibreve. 

Viertheilston  (Ger.)  A  quarter  tone,  half 
a  semitone. 

Viervierteltakt  [Ger.)  Duple  time  of  four 
crotchets  in  a  bar. 

Vierzweiteltakt  [Ger.)  Duple  time  of 
four  minims  in  a  bar. 

Vif  [Fr.)    Lively,  brisk,  quick. 

Vigorosamente  [It.)  Vigorously. 

Vigoroso  (It.)    Vigorous,  bold,  forcible. 

Vihuela  [Sp.)    A  simple  kind  of  guitar. 

Villancico  (Sp.)  A  species  of  song  of 
two  or  more  stanzas,  each  containing  seven 
lines,  belonging  to  the  poetry  of  the  15th 
century,  which,  like  the  madrigal,  is  of  an 
epigrammatic  form — formerly  very  popular  in 
Spain.  The  composers  of  that  country  em- 
ployed the  tunes  of  many  of  these  songs  as 
themes  for  counterpoint  in  church  motets. 
Those  motets  which  are  sung  during  high 
mass  on  Christmas-eve  are  always  called 
Villancicos. 

Villanella  [It.)  A  rustic  dance  accom- 
panied with  singing.  The  melody  was 
usually  lively  and  the  rhythm  well  marked. 
The  words,  when  any  were  used,  were  com- 
monplace epigrams,  and  were  also  called 
madrigals  and  ballets.  The  villanella  or 
villotte,  and  villancico  were  the  precursors  of 
the  madrigal.  When  the  title  villanella  began 
to  be  used  to  describe  compositions  in  rustic 
style,  not  intended  for  voices,  those  composi- 
tions were  embellished  with  variations  upon 
the  original  subject. 

Villotte  [It.)  The  name  given  to  the  first 
secular  pieces  in  harmony  after  the  rules  of 
counterpoint  were  fixed.  Ever}'  so-called 
"  license  "  in  harmony  was  used  in  this  kind 
of  composition  ;  whereas  church  music  could 
only  be  written  according  to  strict  rules ; 
therefore,  secular  pieces  were  called  vile  or 
rustic,  as  being  more  fitted  for  clownish  than 
for  courtiers'  ears.  Morley,  speaking  of  the 
villanella  says,  "  many  perfect  chords  of  one 
kind,  nay,  even  disallowances  may  be  taken 
at  pleasure,  uniting  a  clownish  music  to  a 
clownish  matter."  [Villanella,  Villancico, 
Madrigal.] 


(  446  ) 


VINA  VIOLIN. 


Vina.  [Bina.] 

Viol.  A  stringed  instrument,  a  little  larger 
in  shape  than  the  violin  ;  it  was  furnished  in 
England  with  five  or  six  strings,  had  a  fretted 
finger-board  and  was  played  with  a  bow.  The 
viol  was  called  in  mediaeval  Latin,  vitula, 
and  is  found  depicted  in  MSS.  as  early  as 
the  iith  century.  In  France,  Germany,  and 
Italy  the  number  of  the  strings  varied  between 
three  and  six.  It  is  supposed  that  they  were 
tuned  in  fourths  and  thirds.  A  chest  of  viols 
consisted  of  six  instruments  of  various  sizes, 
the  smaller  ones  were  called  in  England, 
treble,  the  next  meciii,  and  the  larger  bass 
viols.  In  Germany  the  names  were  Bratsche, 
Schultergeige,  and  Bassgeige,  and  in  Italy 
viol  di  braccio  and  viol  da  gamba  were  the 
names  given  to  distinguish  the  several  sizes. 

Viola  (/f.)  Bratsche  (Ger.)  The  tenor  violin. 
It  has  four  strings,  tuned  thus  : 


The  two  lowest  are  covered  strings.  Music 
for  this  instrument  is  written  in  the  alto  clef, 
whence  it  is  sometimes  called  alto  viola. 

Viola  di  Bardone  (7^.)  An  instrument  of 
the  violin  kind,  strung  with  six  or  seven  catgut 
strings  tuned  in  the  following  manner : 


Beneath  the  gut  were  metal  strings,  varying 
in  number  from  sixteen  to  as  many  as  forty- 
four,  arranged  in  a  diatonic  order  from 

as  the  lowest  tone.  The  sympathetic  strings 
were  occasionally  plucked  with  the  left  hand 
in  playing.  The  instrument  is  now  obsolete, 
but  was  in  use  in  the  time  of  Haydn,  who  at 
the  request  of  Prince  Esterhazy  composed 
upwards  of  sixty  pieces  for  it.  It  is  also 
called  viola  di  fagotto,  and  baryton. 

Viola  Pomposa  (7^.)  A  species  of  viol  da 
g-rtw6rt,  invented  by  John  Sebastian  Bach.  It 
had  five  strings,  the  four  lower  strings  were 
tuned  like  the  violoncello,  in  fifths,  and  the 
fifth  string  was  tuned  to  E,  by  means  of  which 
greater  facility  in  the  execution  of  extended 
passages  was  possible.  Improved  skill  on 
the  part  of  violoncello  players  made  the  viola 
pomposa  unnecessary. 

Viol  da  Gamba  (7^.)  One  of  the  larger 
instruments  among  a  chest  of  viols.  It 
received  its  name  from  being  held  within  the 
knees  of  the  performer.  It  had  a  fretted 
finger-board  and  six  strings,  tuned  thus  : 


It  was  particularly  adapted  to  the  perform- 
ance of  broken  harmony  and  extended 
chords. 

Viol  d'amore  {It.)  An  obsolete  instrument 
of  the  violin  family.  In  addition  to  catgut 
strings,  metal  strings  \vere  placed  under  the 
finger-board,  which,  by  the  production  of 
sympathetic  sound,  gave  a  peculiar  quality  of 
tone  to  the  instrument. 

The  tuning  varied  according  to  the  piece  to 
be  played,  the  " accordatura"  being  often 
indicated  at  the  commencement  of  the  copy 
which  was  played  from,  but  the  most  usual 
method  of  tuning  was  the  following: 


Meyerbeer  has  written  an  obbligato  part  for 
this  instrument  in  the  first  act  of  the 
"Huguenots." 

Violetta.    A  little  viol. 

Violetta  Marina  (7/.)  A  stringed  instru- 
ment similar  in  tone  to  the  viol  d'amour.  It 
was  called  violetta  piccola,  and  by  the  French 
Hante-contre. 

Violin.  Discantgeige  {Ger.)  Violon 
{Fr.)  Fiddle  {Eng.)  The  most  familiar  of 
all  stringed  instruments  played  with  a  bow. 
It  is  somewhat  smaller  than  the  old  viol,  as 
its  name  implies,  violin  being  a  diminutive 
of  viol.  Like  the  rest  of  the  family  it 
represents,  it  consists  of  a  wooden  chest  of 
peculiar  form,  made  of  two  curved  surfaces, 
called  the  back  and  the  belly,  united  by  sides, 
and  with  a  hollow  half-way  in  the  length.  A 
neck  at  one  end  has  a  finger-board,  over 
which  the  four  strings  pass,  being  fastened  at 
one  end  of  the  chest  or  body  to  a  tail-piece, 
and  kept  in  tune  and  position  by  a  series  of 
pegs  at  the  end  of  the  neck.  The  strings  are 
raised  above  the  belly  by  the  bridge.  In  the 
belly  are  two  holes,  called  the  /  holes  from 
their  similarity  to  the  shape  of  that  letter. 
The  sound  is  produced  by  drawing  a  bow  of 
horse-hair  charged  with  rosin  across  the 
strings,  which  are  tuned  in  fifths: — 


the  changes  of  pitch  being  gained  by  "  stop- 
ping" the  strings  with  the  fingers  of  the  left 
hand  against  the  finger-board,  thus  shortening 
the  vibrating  portion  of  the  string.  The  har- 
monics of  the  violin  are  very  telling  in  quality, 
and  are  produced  by  touching  the  strings 
lightly  instead  of  pressingthem  upon  the  finger- 
board. The  sordino  or  rmite,  placed  upon  the 
bridge,  produces  a  peculiar  modification  of 
tone,  and  a  good  effect  is  gained  by  plucking 
the  strings,  as  in  playing  a  guitar.  [Pizzicato.] 


(  447  ) 


VIOLIN. 


The  compass  of  the  violin  ranges  be- 
tween : — 


with  every  intermediate  shade  of  sound.  The 
extreme  high  notes  are  rarely  used,  as  they 
are  harsh  and  shrill.  The  violin  is  capable 
of  producing  a  limited  harmony  by  means  of 
double  stops  and  bowing  in  "arpeggio,"  while 
as  to  power  of  expression  and  execution  there 
is  no  other  instrument  which  can  be  compared 
to  it.  It  has  a  wide  range  of  sounds,  to  which 
any  degree  of  loudness  or  softness,  staccato  or 
legato,  can  be  given.  This  variety  of  tone, 
added  to  the  capability  of  being  played  a  great 
length  of  time  with  less  fatigue  than  any  other 
orchestral  instrument,  renders  it  invaluable, 
either  for  solos  or  combinations.  The  violin  or 
string  quartet,  as  it  is  called,  that  is  to  say, 
ist  and  2nd  violins,  viola,  and  violoncello, 
form  an  indispensable  portion  of  a  score ; 
while  the  same  combination,  used  for  quar- 
tets, is  productive  of  the  highest  pleasure 
when  well  and  skilfully  managed. 

Stringed  instruments  played  with  a  bow  are 
in  use  among  many  Eastern  nations,  the  form 
of  the  instrument  so  played  varying  consider- 
ably. The  number  of  strings  and  the  form 
of  the  bow  also  differ.     The  Urh-heen,  or 

CHINESE  URH-HEEN. 


Chinese  fiddle,  has  no  finger-board.  There 
are  usually  only  two  strings,  but  some  speci- 
mens have  as  many  as  four.  The  bow  is 
twisted  under  the  strings,  and  it  is  said  that 
the  Chinese  fiddlers  have  to  practise  assi- 
duously in  order  to  produce  the  tone  properly 
from  strings  so  placed.  The  resonance  body 
of  the  Urh-heen  is  covered  with  snake- skin. 

The  "  Burmese  Thro,  Theyaou,  or  Tarau," 
has  three  strings  of  silk,  and  although  the 
tone  is  nasal,  it  is  not  of  unpleasant  quality. 

BURMESE  THRO  OR  TARAU. 


The  "Kermangeh,"  another  bowed  instru- 
ment, is  in  use  among  Mohammedan  nations. 


It  is  usually  furnished  with  three  strings  of 
gut,  and  there  are  two  sound-holes  beside  the 
bridge.  The  Kermangeh  is  made  in  several 
sizes,  like  the  European  violin  family.  The 
larger  instruments  are  supported  on  an  iron 
peg. 

KERMANGEH. 


The  Hindu  "Chikarah"  is  supposed  by 
some  to  be  the  modern  representative  of 
the  ancient  Ravanastron,  the  oldest  form  of 
fiddle. 

CHIKARAH. 


The  "  Rebab"  of  Egypt  has  one  string  of 
horse-hair  stretched  over  a  resonance-body  of 
skin.  In  Egypt  it  is  used  to  accompany  the 
recitations  of  the  storytellers  and  the  motions 
of  the  dancers. 


It  is  sometimes  made  in  shape  like 
the  "  Kermangeh,"  and  furnished  with  three 
or  even  more  strings.  Whatever  the  form 
may  be,  it  is  a  favourite  with  the  country- 
people  who  use  it.  It  is  also  called  rabel  or 
arrabel.  When  it  was  introduced  into  Europe 
it  retained  its  Eastern  name,  with  certain 
modifications  ;  rebebe,  reberbe,  riibebe,  rubeck, 
rebec ;  but  it  was  altered  in  shape.  The  old 
English  jig,  jegg,  or  gig,  as  it  is  variously 
spelt,  was  also  called  rebec,  the  "  jocund 
rebeck"  mentioned  by   Milton   and  other' 


(  44«  ) 


VIOLIN  VIOLONCELLO. 


poets ;  it  had  three  strings  like  its  Eastern 
prototype,  the  rebab. 

Modern  writers  find  the  origin  of  the  violin 
in  the  above-mentioned  Indian  Ravanastron, 
an  instrument  still  existing,  and  used  by  the 
poor  Buddhist  begging  monks.  From  the 
Ravanastron  descends  the  rebab,  kermangeh, 
whence  comes  the  Scandinavian  guddok, 
the  ancestor  of  the  Welch  and  Anglo-Saxon 
crwth.  From  the  crwth,  the  fithele,  vitula, 
or  viol  descended,  and  from  the  viol  the  violin, 
the  whole  progress  representing  a  period  of 
nearly  5,000  years  in  history.  The  violin 
has  not  altered  its  form  since  the  i6th  century, 
many  instruments  of  that  time  being  still  in 
actual  use.  One  of  the  earliest  makers  of 
violins  was  Gaspar  di  Salo,  in  Lombardy, 
1560-1610. 

In  Cremona,  during  the  17th  century,  the 
Amati  family,  Andrew,  his  sons  Jerome  and 
Antonio,  and  Nicolo  the  son  of  the  latter, 
were  famous  makers  of  violins.  Antonio 
Straduarius,  also  of  Cremona,  pupil  of  Nicolo 
Amati,  surpassed,  if  possible,  the  productions 
of  the  Amacis,  and  the  reputation  of  Cremona 
for  violins  was  maintained  by  Guarnerius  and 
Rugerio.  The  Tyrolese  makers,  Jacobus 
Stainer  and  Matthew  Klotz  (and  his  sons) 
became  as  famous  as  the  Italians  for  viohn- 
making.  Villaume,  of  Paris,  is  the  most 
celebrated  modem  maker. 

Violin  clef.  The  G  clef  placed  upon  the 
first  line  of  the  stave. 


In  this  position  it  is  known  as  the  French 
violin  clef. 

Violino  principale  (It.)  Solo  violin,  or 
leader.  Violino  primo,  first  violin.  Violino 
secondo,  second  violin.  Violino  ripieno,  a 
violin  part  required  only  to  fill  in  and 
strengthen  the  tutti. 

Violin-steg  (Ger.)    The  bridge  of  a  violin. 

Violon  (Fr.)  The  violin  ;  in  Germany  the 
same  word  is  used  for  the  double  bass. 

Violoncello  {It.)  The  little  violone. 
When  the  violoncello  supplanted  the  bass  viol 
or  the  viol  di  gamba  in  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  many  of  the  other  in- 
struments were  so  altered  by  having  the 
number  of  strings  reduced,  as  to  make  them 
playable  like  the  violoncello.  Excepting 
occasionally,  when  the  exigences  of  an  old 
score  demand  the  use  of  a  viol  di  gamba, 
no  other  small  bass  stringed  instrument  is 
employed  in  the  orchestra,  as  the  variety  of 
tone  it  is  capable  of — almost  equal  in  resource 
to  the  violin — renders  the  use  of  others 
unnecessary.  The  violoncello  is  strung  with 
four  gut  strings,  the  lower  two  covered  with 
silver  wire  ;  all  are  tuned  a  fifth  apart. 


The  compass  usually  employed  extends 
between 

and 


though  soloists  play  an  octave  higher,  with 
all  the  intermediate  semitones.  Music  for  it 
is  written  in  the  bass  clef  up  to 


but  the  C  clef,  or  sometimes  the  G  clef,  is 
employed  for  the  higher  notes  of  the  scale. 


The  tone  of  the  violoncello  is  peculiarly 
sympathetic,  almost  tearful  in  the  higher 
register,  and  these  notes  are  frequently  em- 
ployed with  great  effect  as  well  in  solos  as  in 
orchestral  music.  In  the  band  the  violon- 
cello is  coupled  with  the  double-bass,  and 
the  union  of  the  tones  of  the  two  instru- 
ments is  wonderfully  telling  and  solid.  Men- 
delssohn has  used  the  double-bass  without 
the  viol  mcello  in  Elijah,  and  the  effect  is 
stormy  and  uncertain,  while  the  violoncello 
without  the  double-bass  is  light  and  expressive 
of  unrest.  The  violoncello  is  capable  of 
giving  rapid  passages  with  more  clearness 
than  the  double-bass,  and  so  it  is  frequently 
found  that  composers  give  essential  notes  to 
the  larger,  and  intermediate  notes  to  the 
smaller  of  the  two  orchestral  basses. 


Beethoven  (Pastoral  Symphony). 


I 


j  The  division  of  the  two  parts  in  this  fashion 
was  at  one  time  a  matter  of  necessity,  as 
double-bass    players   were    not  sufficiently 

I  skilful  to  be  able  to  perform  such  passages, 
but  at  the  present  time  there  is  scarcely  a 


(  449  ) 


2  F 


VIOLONE  VOICE. 


double-bass  player  who  is  not  able  to  take 
such  divisions  with  ease. 

In  addition  to  the  single  notes  of  its  scale 
the  violoncello  can  give  double  notes,  seconds, 
thirds,  fifths,  sixths,  sevenths,  and  octaves  in 
nearly  every  key  between  the  two  notes 


Seconds,  thirds,  and  fourths  can  be  made 
when  the  upper  note  is  an  open  string,  as 


Fifths,  sixths,  and  sevenths  when  the  lower 
note  is  stationary: 


Violone  (7^.)    The  double  bass. 

Vjrelay  (Fr.)  [Vaudeville.] 

Virginal.  A  stringed  instrument  played 
by  means  of  a  keyboard,  like  the  modern 
pianoforte.  It  was  in  form  like  a  box,  or 
desk  of  wood  without  legs  or  supports,  and 
was  usually  placed  upon  a  table  or  stand. 
The  strings  were  of  metal,  one  for  each  note, 
and  the  sound  was  made  by  means  of  pieces 
of  quill,  whalebone,  leather,  or  occasionally 
elastic  metal,  attached  to  slips  of  wood 
called  "jacks,"  which  were  provided  with 
metal  springs.  The  compass  was  about  three 
octaves.  This  title  has  been  by  some  sup- 
posed to  have  originated  as  a  compliment 
to  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  was  an  expert 
performer  upon  the  instrument ;  but  as  the 
word  was  in  use  before  her  birth  this  sup- 
position is  not  valuable.  Others  say  that 
the  name  was  appHed  because  of  the  small- 
ness  and  delicacy  of  its  tone,  as  it  was  and 
is  considered  proper  for  a  woman  "  to 
speak  small."  It  is  more  likely  to  have 
received  its  name  from  the  word  "  virgas." 
The  virginal,  also  called  spinet,  from  the 
quills  with  which  the  string  was  sounded, 
was  the  precursor  of  the  harpsichord,  now 
superseded  by  the  pianoforte.  [Dulcimer, 
Spinet,  Pianoforte.] 

Virgula  (Lat.)  (i)  The  stem  or  tail  of  a 
note.    (2)  A  neume. 

Virtuoso  (It.),  Virtuose  (Ger.)  A  skilled 
performer  on  some  particular  instrument, 
specially  the  violin.  The  term  was  formerly 
applied  to  an  amateur,  "  one  who  feels  de- 
light in,  and  possesses  a  taste  for,  the  musical 
science." 

Vista  (It.)  Sight ;  as,  a  prima  vista,  at 
first  sight. 

Vistamente,  Vitamente  (It.)  Briskly, 
quickly,  rapidly,  with  life. 


Vivace,    Vivacemente    (It.)  Lively, 

quickly,  sprightly. 

Vivacetto  (7^)    Rather  lively. 

Vivacezza,  Vivacita  {It.)  Liveliness, 
vivacity. 

Vivacissimo  (7^)    Very  lively. 

Vivamente  {It.)    Lively,  briskly. 

Vive  {Fr.)    Brisk,  quick,  lively. 

Vivente  (7/.)    Animated,  lively. 

Vivezza,  con  (It.)    With  life,  liveliness. 

Vivido  (7^.)    Brisk,  lively. 

Vivo  (7/.)    Alive,  brisk,  lively,  animated. 

Vocal,  (i)  For,  or  by  the  voice  ;  music 
intended  to  be  sung.  (2)  Compositions  so 
written  as  to  be  easy  and  effective  for  the 
voice.  (3)  The  "  singing"  quality  of  tone  ob- 
tained from  an  instrument. 

Vocale  (7^.)    Belonging  to  the  voice. 

Vocalezzo  (7^.)  An  exercise  for  the  voice. 

Vocalisation,  (i)  Control  of  the  voice 
and  vocal  sounds.  (2)  Method  of  producing 
and  phrasing  notes  with  the  voice. 

Vocalizzi  {It.)    Vocal  exercises,  solfeggi. 

Vocal  Score.  [Score.] 

Voce  (7^.)  The  voice;  as,  Voce  di  camera, 
literally,  a  voice  for  the  chamber,  applied  to  a 
voice  of  small  quality,  better  fitted  to  the 
limited  area  of  a  private  room  than  for  a  public 
concert  room.  Voce  di  gola,  a  guttural  or 
throaty  voice  ;  Voce  di  petto,  the  chest  voice, 
the  lower  register  of  the  voice  ;  Voce  di  testa, 
the  head  voice,  the  upper  range  of  the  voice  ; 
sometimes  the  falsetto  is  so  termed.  Voce 
sola,  the  voice  alone,  unaccompanied. 

Vogelflote  {Ger.)  A  bird-call,  flageolet, 
or  whistle.  Mozart  employs  one  in  the  score 
of  the  Zaiiberflote. 

Vogelpfeife  {Ger.)  [Vogelflote.] 

Vogelgesang  {Ger.)  A  musical  instru- 
ment composed  of  a  series  of  small  pipes 
standing  in  water,  through  which  the  wind 
had  to  pass.    A  incrula. 

Voglia  {It.)    Ardour,  desire,  longing. 

Voice.  Voices  may  be  arranged  in  six 
orders  or  classes,  according  to  gravity  or 
acuteness,  viz. . — The  bass,  baritone,  tenor, 
alto,  or  contralto,  mezzo-soprano  and  soprano. 
The  first  three  are  the  natural  voices  of  men 
and  the  second  three  those  of  women.  The 
compass  or  range  of  notes  is  different  in  each 
vuice,  but  it  is  not  compass  alone  which 
determines  the  class  to  which  any  voice  may 
belong,  as  very  frequently  a  baritone  quality 
of  voice  is  limited  to  the  range  of  a  bass,  and 
a  tenor  quality  to  the  compass  of  a  baritone. 
It  is  almost  impossible  to  describe  in  words 
the  general  character  of  the  several  voices,  it 
must  be  sufficient  to  give  the  number  of  notes 
they  are  capable  of  using. 

The  part  for  the  bass  voice  is  written  in 
the  F  clef  and  its  most  effective  notes 
are  those   indicated  in   the  following  by 


(  4')0  ) 


VOICING  VOLUNTARY. 


crotchets,  though  for  solo  purposes  the  notes 
shown  by  the  minims  are  often  used. 


The  baritone  voice  has  a  compass  between 


its  quaHty  and  character  best  fit  it  for  solo 
singing.  Its  part  is  now  written  in  the  bass 
or  F  clef,  on  the  fourth  line,  though  there  are 
instances,  as,  for  example,  in  Dr.  Cooke's 
setting  of  Collins'  "  Ode  to  the  Passions," 
where  the  baritone  clef,  that  is  to  say,  the  F 
clef  on  the  third  line,  is  used  for  the  voice. 


The  compass  of  the  tenor  voice  is  between 


The  most  serviceable  notes  being  those 
between  the  two  crotchets.  Its  part  is  written 
in  the  C  clef  upon  the  fourth  line.  The  alto 
voice  is  an  artificial  and  not  a  real  voice.  It 
IS  made  by  cultivating  the  falsetto  notes 
instead  of  the  true  chest  voice.  The  C  clef 
is  also  used  for  this  voice,  but  it  is  placed 
upon  the  third  line,  and  the  compass  em- 
ployed is  between  the  notes  : 


All  the  tones  between  the  two  crotchets  are 
produced  from  the  chest,  the  D  generally 
dividing  the  two  qualities  of  chest  and  fal- 
setto, the  point  of  junction  being  known  as 
"  the  break." 

The  contralto  voice  is  of  the  lowest  tone  in 
female  voices,  and  nearly  corresponds  in  range 
to  the  bass  voice  in  men,  only,  the  sounds 
produced  are  an  octave  higher.  Music  is 
written  for  it  in  both  the  alto  and  treble  clefs, 
more  frequently  the  latter.  Its  range  is 
between 


The  mezzo-soprano,  often  confounded  with 
the  contralto  voice,  has  a  compass  of  an 
octave  and  a  fifth  or  sixth. 


It  is  more  flexible  than  the  contralto,  though 
less  brilliant  in  tone  than  the  soprano  voice, 


which  latter  has  effective  and  useful  notes 
between 


and  even  beyond  these  limits,  in  exceptional 
cases. 

Voicing.  The  regulation  of  the  tone  and 
power  of  an  organ-pipe.  [Organ.] 

Voix  (Fr.)    The  voice. 

Voix  celeste  (Fr.)    [Vox  Angelica.] 

Volante  (It.)  Flying,  applied  to  the  execu- 
tion of  a  rapid  series  of  notes,  either  in  singing 
or  playing. 

Volata  (It.)    A  run,  or  division  ;  a  light 

and  rapid  series  of  notes. 

Volkslied  (Ger.)  A  popular  song,  [Lied.J 
Veil  (Ger.)     Full ;   as,  Vollgesang,  with 

the  full  chorus  ;  mit  volleni  Werk,  with  the 

full  power. 

Vollstimmig  {Ger.)  Full-voiced, full-toned. 
Vollstimmigkeit  {Ger.)    Fulness  of  tone. 
Volonte  {Fr.)    Will,  pleasure,  a  volonte, 
at  will. 

Volta  {It.)  Turn,  or  time  ;  as,  Una  volta, 
once ;  due  volte,  twice ;  prima  volta,  first 
time  ;  seconda  volta,  second  time. 

Volta  {It.  and  Fr.)  An  old  dance. 
[Lavolta.] 

Volteggiando  {It.)  Crossing  the  hands 
in  pianoforte-playing. 

Volteggiare  {It.)    To  cross  the  hands. 

Volti  {It.)  Turn ;  as,  Volti  subito,  or 
abbreviated,  v.s. ;  turn  quickly. 

Volume.  A  term  applied  to  the  power 
and  quality  of  the  tone  of  a  voice  or  instru- 
ment, or  of  a  combination  of  sounds. 

Voluntary.  An  organ  solo  played  before, 
during,  or  after  any  office  of  the  Church  ; 
hence,  called  respectively  introductory,  mid- 
dle, or  concluding.  Such  solos  were  formerly, 
and  are  often  now  unpremeditated,  or  impro- 
visations, as  the  name  Voluntary  seems  to 
imply.  Towards  the  end  of  the  last  century 
the  style  of  the  music  performed  had  greatly 
degenerated  ;  the  ordinary  voluntary  con- 
sisted of  running  passages  played  by  the  right 
hand  on  a  cornet-stop  or  flute-stop,  while  the 
left  hand  sustained  a  few  soft  chords  by  way 
of  accompaniment.  The  protests  of  clergy  and 
sound  musicians  against  such  performances 
had  not  such  a  powerful  influence  in  eradi- 
cating them  as  the  general  introduction  into 
this  country  of  complete  sets  of  pedal-keys, 
and  the  consequent  study  of  John  Sebastian 
Bach's  compositions  for  the  organ.  Arrange- 
ments from  instrumental  and  orchestral  works 
are  at  the  present  time  largely  used  as  volun- 
taries, and  although  it  must  be  said  in  their 
favour  that  they  bring*  the  themes  of  great 
masters  under  the  notice  of  many  who  would 


(  ) 


VORAUSNAHME  VUIDE. 


not  otherwise  hear  them,  yet  it  is  to  be  feared 
that  they  tend  to  discourage  the  composition 
of  genuine  organ-music,  and  foster  the  mis- 
chievous notion  that  the  organ  is  intended  to 
be  an  imitation  of  a  full  band. 

The  custom  of  performing  voluntaries  and 
interludes  in  Church  was  at  one  time  carried 
to  an  absurd  extent.  Not  only  was  the 
Psalm-tune  introduced  with  a  "  very  pretty 
flourish,"  but  interludes  were  played  between 
each  line  of  the  tune,  whether  the  sense  was 
complete  or  not.  A  specimen  of  the  style  of 
these  performances  may  be  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing, from  "The  Psalmes  set  full  for  the  Organ 
or  Harpsicord  as  they  are  Plaid  in  Churches 
and  Chappels  in  the  maner  given  out,  as  also 
with  their  Interludes  of  great  variety,"  by 
D.  Purcell,  c.  1700. 


VOLUNTARY. 
St.  David's  Tune  given  out. 


(2)  Preparation  of  a  discord. 

Vorbereitung  (Ger.)  Preparation  of  dis- 
cords. 

Vorgeiger  (Ger.)    Leader.    First  fiddle. 
Vorgreifung,  Vorgriflf  (Ger.)  Anticipa- 
tion. 

Vorhalt  (Ger.)  (i)  Syncopation.  (2) 
Suspension. 

Vorschlag  (Ger.)    Appoggiatura,  beat. 

Vorspiel  (Ger.)  Prelude,  introductory, 
movement,  overture. 

Vorspieler  (Ger.)  A  leader  or  principal 
performer  upon  any  instrument. 

Vortanzer  (Ger.)    Leader  of  a  dance. 

Vjrzeichnung  (Ger.)    Signature,  q.v. 

V.jx  [Lat.)  (i)  A  voice;  as  vox  humana, 
the  human  voice.  (2)  A  part ;  as  ires  voces^ 
three  parts.  (3)  A  sound  ;  as,  inter  aliquant 
vocem  et  octavam  a  se,  between  any  sound  and 
its  octave.  (4)  A  key.  [Acutae  claves.]  (5) 
A  theme  ;  as,  vox  antecedens,  the  subject  of  a 
fugue. 

Vox  Angelica  [Lat.)  An  organ  stop  con- 
sisting of  two  ranks  of  pipes  of  small  scale 
and  delicate  quality  of  tone,  one  of  which  is 
tuned  slightly  sharp,  in  order  to  produce  a 
wavy  and  tremulous  sound.  Called  also  Voix 
celeste,  unda  maris,  &c. 

Vox  humana  (Lat.)  A  reed  stop  in  the 
organ  intended  to  imitate  the  sounds  of  the 
human  voice,  consisting  of  a  large  reed  and 
short  tube  ;  called  voce  umana  in  Italian,  voix 
humaine  in  French,  and  also  anthropoglossa. 

V.S.  Abb,  for  volti  subito,  and  for  violinc 
secondo. 

Vuide  (Fr.)  Open,  as  corde  vuide,  opea 
string  on  the  violin  or  violoncello. 


(45a) 


WAITS  WALZE. 


w. 


Waits,  or  Wayghtes.  Originally  certain 
minstrels  or  musical  watchmen  attached  to 
the  households  of  kings  and  other  great 
persons,  who  paraded  an  assigned  district 
sounding  the  hours  at  night.  Until  very 
recently,  the  Waits  of  the  City  of  Westmin- 
ster were  regularly  sworn  before  the  "Court 
of  Burgesses."  In  the  "  Liber  niger  domus 
regis  "  quoted  in  Rymer's  "  Foedera,"  in  an 
account  of  the  musicians  of  the  household  of 
Edward  IV.,  mention  is  made  of  "  A  Wayte, 
that  nightely  from  Mychelmas,  to  Shreve 
Thorsdaye,  pipe  the  watche  within  this  courte 
fowere  tymes  ;  in  the  somer  nightes  iij  tymes, 
and  makyth  Bon  Gayte  at  every  chamber, 
doare,  and  ofifyce,  as  well  for  feare  of  pyckeres 
and  pillers."  Many  cities  and  towns,  both 
English  and  foreign,  encouraged  and  licensed 
their  "waits,"  Exeter  among  other  places 
having  a  regular  company  as  early  as  the 
year  1400. 

In  the  "  Coxcomb,"  by  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher,  we  find  this  allusion  to  a  neglect  of 
duty  on  the  part  of  the  watchmen. 

"  Where  were  the  Watch  the  while  ?  Good  sober 
gentlemen 

They  were  like  careful  members  of  the  City, 
Drawing  in  diligent  ale  and  singing  Catches." 

The  word  was  sometimes  used  to  describe 
those  who  acted  as  the  town  musicians  but 
who  did  not  do  duty  as  watchmen.  It  was 
also  given  to  any  company  of  performers 
when  employed  as  serenaders. 

The  instruments  used  were  a  species  of 
hautboys,  called  also  shawms,  and  from  their 
use  "  waits." 

Dr.  Busby  in  his  Musical  Dictionary  [1800] 
says  "  The  noun  formerly  signified  hautboys, 
and  (which  is  remarkable)  has  no  singular 
number.  From  the  instruments,  its  signifi- 
cation was,  after  a  time,  transferred  to  the 
performers  themselves." 

In  The  famous  history  of  Dr.  Faustns,  the 
word  is  in  a  list  of  musical  instruments. 
"  Lastly  was  heard  by  Faustus  all  manner  of 
instruments  of  music — as  organs,  clarigolds, 
lutes,  viols,  citterns.  Waits,  hornpipes, 
anomes,  harps,  and  all  manner  of  other 
instruments  of  music."  Butler  in  his  "  Prin- 
ciples of  Musick  in  singing  and  setting,  with 
the  two-fold  use  thereof  [Ecclesiastical  and 
Civil]"  published  in   1636,  identifies  waits 


with  the  hautboy  ;  and  Mr,  H.  Coleridge 
adds  his  testimony  founded  upon  a  passage 
in  the  romance  of  Kynge  Alysander  and  Sir 
Eglamore,  that  the  waits  were  wind  instru- 
ments. 

A  writer  in  the  "  Gentleman's  Magazine," 
in  1756,  describing  the  method  of  constituting 
freemen  at  Alnwick,  says : — "  They  (the  pro- 
posed freemen)  are  generally  met  by  women 
dressed  up  with  ribbons,  bells,  and  garlands, 
who  welcome  them  with  dancing  and  singing, 
and  are  called  timber-waits,  probably  a  cor- 
ruption of  timbrel  waits,  players  on  timbrels." 

At  the  present  day  the  waits  are  detached 
bodies  of  impromptu  musicians  who  make 
night  hideous  for  three  weeks  before  Christ- 
mas, with  wretched  performances  of  indif- 
ferent melodies.  The  waits  or  town  musi- 
cians in  Germany  were  called  Zinkenisten — 
players  of  the  Zink,  a  coarse  reed  instrument. 

Waldflute,WaldfIote,Waldpfeife(Ger.) 
Forest  flute.  An  organ  stop  of  4  ft.  pitch 
consisting  of  open  wood  pipes.  [Flute.] 
Waldquinte  or  Waldflotenquinte  is  a  similar 
stop  one  fifth  higher  in  pitch. 

^A/'aldhorn  {Ger.)    A  hunting  horn. 

Walnika,  or  Walynka  (Russ.)  A  simple 
kind  of  bagpipe  used  among  the  Russian 
peasantry. 

Waltz,  Valse  (Fr.),  Valce  {It.),  Walzer 
(Ger.)  A  dance  said  to  have  originated  in 
Bohemia,  now  of  almost  universal  adoption. 
The  time  is  of  triple  measure  in  crotchets  or 
quavers,  and  consists  of  eight  or  sixteen  bar 
phrases.  Modern  waltz  writers  frequently  add 
to  the  original  dance-form  an  introduction 
and  coda.  The  "  Vienna  "  waltz  is  character- 
ised by  a  rapid  movement  and  strict  unbroken 
time.  Landler  are  slower  and  more  digni- 
fied than  the  waltz. 

"Classical  waltzes"  are  compositions  in 
waltz-form  intended  for  set  pieces,  not  for 
dance  tunes.  In  them,  greater  scope  is  given 
to  the  composer  and  performer  than  is  com- 
patible with  the  rhythm  of  the  dance. 

Walze  (Ger.)  A  roll.  A  symmetrical 
run  or  division,  e.g. : 


(  453  ) 


WASSERORGEI  WURDE. 


Wasserorgel  (Ger.)    Hydraulic  organ. 

Waves  of  sound.    [Acoustics  §  3.] 

Wayghtes.  [Waits.] 

Wechselgesang  (Ger.)  Responsive  or 
antiphonal  song. 

Wechselnote  (Ger.)  Nota  cambiata  (It.) 
In  counterpoint,  proceeding  from  a  discord 
by  a  skip,  e.g. : 

-o  I  I       I       I   ,  .  


Weich  (Ger.)  Minor. 

Weight  of  wind.    [Wind  gauge.] 

Weissenote  {Ger.)  White  note ;  nota 
bianca  {It.),  a  minim. 

Weiteharmonie  (Ger.)  Dispersed  har- 
mony. 

Welsh  harp.  [Harp.] 

Wenig  {Ger.)  Little,  as  ein  Wenig  <itark, 
rather  loud. 

Wesentlich  {Ger.)  Essential ;  as  wesent- 
liche  Septime.  Essential, or  dominant  seventh. 

Wheel.  The  refrain  or  burden  of  a  ballad. 

"  You  must  sing,  Down,  a-down,  an  you  call  him  a- 
downa. 

O,  how  the  wheel  becomes  it ! " — Shakspeare. 

Whiffler.  A  wand-bearer  to  head  a  pro- 
cession. A  fifer.  "  Whifflers  originally  headed 
armies  or  processions  as  fifers  or  pipers  ;  in 
process  of  time  the  word  whifflers,  which  had 
always  been  used  in  the  sense  of  a  fifer, 
came  to  signify  any  person  who  went  before 
in  a  procession."  Douce's  "  Illustrations  of 
Shakspeare." 

Whistle,  (i)  To  make  a  musical  sound 
with  the  lips  and  breath  without  using  the 
vocal  cords;  the  hollow  of  the  mouth  forming 
a  resonance-box.  The  pitch  of  whistling  is 
an  octave  higher  than  is  generally  supposed. 

Whistle,  tin  whistle,  penny  whistle.  The 
common  wood  or  tin  Jlilte  d  bee  having  six 
ventages.    Its  scale  is  ; 


when  softly  blown,  which  may  of  course  be 
considerably  extended  upwards  by  increasing 
the  pressure  of  wind,  as  in  other  flutes. 

Whole  note.    A  semibreve. 

Wiederholung  {Ger.)  Repetition. 

Wind  band,  (i)  A  military  band.  (2) 
The  wind  instruments  of  an  orchestra. 

Wind  chest.  Windlade  {Ger.)  [Organ.] 

Wind  gauge.    [Organ,  §  20.] 

Wind  trunk.  [Organ.] 


Wind  instrument.  A  musical  instru- 
!  ment  whose  sounds  are  produced  by  the 
I  breath  of  the  player,  or  by  means  of  a  pair 
I  of  bellows. 

Wirbel  {Ger.)  (i)  A  peg  of  a  violin,  &c. 
(2)  The  stopper  of  a  closed  organ  pipe.  (3) 
Wirbelstock,  a  sound-board  into  which  pegs 
are  fixed.  (4)  Wirbeltanz,  a  whirling  or  cir- 
cular dance. 

Wolf,  (i)  The  bad  effect  produced  when 
playing  in  certain  keys  on  an  organ  tuned  to 
"  unequal  temperament."  It  is  well  known 
that  tempered  thirds  are  more  distressing  to 
the  ear  when  heard  from  instruments  of  con- 
tinuous-tone like  the  organ  and  harmonium 
than  from  pianofortes,  &c.  To  obviate  this 
difficulty,  tuners  of  organs  formerly  made 
certain  of  their  thirds  untempered,  that  is, 
true  to  nature,  in  the  ratio  4:5.  Thus  CjJ  was 
made  a  true  third  above  A  ;  E?  a  true  third 
below  G ;  Fjj  a  true  third  to  D  ;  GJ  a  true 
third  to  E  ;       a  true  third  below  D,  e.g. : 


The  common  chords,  therefore,  of  C,  D,  Eb, 
E,  F,  G,  A,  were  perfectly  in  tune.  But  as 
will  be  seen  from  the  above,  the  following 
would  be  heard  for  the  chord  of  some  remoter 
keys  : 

PChnrdofAt)   o£Dbi  


The  divergence  of  these  intervals  from  just 
pitch  was  painfully  apparent.  Modern  organs 
are  almost  without  exception  tuned  to  equal 
temperament.  [Temperament.] 

(2)  Some  particular  note  often  found  on  a 
violin,  violoncello,  or  other  stringed  instru- 
ment, the  intonation  of  which  is  not  true. 

Wood  wind,  or  Wood  wind-band.  The 
flutes,  oboes,  clarinets,  bassoons,  and  instru- 
ments of  their  nature,  in  an  orchestra. 

Wood  stops.  Organ  stops,  the  pipes  of 
which  are  of  wood. 

Wrist  guide.  [Chiroplast.] 

Wiirde  {Ger.)  Dignity.  Mit  Einfalt  una 
WUrde,  with  simplicity  and  dignity. 


(  454  ) 


XANORPHICA  ZIGANKA. 


X  Y  Z. 


Xanorphica.  A  key-violin.  An  instru- 
ment somewhat  like  the  tetrachordon,  in- 
vented by  Rollig  (1761-1804),  the  sounds  of 
which  were  produced  by  bows  set  in  motion 
by  a  pedal,  and  acted  upon  by  keys. 

Xyloharmonica,  Xylosistrum.  An  har- 
monicon  consisting  of  graduated  blocks  of 
wood,  struck  with  hammers  acted  upon  by 
keys.  Instruments  of  this  class  were  made 
by  RoUig  (1761-1804),  and  by  Uthe  (1810). 

Xylophone.  [Gigelira.] 

Xylorganum.  [Gigelira.] 

Yang  Kin.  A  Chinese  instrument  fur- 
nished with  brass  strings,  which  are  struck 
with  two  small  hammers,  like  a  dulcimer. 

Yo.    An  Indian  flute. 

Yu.  An  interval  of  the  Chinese  scale. 
The  ancient  Chinese  divided  the  octave  into 
twelve  equal  parts,  like  the  semitones  of  our 
chromatic  scale,  which  were  called  lu.  Their 
scale,  as  commonly  used,  consisted,  however, 
of  only  five  notes,  which  were  called  koung, 
chang,  kio,  tche,  and  yu,  and  which  corre- 
sponded to  our  F,  G,  A,  C,  D ;  koung  or  F 
being  considered  to  be  the  normal  key. 

Yue  Kin.  A  guitar  called  by  the  Chinese, 
"  Moon  Guitar."  [Guitar.] 

Za.    Formerly  a  solfeggio  name  for  Bb. 

Zambomba  (Sp.)  A  common  toy  instru- 
ment in  Spain,  formed  of  an  earthen  pot 
tightly  covered  at  its  open  end  with  a  parch- 
ment, into  which  is  inserted  the  stem  of  a 
reed.  When  the  reed  is  rubbed  up  and  down 
with  rough  or  moist  fingers,  the  vibrations 
are  transferred  to  the  air  enclosed  in  the 
vessel,  and  a  hollow  rumbling  sound  is  pro- 
duced. 

Zampogna  (It.)  A  bagpipe  in  use  among 
Italian  peasants.  The  name  is  supposed  to 
be  a  corruption  of  Symphonia.  [Bagpipe.] 
A  rough-toned  reed  instrument  without  a  bag 
is  also  called  Zampogna  or  Zampugna. 

Zaner.  [Zummarah.] 

Zanze.  A  negro  instrument.  Known 
also  by  the  names  of  mambira,  ambira, 
marimba,  ibeka,  vissandschi,  in  different  parts 
of  Africa.  It  consists  of  a  wooden  box,  on 
which  a  number  of  sonorous  slips  of  wood 
or  tongues  of  iron  are  fixed,  in  such  a  position 
as  to  admit  of  their  being  made  to  vibrate  by 
pressing  them  down  with  the  thumb  or  with 


a  stick.  The  compass  of  two  such  instru- 
ments is  given  in  Engel's  "  Music  of  the  most 
ancient  nations,"  pp.  12,  13. 

Zapatadeo  {Sp.)  A  dance  in  which  the 
heel  is  struck  violently  on  the  ground  to  mark 
the  rhythm. 

Zarabanda.  [Saraband.] 

Zarge  {Ger.)  The  sides  of  instruments 
like  the  violin  or  guitar. 

Zart  [Ger.)  Soft,  delicate  ;  as,  mit  zarten 
Stimmen,  with  soft  stops. 

Zartflote  (Ger.)    A  delicate-toned  flute. 

Zartlich  (Ger.)    Softly,  delicately. 

Zarzuelas  (Sp.)  A  sort  of  drama,  said  to 
have  been  first  produced  at  Zarzuela  in  the 
time  of  Philip  IV. 

Zeichen  (Ger.)  A  musical  sign,  note,  01 
character. 

Zeitmass  (Ger.)    Time,  measure. 

Zele  (Fr.),  Zelo  (It.)    Zeal,  energy. 

Zelosamente  {It.)  Zealously,  ardently, 
earnestly. 

Zeloso  (It.)    Zealous,  energetic. 

Zergliederung  {Ger.)  Lit.  dissection. 
The  reduction  of  a  subject  to  its  component 
figures  in  order  to  expand  it  by  their  repeti- 
tion. 

Zerstreut  {Ger.)  Dispersed,  spread,  open, 
as  Zerstreute  Harmonie,  dispersed  or  open 
harmony. 

Ziemlich  {Ger.)  Moderately,  as  ziemlich 
langsayn,  moderately  slow. 

Ziffern  {Ger.)    To  cypher. 

Ziganka.  A  dance  popular  among  the 
Russian  peasantry,  similar  in  its  figures  to 
the  English  country-dance.  The  tune  is 
lively,  and  the  accompaniment  is  usually  a 
"burden,"  or  "bag-pipe  bass,"  as  shown  in 
the  following  example  : 


ZIGANKA. 


{  455  ) 


ZIKRS  ZYMBEL. 


Zikrs.  Religious  dances  of  the  dervishes 
in  Egypt. 

Zingaresca.    A  gipsy  song  or  dance. 

Zinke  (Ger.)  Cornetto  curvo  {It.) 
[Cornet,  §  i.] 

Zither  (Ger.)  Cither.  A  flat  stringed 
instrument,  placed  upon  a  table  or  on  the 
knees,  having  brass  strings  played  with  the 
thumb  of  the  right  hand,  while  the  melody  is 
brought  more  prominently  out  by  the  use  of 
a  plectrum. 

Zogernd  (Ger.)  Ritardando. 

Zoppa  {It.)    [Alia  zoppa.] 

Zufallige  {Ger.)  Accidentals. 

Zufolo  {It.)    A  flageolet  or  whistle. 

Zug  {Ger.)  (i)  A  drawstop  in  an  organ. 
(2)  A  pedal  of  a  pianoforte.  Ziigwerk,  the 
mechanical  appliances  of  an  instrument. 

Zuklang  {Ger.)    Unison,  consonance. 

Zummarah.  An  Egyptian  wind  instru- 
ment. [Bassoon.] 

Zunge  {Ger.)  (i)  The  tongue  of  a  reed- 
pipe.  (2)  The  metal  tongue  in  the  reed  of  a 
harmonium. 

Zurna.  A  Turkish  wind  instrument, 
similar  in  character  to  the  oboe. 

Zurvickhaltung  {Ger.)  Retardation. 

Zusammengesetzt  {Ger.)  Compound. 
Zusammengesetzttakt,  compound  time. 

Zusammenklang,  Zusammenlaut  {Ger.) 
Harmony,  consonance. 

Zweifache  {Ger.)  (i)  Two-fold.  (2) 
Having  two  ranks  of  organ  pipes.    (3)  Com- 


pound intervals.  (4)  A  dance  having  alter- 
nate triple  and  duple  time.  It  is  also  called 
Zweifacher  and  "  Grad  und  Ungrad." 


ZWEIFACHER. 

Played  four  times. 


Zweigestrichen  {Ger.)  Having  two 
strokes.    [Pitch.]  [Tablature.] 

Zweiunddreissigtheilnote  {Ger.)  A 
demisemiquaver. 

Zweivierteltakt  {Ger.)  Two-four  time.  %. 

Zweizweiteltakt  {Ger.)  Two-two  time.  |. 

Zwerchflote  {Ger.)  The  German  flute. 
Flauto  traverso  {It.) 

Zwerchpfeife  {Ger.)  The  piccolo  flute, 
or  fife. 

Zwischengesang  {Ger.)  An  interpolated 
song. 

Zwischenraume  {Ger.)  The  spaces  of 
the  stave. 

Zwischensatz  {Ger.)    An  episode. 

Zwischenspiel  {Ger.)  An  interlude  played 
between  the  verses  of  a  hymn  or  choral. 

Zwolfachteltakt  {Ger.)  Twelve-eight 
time. 

Zymbel(G^r.)  [Cymbal.] 


(456) 


or 


